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How are you bracing up for the iOS 14 update? (45)

01-07-2021 10:24 AM #1 wisdompower (Veteran Member)
How are you bracing up for the iOS 14 update?

The Apple iOS 14 is round the corner. How are you bracing up? Is retargeting really screwed up or you see an opportunity in a place where everyone else could be struggling? Do you foresee Google android will follow up soon? If yes how soon? And is the iOS 14 update happening this month or the next month as the worst case scenario?

01-07-2021 04:37 PM #2 jadejones (Member)

Ive already seen a drop in performance on my campaigns and advertisers have said that it is affecting them already as well and I have been asked to exclude iOS while they are working on solutions.

01-07-2021 06:23 PM #3 Mr Baffoe (Veteran Member)

Originally Posted by jadejones

Ive already seen a drop in performance on my campaigns and advertisers have said that it is affecting them already as well and I have been asked to exclude iOS while they are working on solutions.

Any drop in performance right now is probably due to ITP (Intelligent Tracking Prevention) which launched in 2017, apple has been making it tougher and tougher with each update. The last one was banning of CNAME cloaking, almost every saas for tracking does this.

Just from a very rough estimate I'd say the majority of affiliate cookies on Safari that get set are have been to 7 or 1 day lifetime.

IMHO it's only going to get worse/harder from here.

This has been a concern since 2017, but it seems like everyone is just starting to pay attention since FB made a big deal out of it, but that something totally new. Think of it as ITP for Apps.

01-08-2021 07:56 AM #4 wisdompower (Veteran Member)

@jadejones @Mr Baffoe Thanks for sharing. I'm waiting for more members to chime in and make this discussion lively. The update is going to affect a lot of marketers, so a brainstorm could help us all while the majority may struggle.

01-08-2021 09:14 AM #5 stickupkid (Senior Moderator)

https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...-update-issues
https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...-due-to-ios-14
https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...n-for-tracking

01-27-2021 05:45 AM #6 redtrack (Member)

Hey! This is definitely a very painful topic. Especially the decrease with FB ads is going to hurt the most at the moment. But what we have to understand is that it's just the beginning.Once Google launches its Sandbox, then it's gonna touch literally everyone on the market.
If you wanna know more about the upcoming changes, you guys are welcome to join the LiveStream on 28th of January https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8chyuZX-f3w where our CEO Vlad will reveal the topic of all the tracking blocks that await us in 2021. Don't forget to set a notification, not to miss it!

01-27-2021 12:37 PM #7 wisdompower (Veteran Member)

Originally Posted by RedTrack

Sure. And yes these things have been happening since the history of time! Change is inevitable. But again Google and Facebook will surely have new things rolling up to help advertisers. No one would conceive of something called "retargeting" maybe ten years back. Now when everyone's apprehending it MAY die, there will be something else coming up. No one could imagine before 2010 that something like bitcoin and digital currency can exist...
But there are some basic marketing concepts like "word of mouth" , human nature, advertising that will remain we die or maybe 1000s of years hence. We can still relate to Helen of Troy, Trojan Horse, power hankering/jealousy related to Julius Caesar's death...
Sorry for dragging it this far. Haha

01-27-2021 12:53 PM #8 wisdompower (Veteran Member)

We haven't lost Look Like Audiences of Facebook, have we? email retargeting and video retargeting for Facebook video ads remain intact.

01-27-2021 01:50 PM #9 iwanttofly (Veteran Member)

Originally Posted by wisdompower

So I'm not really sure where you are trying to go with this. Yes, advertising and marketing existed long before Facebook and retargeting. However, Facebook advertising is highly dependent upon retargeting. Other than branding and local businesses whose audiences aren't large enough for effective retargeting, everyone is counting on retargeting to drive people through a funnel. And much the same with Google, even search uses aspects of retargeting.

Companies will survive and marketing will continue. But Facebook's revenue and market value will take a nose dive if advertisers cannot effectively retarget. I do not think iOS14 is the end of the world as there is still some ability to retarget, but Facebook and Google will have to adapt and we will have to with them.

01-27-2021 02:34 PM #10 wisdompower (Veteran Member)

Originally Posted by iwanttofly

Not trying to go anywhere... Just put my thoughts across after RedTrack's post aka invitation... And concerned like everyone else. Saying again Facebook LLA is still powerful.

It's the super hot topic now with everyone talking about it on youtube, other channels, and stm is no exception.

Maybe a bit less here compared to others... just 3 to 4 threads so far as far as I know.

01-27-2021 02:51 PM #11 iwanttofly (Veteran Member)

Originally Posted by wisdompower

Maybe a bit less here compared to others... just 3 to 4 threads so far as far as I know.

