AppsFlyer - Web to app

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This flow is a bit more complex than Direct to App.
For more information, see: S2S Conversion Tracking With AppsFlyer.

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Your version of AppsFlyer might differ from the one described here.
For AppsFlyer support, visit the AppsFlyer Help Center.

Integrate AppsFlyer with Taboola

Configure the Taboola Partner Integration

1. Log into your AppsFlyer dashboard.
2. Click My Apps (top, right).
3. Start typing the relevant App ID and click on the thumbnail to open the App.

4. Under Collaborate (bottom, left), select Active integrations.
5. Start typing "Taboola" and click on the thumbnail to open the Taboola Partner.

6. Under Taboola Integration, toggle Activate Partner to ON.

7. Under In-app event settings, fill in your Taboola Advertiser ID. (Leave the Taboola Ecomm Campaign ID field blank.)

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Which Taboola Advertiser ID?

• To track conversions for a given account, fill in that Taboola Account ID.
• To track conversions for a network, fill in the Taboola Network Account ID.

8. Click Save Integration (bottom, right).

9. Next, switch to the Attribution Link tab.

10. Depending on your intended use case, choose either Use single platform link or Use Onelink as the Attribution Link Type. For more detail, see the AppsFlyer documentation.

11. Map the selected AppsFlyer Parameter Name from the provided list to its corresponding Taboola parameter (referred to as the Value) in the Attribution link parameters section.

12. Skip the Retargeting settings section.

13. Under the Click-through attribution tab, locate the Click-through lookback window section and set it to the desired duration - e.g., 30 days.

14. If you also want to track views, navigate to the View-through attribution tab and locate the View-through lookback window section. Set the desired duration, for example, 24 hours.

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For a detailed understanding of which parameters to use, review the Parameters guide.

For guidance on selecting appropriate values, refer to Creating and Adding URL Parameters for Tracking.

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Best Practice

Configure AppsFlyer and Taboola with the same lookback window (e.g., 30 days).

If AppsFlyer has a shorter lookback window, then any conversions outside that window will not be passed to Taboola for attribution.

The Taboola lookback window will be configured below under Set up corresponding events in Taboola. By default, the Taboola lookback window is 30 days.

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Useful links

• Adding an App to AppsFlyer
• Integrated partners dashboard
• Set up an integrated partner
• Partner activation/deactivation

(Optional) Track in-app events

The steps taken in the previous section allow you to track Install Events. This section describes how to track In-App Events.

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In-App Event Tracking

In-App Event Tracking allows for granular campaign optimization.

If you followed the previous section, you already have the necessary screen open. In that case, switch back to the Integration tab, and start at Step 3.

1. Open the AppsFlyer dashboard.
2. Select the relevant App and navigate to Collaborate > Active Integrations > Taboola (see previous section: Configure the Taboola Partner Integration ).
3. Toggle In-app event postbacks to ON if you wish to track any in-app conversions.

4. Define the desired duration for the postback window (e.g., 30 days).
5. Initiate event configuration by clicking Add Event
   • Choose an AppsFlyer event from the list or add a new one by clicking Add item
   • Link the chosen AppsFlyer event with the Taboola event name it corresponds to (aka mapped to partner event).

• For the for user from field, pick This Partner Only for exclusive Taboola events or All Media Sources Including Organic to include all sources.
• In the including field, select No Values & No Revenue for non-revenue events or Values & Revenue for transactions like purchases. Choose Values & No Revenue for specific non-revenue-related values.

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Best Practice

Keep the AppsFlyer postback window consistent with the Taboola lookback window to ensure all in-app conversions are attributed correctly.

For instance, if your Taboola lookback window is set to 7 days, your AppsFlyer postback window should also be set to 7 days. Choosing a shorter postback window in AppsFlyer means any conversions that happen after that period won’t be credited to Taboola, potentially missing out on valuable attribution data.

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Useful links

• In-app event postback configuration

Set up 2 links

Edit the campaign creative/ad

Link the Campaign Creative/Ad directly to your Landing Page:

1. Log into Realize.

2. Add or edit your Campaign Creative/Ad. Fill in the Landing Page as the URL and save.

   Sample URL:
   https://www.example.com/taboola_landing_page

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Use the Landing Page as the URL - not the link obtained from AppsFlyer. Add the Landing Page at the creative/ad level (not the campaign level).

Add URL parameters at the campaign level

1. Add or edit the relevant campaign.

2. Extract the url parameter from Appsflyer Click Tracker:

   Sample link:
   https://app.appsflyer.com/com.appsflyer.adNetworkTest?pid=taboola_int&af_siteid={site_id}&c={campaign_name}&af_ad_id={campaign_item_id}&af_click_lookback=7d&clickid={click_id}

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   Add shown parts in red under Campaign Settings > Tracking > Tracking Code:

   

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   For additional information about adding passback macros at the campaign level, see: Creating and Adding URL Parameters for Tracking.

