What is a postback and how do you set it up?
A postback is a server notification about an event. Learn how it connects an advertiser action to an earlier click and how to investigate reporting differences.
What an S2S postback does
A visitor follows an advertising link and completes an action later. A tracker cannot infer that action from the initial redirect alone. The advertiser or CPA network sends a separate HTTP request to an agreed address: the postback. S2S means server to server, so the notification itself does not require the visitor to keep a browser tab open. The connection still begins at click time. Server delivery cannot automatically restore a missing original identifier. Distinguish request receipt, acceptance of the event into a report and confirmation of payment by the partner. Those stages can happen at different times and have different statuses.
Clickid connects the two sides
The tracker generates a clickid and inserts it into the offer URL through a macro. The network stores the value in its own parameter and returns it with the notification. Parameter names can differ between systems; the preserved value is what matters. Inspect the final URL after redirects and landing page buttons. An empty parameter, an unexpanded macro or a truncated query string breaks the connection. Do not replace a clickid with a campaign number, because one campaign contains many visits. Trace one controlled click through every stage when debugging, without publishing secret endpoint addresses or information about real visitors.
Statuses and amounts describe the event
A notification may describe registration, a lead, approval, rejection or a later payment. Agree on how network statuses map to your accounting model. inotrack supports reg, lead, approve or reject, ftd, dep and rebill with status history. A new status may update an existing conversion, so counting HTTP requests does not count paid actions. Send the amount and currency in the expected format. Keep affiliate payout distinct from the customer purchase amount: they represent different financial quantities. When a network sends a correction, reconcile the final state and history rather than adding every notification as fresh revenue.
Why deduplication matters
A network may retry a request when its response did not arrive in time. Without deduplication, that retry could inflate conversion counts and payouts. inotrack checks the combination of network, clickid, goal and transaction identifier. Establish which partner field provides a stable event identifier. Another delivery of the same event must be distinguishable from a new payment by the same visitor. Do not change transaction identifiers on retries merely to obtain a successful response. Test an identical notification twice, then test a legitimate status transition separately. Inspect report results and processing history; an HTTP response alone does not explain whether an event was new, updated or repeated.
Verify one click end to end
Start with the network documentation and select an appropriate preset or agreed request format. Configure the receiving address, pass clickid to the offer and perform a controlled visit. Send a test event with a known goal, status, amount and currency. Check the handler response, conversion record and flow assignment in the report. Repeat the request to check deduplication. Investigate errors in sequence: does the click exist, does its identifier match, is the status recognized and is the amount valid? Change one setting at a time and record the result. Keep testing separate from working accounting according to your team procedure.
Incoming and outgoing notifications
An incoming postback brings an event from the network into the tracker. An outgoing connection passes a selected conversion to an advertising source, analytics service or another destination. Each direction has its own settings and delivery history. Successful network intake does not prove delivery to an advertising account, and account acceptance does not guarantee attribution. The product postbacks page describes inotrack capabilities; this page explains the underlying chain and checks. Use the postback documentation and macro reference for concrete parameters, and the linked articles for network examples. Reconcile matching periods and statuses while allowing for delays on both sides.
Questions
Is a postback the same as a pixel?
No. A postback here is a server HTTP request; a browser pixel runs in a different context.
Why are there more requests than conversions?
Retries and status updates can produce multiple notifications. Reconcile unique events, history and final payouts.
Read next
Run inotrack on your own server
One command on a clean VPS, 10–15 minutes. Get your key right after you pay on the site, or a free one for 7 days.
Questions? Message us on Telegram: @SmokeJung.