Gotcha. I think you can effectively build a LLA based upon data points that Facebook already has from usage within the platform. Plus Facebook can still see what kind of content and actions a user performs. The issue is, an advertiser won't be able to retarget as easily, and that is the danger. Without retargeting, the ROI and ROAS at Facebook suffers greatly.

01-27-2021 05:15 PM #12 wisdompower (Veteran Member)

Originally Posted by iwanttofly

Yeah sure. But building up a list of a 100 sign ups or paid customers isn't a herculean task. Then start building LLA on that, and try other methods of scaling. ROAS on retargeting is the highest - no doubt on that! And with behavioural retargeting it's even more. Now it's all screwed up. There will be new technologies coming up anyways. Things come and go. No point moaning over an ex you loved. There are so many to explore if one has the eyes to see. Better move on and enjoy this short life.

02-01-2021 05:18 AM #13 wisdompower (Veteran Member)

@vortex thanks for alerting about the annual report. Again it comes to the difference between the "cigarette butt strategy" ( we discussed) and a solid business with a strong foundation. The latter will withstand any storm. Last few years there was this trend of finding "trendy products" and dropship after "testing" with Facebook ads. Then for a few it surely worked to accumulate " a chunk of change" maybe amounting to a few million dollars. Then those youtube videos on how to get to where they reached... It's SCARY some of the big names respected in the industry teach this and the naives starting out get fooled and lose all their money. I've been at the receiving end and it's painful to see others suffer the same way.

02-08-2021 09:04 AM #14 redtrack (Member)

Originally Posted by wisdompower

You are right even with going so far haha But the part of human nature is also to panic when changes are coming. But we try to approach it with good preparation for whats coming

02-08-2021 03:57 PM #15 wisdompower (Veteran Member)

@RedTrack true that!

02-09-2021 11:21 PM #16 mcstacks (Member)

Here's what I'd like to know from FB ads affiliates that are using Conversion tracking pixel:

For those of you running conversion events with your FB pixel (that excludes you @stickupkid ofc), are you still running campaigns with the same event of Lead/Purchase/etc that fires on the advertiser's domain or have you switch to optimizing for events prior to entering the advertiser's domain?

I am at very low spend on my campaigns right now, and started to optimize for last click before going to the offer, but not confident that will give me the right results for my leadgen campaigns in the end.

So today I launched a campaign to optimize for the old event, because technically iOS14 changes haven't taken effect yet, but I don't know if that means it will work or not. I'd rather not spend more than I have to, to try and figure it out.

Super curious on what people are doing.

P.S. I'm aware of Conversions API but not sure if it actually optimize the pixel or not. Haven't been clear on that since I've started looking at this issue, that's why I'm talking all about the conversion pixel.

02-10-2021 12:38 AM #17 vortex (Senior Moderator)

Originally Posted by mcstacks

Super curious on what people are doing.

Here's one solution - and it's free:

https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...l=1#post412025

Amy

02-10-2021 12:42 AM #18 mcstacks (Member)

Originally Posted by vortex

Here's one solution - and it's free:

https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...l=1#post412025

Amy

Thanks Amy, yep I'm aware of that as a solution has been on my radar for a while (should have mentioned it above my bad). However I'm uncertain it will work in conjunction with a pre-existing tracker (may be able to work with some, but not with others and depending on tracking method) without switching over to Prosper as the tracker. Not against it necessarily, but kinda just got used to my tracker and like it, if you know what I mean.

I should mention that I believe some affiliate networks are working on a solution (my AM at Clickdealer said they are), that sure would be nice if they found a way to fire the pixel to our domain after the conversion completed. In theory, it would be way safer for everyone so if one affiliate screws it up with bad ads, everyone would be protected.

02-10-2021 05:53 AM #19 Mr Baffoe (Veteran Member)

You can also just use the Facebook conversion api CAPI. This would get better results in terms of actual tracking of conversions.

The downside is that it’s a more technical setup. But solutions are being built to simplify the setup.

02-10-2021 03:42 PM #20 mcstacks (Member)

Originally Posted by Mr Baffoe

Ah cool, I've been wondering about CAPI. For some reason I thought it was just for more accurate metrics, but didn't optimize the pixel though.

02-13-2021 02:39 AM #21 mcstacks (Member)

Update: so I posted in the affiliate marketing subreddit about this and actually got some clarity on solutions. Once I waded through the whining noobs complaining about Facebook ads, some savvy folks chimed in. Usually that place is kind of a shitshow.

Seems like CAPI is the way to go. Some are thinking (think it was Vlad at redtrack) that the future of the pixel might be looking dim anyway and everything will be S2S and/or API based with all the privacy changes coming down the pike.

Anyways I am told that CAPI integration will feed conversion data back to the pixel for optimization, not just for data tracking accuracy which is good news if you want to rely on the pixel for optimization for conversion purchase or lead events beyond our affiliate domains and on the advertisers in the funnel flow.

