IP tracking – how it works and how to set it up properly

IP tracking – how it works and how to set it up properly

 

What IP tracking is and how it works

IP tracking is used to record a conversion mediated by an affiliate partner in a situation where the common conversion measurement via cookie cannot be used, for example:

    • an order was completed on a device other than a click, i.e. on another device of that customer or by another family member on their device
    • in deleting cookies from the browser (either intentional or unintentional) between the click and sending an order
    • in absolute blocking of necessary cookies (ITP) on the browser side (Safari)

IP tracking means that at the same IP address where a click was made from an affiliate publisher´s website, an order was also sent by the set time. After the end of the set IP tracking validity period, an affiliate conversion is not included and an advertiser does not pay a commission.


Today already quite a common situation when someone views and click a cell phone ad, but then he/she wants to have a look at goods on a larger notebook, PC or tablet screen. Or he/she wants to share with another family member who then completes the shopping on their device. On another device they enter directly the e-shop address but no data on a link between pacing an order and a click from an affiliate partner is, of course, transferred to another device. And hence a publisher gets no commission, even though it is provably entitled to it. For comparison imagine, say, that a supplier has brought and handed goods over according to routine warehouse processes. But you tell the supplier that someone other than stock-keeper has taken over and therefore you will not pay for the goods.

 

Using IP tracking in Post Affilate Pro with Dognet

Post affiliate Pro (PAP), which is also used by Dognet for the administration and measurement of affiliate campaigns, uses primarily Cookies as do other systems. Given the ever-growing limitations, however, it tracks PAP sources and users and records commissions based on many more parameters. These are ordered precisely as follows:

    • Unique code of influencer coupon
    • Fixed publisher ID
    • 1st and 3rd party cookies
    • HTML5 Web Storage cookies
    • Flash cookies
    • User Agent and IP address
    • IP address

The objective is for the affiliate campaign performance measurement to be as accurate as possible, unless common and increasingly limited cookies can be used.

One of the optional and time-adjustable parameters of a campaign, IP tracking is transparent and its validity can be set from hours to days.

For full details of the technical method of measuring affiliate campaigns in Dognet, see “Why and how there arise differences in affiliate marketing measuring in Google Analytics”.

 

How to set up IP tracking

Thus, it depends on the goals of an affiliate campaign and in particular on the knowledge of the shopping path, whether you permit IP tracking and for how long or let it disabled.

If you know there are several interactions on a number of household devices between a click and placing an order, it is recommended to have it on but adequately set the validity time. If you know, in turn, that a vast majority of orders are made immediately, on the same device and that customers do not use more devices in the ordering process, feel free to turn it off.

Like with measuring the use of cookies, IP tracking is not perfect, either. A situation might arise that at the IP address where a click occurred, someone else who is connected at the same IP address places an order. This may happen, e.g., in an office or even in one neighborhood. Though it still holds that this must happen in the advertiser-set time limit in order to record a conversion to an affiliate partner and pay out a commission. Thus the time between a potential customer´s click from an affiliate partner´s website and sending an order of “another” customer at the same IP address must not be longer the e-shop-set limit for an affiliate campaign.

Thus, judge for yourselves how probable this situation is and what is the ratio of these orders to those that would not be recorded at all, and you can decide accordingly. And how you want to approach your partners who promote your campaign at their risk, thus the publishers.

 

IP tracking with Dognet is a transparent and adjustable parameter of a campaign

Those affiliate networks that do not use IP tracking address the aforesaid situations where neither cookie nor other accurate technological method of measuring can be used, often times so that they simply somehow mathematically “additionally calculate immeasurable conversions”. So, for example, in a situation where Safari is used in a campaign by 7 % of users or 7 % click-throughs are recorded without a conversion, with those 7 % of click-throughs from this User Agent, they additionally calculate the average number of orders according to the average conversion ratio of a given campaign. This is a method as well, why not. But a problem is if an advertiser does not have the slightest idea and will not find out anywhere.

With Dognet, the permission of IP tracking is part of a contract, as is the setup of all the key parameters of a campaign. It´s fully transparent and not used without the knowledge an advertiser that may or may not use it. Moreover, its permission and the period of validity can be altered at any time.

Dognet´s system and services rank among the most accurate and best ones among the affiliate networks in the Czech and Slovak Republic. This is clearly suggested by the independent analyses published on TyInternety.cz April 21, 2021. For the comprehensive comparison, see HERE.

Roman Dobiáš

Mám na starosti aktivity Dognet v České republice.

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