Tracking & optimisation · also called tracking platform, ad tracker, campaign tracker
Tracker (campaign tracking platform)
A tracker is software that records every click an arbitrageur buys, matches it to the revenue it later earns, and reports profit by campaign, ad and keyword.
An arbitrage business has costs in one set of systems (Meta, TikTok, Taboola) and revenue in another (the feed). Neither side knows about the other. A tracker sits in the middle and joins them. Products used in this trade include Voluum, RedTrack, ClickFlare and Binom, alongside tools built in-house.
It works like this. Each ad link carries identifying details: campaign, ad, placement, and the platform's Click ID. The tracker stores them when the visitor arrives and passes its own identifier to the feed as a Sub ID or Channel ID. When the feed reports revenue, through a postback or an API, the tracker attaches it to the original clicks, pulls cost from the ad platform, and shows profit at every level.
A modern tracker then closes the loop by sending revenue back to the ad platform through its Conversions API so automated bidding can learn. For search feeds this involves estimation, because Google does not report revenue for each individual click. A tracker is therefore a model of the truth, to be reconciled against feed statements and platform invoices every month.
Think of it like this
It is the till roll that matches each delivery from the wholesaler to each sale at the counter, so you know which products make money.
Related terms
Postback (server-to-server tracking)
A postback is a message sent directly from one company's server to another's to report that a tracked click produced a conversion or revenue.
Click ID
A click ID is a unique code an ad platform or tracker attaches to each ad click so that later events can be matched back to that exact click.
Sub ID
A sub ID is a custom label a publisher passes to a feed or network with each visit, so reported revenue can be broken down by that label.
Attribution
Attribution is the process of deciding which ad, click or traffic source gets the credit for a conversion or a piece of revenue.
Conversions API (CAPI)
The Conversions API is Meta's server-to-server interface for sending conversion events and their values to Meta directly, without relying on the visitor's browser.
Keyword-level reporting
Keyword-level reporting breaks down clicks and revenue by the individual keyword or related search term the visitor clicked on the landing page.
Sources: ClickFlare: Search arbitrage tracking, ClickFlare: What is RSOC and how does it work