Even was recommended a new tracker that uses API to connect to various networks...and they integrate already right in Facebook CAPI, too.

https://wecantrack.com/

I use Binom and so far seems like we'd have to hire someone to integrate it with Binom API don't know if Voluum does it natively or have to program it, unless your a dev yourself (I'm not).

Seems like it will become a selling point and feature all trackers are going to need to start doing to keep competitive.

Hope that helps.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

02-15-2021 03:32 PM #22 laurentjm (Member)

Facebook official developer site about the conversion api

The Conversions API allows advertisers to send web events from their servers directly to Facebook. Server events are linked to a pixel and are processed like browser pixel events. This means that server events are used in measurement, reporting, and optimization in the same way as browser pixel events.

First let me clear up something:

Events: Events are triggered via facebook pixel or facebook conversion api
Events are not necessarily conversions: Facebook tracks natively all kind of events, it's up to you whether you want to use them as conversions or not.
Events can be attributed to ads, or can be used to build up audiences.
Web events will only be attributed to your account if they have been fired from your domain - or a domain that you've verified.
Events fired through the conversion API do not have this requirements, but in order to use the conversion api, you need to go through a set of verifications or use a third party app that has been approved by facebook.

What it means practically:

You can build up lookalike audiences out of your affiliate sales / cpa
You can buy cheap traffic on tier 2 networks, build intent audience and retarget on facebook
You can build up intent audience through taboola, and retarget on fb

Facebook tracking / iOS 14
The reason why facebook is so angry at apple, is because from now on, facebook (and advertisers) will lose their ability to target leverage the audience data as they used to - when it comes to mobile traffic.
The facebook app, like any other mobile app on the app store, are now required to to request specific access to certain set of data, and the user must grant access.
Not opting in, will prevent app developers to track their users, location, device etc... not only the IDFA.

The worse case scenario is running a mobile campaign to promote a mobile app.
not only you will have limited targeting capabilities, but you will also have little attribution.

The key issue here, is not whether you can attribute conversions back to facebook, but whether the conversions will come out of the app in the first place. And that's the job of attribution platforms - adjust, kochava, tune, appsflyer. It seems that they all came up with probability models which from hearsay are pretty strong. Yet, only time will tell.

As for wecantrack, i think i've heard of them through their "mothership company" saleduck - a big coupon / publisher network out of netherland.

Hope that helps.

02-15-2021 03:34 PM #23 mcstacks (Member)

Here's from a reddit commentary who is the owner of AnyTrack on how CAPI integration works it steps. Its the same as our trackers basically. The key to me is that the pixel gets fed by CAPI for optimizing for conversion events:

"The Facebook Conversion API is exactly the same as the standard facebook pixel, except that it sends the conversions to facebook via a server side api - AKA Postback url or server to server pixel.

The facebook conversion api is not implemented as a postback url, like you you would in a standard tracking software, since the requirements are much more complex than just tracking a \`clickid\`.

**How it works in a nutshell:**

1. Visitors hit your landing page > facebook JS pixel fires
2. You have to catch /store various data points from facebook cookie.
3. You have to send an external ID to facebook pixel (client side)
4. Pass a \`click\_id\` (autogenerated by a tracking system) to your affiliate link \`subid\`
5. On conversion, your tracking system gets a postback with the previously passed \`click\_id\`.
6. Your tracking system attributes the conversion
7. And finally you fire the conversion to Facebook conversion api - with all the parameters previously stored from facebook cookie + external id + event name + event id (and all other params required from the facebook conversion api).

**Current known solutions that are integrated with the facebook Conversion API:**

1. Zapier - They're only firing the conversion - so not good for point 1 to 4
2. Integromat - Similar to Zapier
3. Segment - They require user identification (email and others), and do not support points 4 & 5
4. AnyTrack - Covers points 1 to 7 (disclosure - i am one of the founders)

notes: As far as I know, none of the affiliate trackers currently integrate with the facebook conversion api.

Note also, that you would still need to verify your landing page domain (not the offer domain) with facebook business manager.

I hope that helps."

OG reddit thread link:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Affiliatemarketing/comments/lgyhfg/anyone_here_running_facebook_ads_for_their/gnizah7?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&co ntext=3

02-15-2021 03:50 PM #24 mcstacks (Member)

Originally Posted by laurentjm

Facebook official developer site about the conversion api

First let me clear up something:

Events: Events are triggered via facebook pixel or facebook conversion api
Events are not necessarily conversions: Facebook tracks natively all kind of events, it's up to you whether you want to use them as conversions or not.
Events can be attributed to ads, or can be used to build up audiences.
Web events will only be attributed to your account if they have been fired from your domain - or a domain that you've verified.
Events fired through the conversion API do not have this requirements, but in order to use the conversion api, you need to go through a set of verifications or use a third party app that has been approved by facebook.

What it means practically:

You can build up lookalike audiences out of your affiliate sales / cpa
You can buy cheap traffic on tier 2 networks, build intent audience and retarget on facebook
You can build up intent audience through taboola, and retarget on fb

Thanks, this is awesome stuff you've pointed out here..

totally agree about everything ios14.

However, as affiliates we are "punished" by Facebook because we aren't allowed to optimize for conversions for ANY events that don't lie on a domain we own and verify / third party domain with their new rules, including desktop and android devices, etc and even those on ios14 who don't opt out of tracking.

Because the pixel placement for optimizing for conversions for a sale or lead, traditionally happens on a third party domain...that is something that can be resolved by taking that data back from our tracker as first party data, instead of third party data and injecting it into Facebook via CAPI.

As affiliates this means this type of setup is going to be happening for all types of platforms not just Facebook. The cat is out of the bag, this is going to be the future of data privacy anyways, and Apple/Facebook is just the first major domino for what's to come.

Best to get ready now, I say.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

02-15-2021 06:20 PM #25 laurentjm (Member)

Apparently i wasn't that clear
1. Because the conversion /sale / cpa happens on an affiliate network, anytrack will be able to track it and send it to the fb conversion api
2. You will then be able to optimize accordingly to any of the events.

Note: this require that you'll have to add your fb pixel on your landing page, and that the landing page domain be verified.

02-15-2021 06:42 PM #26 iwanttofly (Veteran Member)

Originally Posted by laurentjm

Apparently i wasn't that clear

1. Because the conversion /sale / cpa happens on an affiliate network, anytrack will be able to track it and send it to the fb conversion api
2. You will then be able to optimize accordingly to any of the events.

Note: this require that you'll have to add your fb pixel on your landing page, and that the landing page domain be verified.

Landing page, but not offer/thank you page, correct?

02-15-2021 07:19 PM #27 mcstacks (Member)

Originally Posted by laurentjm

Apparently i wasn't that clear

No you were clear, we are actually saying the same thing ultimately. That's how I understand it works, yes.

It's great you're ahead of the curve on this! Roman from Binom has become aware of this conversation as well (my current tracker) and I'm hoping the will build in the same functionality. I'm sure Vlad at Redtrack is or has already addressed this...I wonder what Voluum is up to with it, too.

Question on your 'Note' if you don't mind: are you actually firing the pixel for the conversion event using the pixel code...or just pulling the pixel ID (or whatever relevant data necessary) so it ties into CAPI?

If you're actually firing the pixel code, that method is basically the same as a proxy pixel that Mr Baffoe from Prosper tracker does where he injects the code for the conversion event back into the landing page once the s2s event is triggered, but it's not CAPI. Trying to get clear if yours actually feels the optimization data straight through CAPI, or still fires the pixel code...which shouldn't need to be fired directly.

02-16-2021 04:57 AM #28 laurentjm (Member)

Originally Posted by iwanttofly

Landing page, but not offer/thank you page, correct?

Correct.

02-16-2021 05:29 AM #29 laurentjm (Member)

Originally Posted by mcstacks

i can't say what they're cooking, but the facebook conversion api has been out for about a year (we've released it in march '20).
yet and regardless of what they're cooking, one of the core differences between anytrack and other tracking platforms, is that we are user & site centric. Which means that we tie the conversions to both the user and your site (as opposed to just a campaign / traffic source). Traditional tracking software tie a conversion to a campaign.
From a marketer's stand point it means a few things:

The same user can come from multiple traffic sources, and will still be identified as the same user.
anytrack ingests traffic from any traffic sources, tracks and attributes conversions automatically according to last click.
each conversion or event is sent to all your pixels / analytics / server-side api (fb, google, bing, taboola, outbrain) simultaneously, for audience building AND;
Last Ad Click attributed conversion is sent to the traffic source for ad optimization based on any bidding strategies - roas, cpa, roi etc...

A classic marketing flow would go like:

Run taboola campaign to advertorial to trigger intent audiences - ex: Look what happens to your dog if you don't feed him with the right food.
Build audience on FB, Google Analytics, Bing: Anyone from utm_source=taboola that click out to an offer but did not convert.
Run retargeting on FB, Google Ads, Bing: example keyword: Best Dog Food, best healthy dog food (exclude converters)
Build lookalike audience out of converters
Run Lookalike campaign on FB, Google ads, Bing: Best Dog Food, best healthy dog food (exclude converters)

Nope, we're using the real facebook conversion API

When you'll try out the platform, you will clearly see in your facebook event manager that the conversions are coming from server side api.

02-18-2021 10:31 AM #30 clubdrock (Member)

Originally Posted by mcstacks

Appreciate the detailed breakdown here. My tech guy has been trying to figure out the CAPI for a couple of weeks now and this should help.

Question about this method though. If it relies on putting the FB pixel on your lander then pulling the cookie info to attribute, won't it break for any user who opted out of tracking when ios14 comes out? ie. those users won't have the cookie data to pull. Or am I mistaken there?

02-19-2021 11:15 AM #31 zeno (Administrator)

Originally Posted by clubdrock

For using the S2S API with FB, for the most part you are just going to capture FBCLID from the URL and use that. This will be present in all clicks directly going to your links from FB ads. You can also capture the other cookies the FB Pixel drops but in my opinion this is less useful... as they are more likely to be blocked by browsers/extensions, and most people who want to use the S2S API are going to be doing so for direct advertising anyway... not users who happen to come to your site after seeing an ad > trying to do view-based conversions.

Nevertheless, capturing the FBCLID and sending it back is not so difficult. In FF Pro at the moment I have a quick and dirty Integromat webhook URL set up so that you can just fire it like a postback and let our automation do the API side of things (see here - https://help.funnelflux.pro/en/artic...s-tracking-api).

But note if someone has opted out on iOS, it doesn't matter. Even if you get the data and send it to FB they have to drop it... I heard whispers that they would still use the data for pixel optimisation (which is of course very important), but they can't show the conversions on the ads anyway.

02-19-2021 11:22 AM #32 laurentjm (Member)

Originally Posted by clubdrock

Glad i could help - if he still can't manage to figure this out, have a look at anytrack - will take 3 minutes to set up

re: ios 14
when you land on a webpage

Code:

http://landingpage.foo/?fbclid=hellofacebookclickid

the query parameters are not stripped from the url, and therefore the standard fb pixel will track / set cookies etc... unless obviously the browser blocks all types of scripts. in which case, nothing can really help out and the site will probably break.
A signal coming from fb has to come from somewhere, at some point, no matter what.
You can integrate the FB conversion API, but if you can't tie the visitor to one of FB identifiers (and there are many datapoints) - you won't be able to tell fb who made a purchase or not.

1. Configure your fb pixel as 1st party cookie so you have the highest chances to pass through the browsers.
2. verify your domain on you business manager

The release is specific to apps you install from the app store. Depending on the settings the user will apply, the attribution data (clickid parameters etc... ) won't be sent out to mobile attribution platforms (appsflyer and the like) - which will prevent postback url tracking.

The conversion api will not resolve this tracking limitation, but will definitely increase your chances to attribute more conversions to your ads.

Last but not least - the conversion api will solve the situation for cross domain tracking.

02-20-2021 07:12 AM #33 clubdrock (Member)

Originally Posted by zeno

But note if someone has opted out on iOS, it doesn't matter. Even if you get the data and send it to FB they have to drop it.

Interesting. Guess I was wrongly assuming that the CAPI tracking was a workaround to track iOS 14 users that opted out of the pixel tracking.

In that case won't the classic JS pixel setup still be effective for tracking anyone that's trackable (tracking non-ios users and ios users who haven't opted out)? If CAPI won't make any difference for tracking the opted-out users why the sudden big push for implementing CAPI?

02-21-2021 06:53 AM #34 laurentjm (Member)

Originally Posted by clubdrock

You're not 100% wrong, but the two issues are not directly related.

ios 14 update
As a business Facebook is affected both as an app developer and as an ad network by the release.

Facebook As an app developer:
1. Facebook won't be able to track as much data as it used to because users will opt out of tracking.
2. Because of that, the behavioral signals used by FB to display targeted ads on its app, won't be as effective as they used to.
3. Consequently, advertisers will have less targeting and optimization options.
4. Ad revenues will drop.

Other app developers displaying in-app facebook ads:
They will be directly affected by this release because ad targeting will be less effective, and consequently ad revenues will drop.

As a mobile ad network:
1. Advertisers promoting mobile apps of the facebook mobile app will have less tracking / attribution, simply because when an install or in app event will happen, the third party app will not fire the postback to the advertiser, and therefore, facebook will not receive the signals required for attribution.
2. JS tracking doesn't work on native apps, therefore both fb pixel or conversion api will not help.

Yet, the fb conversion api uses and processes plenty of data points to attribute the conversions - not only the fbclid, and therefore using it will improve the attribution.

Note also, that if you use the conversion api, you will realize that the processing time is slower, which can only be explained by the fact that the attribution process, is not as straight-forward as it used to be.
I am not in a position to say with 100% certainty, but one can only assume that fb uses "ad hoc" signals in their probability attribution model to tie conversions to a fb user id.

facebook conversion api
as you might have noticed, you are now required to verify the domains where you place your JS pixel. This means, that if you place your pixel on a domain that isn't verified, the data passed to FB will not be processed.
- For example, if you take your JS pixel or noscript/image pixel and add it to your hasoffers / cake affiliate account, it will fire from a domain that you've not verified, and therefore will not track.
- Cross domain tracking will not work either, either because the final domain isn't verified, or because browsers block cross domain tracking pixels. For example, if your advertiser is kind enough to place your js pixel on their thank you page, you will have to verify that the domain is yours, otherwise it will not track.

Automatic advanced matching
Facebook is a user centric conversion platform. Therefore conversions are first attributed to a user before being attributed to an ad. For this reason, when you enable all options, you give FB the ability to automatically collect signals that are sent by the browser, and that can be further used when you send conversion data back to fb - either using the js pixel or the conversion api.
- the js pixel automatically captures these signals - but you can't fire this pixel from your advertiser thank you page / affiliate network.
- The conversion API doesn't capture / receive these signals automatically. You need to configure your app / tracking server to capture and send the parameters, and again, the fbclid is just one of the parameters.

To give a bit of context, here is how anytrack integrates with facebook - both js and conversion api:

1. Anytrack is also user centric - Therefore, when a user lands on your site where you have your FB / JS pixel, anytrack will tie the anytrack userid/clientid, with the fb tracking auto-generated signals (fb browser id, cookie id etc... ).
2. Anytrack will track these users, whether they come from a fb campaign, or any other traffic sources - organic, paid, email etc...
3. onsite events such as outbound clicks and form submissions, will be automatically sent to the fb pixel.
Note: Fb pixel can do that automatically, but when we send these events, we also send our own attribution data-points, which will be further used when sending conversions through the conversion api.
4. Onsite events are automatically sent to FB with the relevant standard events - so that you have a funnel flow to optimize i.e. page view, view content, lead etc...
5. If your website elements (links and forms) carry standard attributes - label, link name, link id, form name, form idetc... - they are also sent along with the event to the fb pixel - so that you can build custom audiences out of specific data:
Example:
- users that clicked on brand X, but did not convert
- users that clicked on brand Y or X, and that triggered a revenue > to $10
6. AutoTag function: very much like google ads, fb or bing, all outbound elements (forms/clicks) are autotagged with our tracking data (subid=clickid) so that further conversions can be tracked via postback / api.
7. On conversions: Our api gets rich conversion data - full payload (see below an example for everflow).
8. Conversions are automatically forwarded to FB Conversion API - with all the previously collected fb data, as well as the actual conversion data.
Note: Since the conversion is sent via the conversion api, there's no domain to verify.
9. Conversion data: product, price, conversion type (lead, complete registration, purchase etc...), currency, price etc... etc...
Note on conversion tracking: We work differently than traditional trackers since we process and send the entire conversion payload to fb (and other integrated analytics / apis). The conversion type, revenue, currency, product/offer, transaction id etc... These datapoints, can be further used within FB to create audiences, lookalike, or even custom conversions.
For example:
if you run a lead generation campaign, your funnel probably looks likes:
- Optin - On-site event
- Lead - when the lead generation platform accepts / validates the lead
- Complete Registration - when the lead is actually sold to a lead buyer

Each of these events will carry a different conversion data, that can be used to optimize your ad campaigns, create audiences, exclude audiences from campaign targeting.

But because these events include rich conversion data, they also help improve tracking and attribution.

Long story short
- The FB CAPI helps you improve conversion attribution, cross domain / system tracking.
- The FB CAPI is not the magical solution to all iOS 14 tracking restrictions, but using it will definitely help FB attribution engine fill some gaps.

Hopefully that helps.

Example of conversion payload

Code:

{  "creative_name": "",
  "mac_address_sha1": "",
  "affiliate_id": "xxxxxx",
  "android_id_sha1": "",
  "idfa_md5": "",
  "device_type": "Mobile",
  "offer_project_id": "",
  "creative_id": "0",
  "datetime": "2021-02-20 03:46:54",
  "geo_country_name": "United States",
  "android_id_md5": "",
  "payout_amount": "20.0",
  "app_id": "",
  "transaction_id": "f4f4d4b2739c4e67676b4e8050a2e23ec45",
  "idfa": "",
  "offer_name": "NEW - xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
  "google_aid": "",
  "revenue_amount": "",
  "user_id": "",
  "idfa_sha1": "",
  "geo_region_name": "Arizona",
  "event_name": "Base",
  "device_platform": "Android",
  "mac_address_md5": "",
  "device_os_version": "10.0",
  "device_language": "en",
  "geo_region_code": "AZ",
  "sub4": "",
  "sub5": "ALCo73DqEXiufMg9Ml1KfwRu5IYRt4a8Zz",
  "sub2": "",
  "device_model": "REVVLRY",
  "sub3": "",
  "device_browser": "Seznam For Android",
  "sub1": "{{ad.name}}",
  "advertiser_id": "",
  "random": "209729704",
  "offer_currency": "USD",
  "mac_address": "",
  "user_agent": "Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 10; REVVLRY Build/QPY30.85-18; wv) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Chrome/88.0.4324.181 Mobile Safari/537.36 [FB_IAB/FB4A;FBAV/306.1.0.40.119;]",
  "timestamp": [
    "1613792814",
    "1613792814"
  ],
  "amount": "",
  "offer_id": "xxxxxx",
  "affiliate_name": "xxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
  "event_id": "1340",
  "device_brand": "T-Mobile",
  "geo_country_code": "US",
  "source_id": "",
  "advertiser_name": "xxxxxx",
  "android_id": ""

}

02-21-2021 10:11 AM #35 zeno (Administrator)

Originally Posted by clubdrock

This is what I heard, and it makes sense. If users say "don't track us" and you're like "OK, we won't use cookies but will still track you completely because we have a different method lol" -- then the whole iOS 14 drama wouldn't be a drama in the first place. And there would be no need for Apple to enforce anything, as they could just make their iOS browsers block FB cookies, and thus there would be no action for FB to take at all.

I think the reason for shifting to CAPI is just the increased accuracy given the aforementioned blocking of cookies, which is commonplace now with browser privacy settings, DNT, Adblock plugins etc.; along with the domain issue (i.e. JS firing on non-verified domain from other sites).

02-21-2021 12:42 PM #36 clubdrock (Member)

Originally Posted by zeno

Thought it was possibly a 3rd vs 1st party cookie thing, with 3rd party being blocked by ios14 opt-outs and CAPI being considered 1st party and therefore still able to track. But yeah was struggling to wrap my head around the whole thing. Makes much more sense after this thread. Appreciate the great info guys!

02-22-2021 02:45 PM #37 laurentjm (Member)

Originally Posted by clubdrock

Clarifications:
Cookies live in the browser (whether first party / or 3rd party), while the conversion api is a server side connection that talks between a server / backend, and facebook server -> no cookies are involved - no first/3rd party. it's transparent to apple, but will happen only and if you get the conversion in the first place.

Safari browsers - both mobile and desktop
- ITP already blocked third party cookies.
- ETP (firefox) blocks third party cookies.
Both instances erase cookies based on context and usage after a period of time (regardless what the cookie says).

The iOS 14 release relates exclusively to apps installed on your mobile.

Each app developer (not only FB app) will have a separate "tracking" consent, and users are able to modify the tracking settings for each app, separately.
Each app has to go through a vetting / compliance process with Apple.
The vetting process specifically addresses the tracking methods, requirements - and the WHY the developer needs such or such data.
Once the app is validated, the relevant data will go out of the app to the mobile attribution provider (appsflyer, kochava, adjust, fb sdk etc...).
If no consent is given, not only the idfa will not be sent out, but also the clickid postback parameters.
- Aggregated data will be sent such as "campaign id" "ad id" etc... and conversion time rounded to the nearest hour.
- attribution providers have "probability" models that are meant to provide a solid solution, but will certainly not be as close as a "clickid" or the idfa.

Traffic / tracking flow will go like this:

Traffic flow: FB Ads Click > Landing page (your fb pixel loads / set cookie)*****�� > Visitor Clicks out to affiliate offer > Visitor Installs app.
*****�� This is where things are complex since you need to tie plenty of fb data points as well as the fbclid to your own tracking data

Conversion flow with tracking consent: On app install > Mobile app provider fires aff network postback > Aff network fires affiliate postback > Affiliate tracker fires an api call to FB API > FB attributes the conversion

Conversion flow without tracking consent: On app install > Mobile app provider fires aff network postback without clickid > Aff network fires affiliate postback > Affiliate tracker fires an api call to FB API > FB attributes the conversion.

IMO, each one of us has to take a step back to figure out where he is in the traffic / tracking flow, and what are the tracking mechanisms in place for the apps they are promoting.
For example, some affiliate networks have very poor tracking data, while others have an extensive data set, optimized for mobile advertising (i.e. tune/hasoffers).
If you work with an app provider directly, you need to double-check what their attribution platform is, and how to best work with it.

Then, the facebook conversion api can be used. But if you can't get the conversion event data out of the app in the first place, the all thread will be an interesting academic conversation between marketers

PS: the other day, i heard someone say "Everything is fine, our postback are firing and we're getting our conversions from app installs etc..."
What this means: Their postback are firing from users that have given consent to be tracked, and that's perfectly fine. Except that their postback are not firing for the users that didn't give consent...

02-23-2021 03:16 AM #38 clubdrock (Member)

Originally Posted by laurentjm

Conversion flow without tracking consent:[/B] On app install > Mobile app provider fires aff network postback without clickid > Aff network fires affiliate postback > Affiliate tracker fires an api call to FB API > FB attributes the conversion.

So what your saying above is opted out ios14 users can be tracked with CAPI? Seems to be the opposite conclusion that Zeno had. How can FB attribute the conversion if a user is opted out?

Originally Posted by laurentjm

Was not aware that the update was actually live yet. Last I heard people were saying it was delayed March or April. Is it already rolling out for some iOS users?

02-23-2021 09:44 AM #39 laurentjm (Member)

You missed that part:

If no consent is given, not only the idfa will not be sent out, but also the clickid postback parameters.
- Aggregated data will be sent such as "campaign id" "ad id" etc... and conversion time rounded to the nearest hour.
- attribution providers have "probability" models that are meant to provide a solid solution, but will certainly not be as close as a "clickid" or the idfa.

Here is an infographic that shows the tracking and data flow - with and without tracking consent.
had it done quickly, so pardon the "raw" design.

I tried to attach the image, but for some reason i get an error, so here is a link to a bigger size image

Click image for larger version.

Name: Copy of Facebook & iOS 14 update Tracking Flow (1).png
Views: 14
Size: 282.0 KB
ID: 24648

02-23-2021 11:04 AM #40 jeremie (Moderator)

Here is the image full size:

02-24-2021 11:24 PM #41 _david (Member)

Why not email? From my understanding that is the best option if I can make it work.

02-24-2021 11:47 PM #42 iwanttofly (Veteran Member)

Originally Posted by _david

Why not email? From my understanding that is the best option if I can make it work.

If you can get it, add it. But is the network even sending it to RedTrack?

02-25-2021 01:56 PM #43 laurentjm (Member)

Originally Posted by _david

Does anyone use another tracker / software that allows you to send hashed metrics over to FB (emails, etc...)?

At anytrack, we discard all personal data due to privacy concerns, and I strongly recommend against.

If you collect emails on your LP, then the facebook pixel will parse them, but if you get them elsewhere, then it might be risky to pass them, unless you have consent, and you know how to hash / send them the proper way.
FB are extremely sensitive to PII and this could cause your BM to go bust.

Instead of the PII we send as many parameters as possible - browser, ip, ua, login, etc... - Our app has the highest API access / approved by FB, so the data might be slightly different than what RedTrack has.

nevertheless, the match rate, will never be 10/10 because each parameter increases the rating, and the email counts toward it.

03-15-2021 01:22 PM #44 clubdrock (Member)

Originally Posted by zeno

Nevertheless, capturing the FBCLID and sending it back is not so difficult. In FF Pro at the moment I have a quick and dirty Integromat webhook URL set up so that you can just fire it like a postback and let our automation do the API side of things (see here - https://help.funnelflux.pro/en/artic...s-tracking-api).

Hey Zeno. Trying to recreate this setup outlined in your link (thanks again for that article). Sending conversion data from tracker postback to Integromat webhook to FB CAPI. But running into an issue. Thought I would ask about it here for anyone else trying to implement a similar setup.

Looking at your webook URL in the article:

"https://hook.integromat.com/kwujyk32mckquqruosy73xlloy9rjd64?pixel_id=REPLACE& event_name=Purchase&currency=USD&value={payout}&ev ent_time={timestamp}&ip={ip}&ua={user-agent}&fbclid={external}&access_token=REPLACE"

For the fbclid parameter, it seems like integromat wants it formatted in the fbc format (example: fb.1.1554763741205.AbCdEfGhIjKlMnOpQrStUvWxYz12345 67890). So it ends up formatted like this in the webhook: "&fbclid=fb.1.{unixtime}.{external}" , rather than just: "&fbclid={external}" like in your webhook.

Otherwise, I get an error if I just try to pass the fblclid without the extra "fb.1.{unixtime}" params. Can integromat accept just the fbclid without the other formatting or are you doing some reformatting in the backend of that webhook?

The strange thing is the modified webhook (with "&fbclid=fb.1.{unixtime}.{external}") is working right now on initial testing for iOS devices but not for Android. Confused as to why the issues with android. Hitting up integromat support to see if they have any idea.

03-18-2021 08:47 AM #45 zeno (Administrator)

Heya, on our end, we capture the entire value passed under FBCLID as our "external" value.

But, this is just a fragment of what FB wants sent in the API request. I add the rest using Integromat.

Here is the format we use - https://prnt.sc/10owmq9 - which results in calls like this - https://prnt.sc/10owp11

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