Create links for your Landing Page CTAs

• Configure Onelink Smart Script on your Landing Page
  1. Create a Onelink Smart Script by following the guide in the AppsFlyer Help Center.
  2. Use the example below to integrate Taboola URL parameters with a Onelink script.
  3. The generated Onelink URL will be used for the Landing Page CTA.

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Onelink - An example

Sample AppsFlyer link:
https://app.appsflyer.com/com.appsflyer.adNetworkTest?pid=taboola_int&af_siteid={site_id}&c={campaign_name}&af_ad_id={campaign_item_id}&af_click_lookback=7d&clickid={click_id}

JavaScript

// Initializing Smart Script arguments
var oneLinkURL = "https://yourappname.onelink.me/XyZK/";
var mediaSource = {keys: ["utm_source", "pid"]};
var campaign = {keys: ["c"]};
var adSet = {keys: ["af_ad_id"]};
var af_siteid = {paramKey: "af_siteid", keys: ["af_siteid"]};
var af_click_lookback = {paramKey: "af_click_lookback", keys: ["af_click_lookback"]};
var clickid = {paramKey: "clickid", keys: ["clickid"]};

// Onelink URL is generated.
var result = window.AF_SMART_SCRIPT.generateOneLinkURL({
  oneLinkURL: oneLinkURL,
  afParameters: {
    mediaSource: mediaSource,
    campaign: campaign,
    adSet: adSet,
    afCustom: [af_click_lookback, af_siteid, clickid]
  }
});

var result_url = "No output from script";
if (result) {
  result_url = result.clickURL;
  document.getElementById('andrd_link').setAttribute('href', result_url);
  document.getElementById('ios_link').setAttribute('href', result_url);
}
document.getElementById('output_url').innerHTML = result_url;

Onelink url:
https://yourappname.onelink.me/XyZK/?af_js_web=true&af_ss_ver=2_2_0&pid=taboola_int&c={campaign_name}&af_adset={campaign_item_id}&af_click_lookback=7d&af_siteid={site_id}&clickid={click_id}

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The PID portion (in orange) tells AppsFlyer to attribute the conversion to Taboola.

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The Click ID param (in red) should look exactly as shown.

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Useful links

• OneLink Smart Script V2 Setup
• Test the Smart Script

Set up corresponding events in Taboola

You'll need to set up Realize with the same events as AppsFlyer. This way, when AppsFlyer notifies Taboola of a conversion, Taboola can record the event and reflect it in reporting.

Create the app install event in Taboola

1. Log into Realize.
2. In the navigation bar, select TRACKING to open the Conversions screen.
3. Click on + New Conversion.
4. For Type, click on Event.
5. Under Conversion Properties:
   • Select Category as App Install
   • After selecting the category in the previous step, the auto-filled Event Name will be 'app_install'; change it to install
   • Fill in the remaining fields as desired and click on Create Conversion

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IMPORTANT

Type in the Event Name exactly as shown above.

Create in-app events in Taboola (Optional)

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First create in-app events in AppsFlyer - see above: (Optional) Track in-app events.

1. Log into Realize.
2. In the navigation bar, select TRACKING to open the Conversions screen.
3. Click on + New Conversion.
4. For Type, click on Event.
5. Fill in the remaining conversion rule details, according to your specific needs. The same guidelines apply as per pixel-based conversions.
6. Under Conversion Properties, fill in:
   • Conversion Name - This is not used for the server-to-server communication, and can be changed at any time. Choose any name that helps you to identify the conversion rule.
   • Event Name - Use the same name that you provided in AppsFlyer, exactly as it appears there. See: (Optional) Track in-app events.

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Use the identical event name, as it appears in AppsFlyer.

Event names are case-sensitive.

Start Tracking Conversions

Well done! Your setup is complete, and you are now ready to track conversions.

Test your configuration

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We recommend testing your configuration.

Note that you can test your configuration before your campaign goes live.

For more information, see: Verify your S2S conversion tracking

Understanding the end-to-end flow

The following steps illustrate the end-to-end flow:

1. John clicks on your creative/ad. Taboola appends the actual Click ID value (abc123) and directs John to your Landing Page:

   https://www.example.com/taboola_landing_page?pid=taboola_int&af_siteid={site_id}&c={campaign_name}&af_ad_id={campaign_item_id}&af_click_lookback=7d&clickid=abc123

2. The Landing Page records the Click ID value for John’s session (using Smart Script).

3. A bit later, John clicks on a CTA in the Landing Page:
   https://yourappname.onelink.me/XyZK/

4. The Smart Script appends the relevant query string params and Click ID, and directs John to the target URL:
   https://yourappname.onelink.me/XyZK/?af_js_web=true&af_ss_ver=2_2_0&pid=taboola_int&c={campaign_name}&af_adset={campaign_item_id}&clickid=abc123

5. AppsFlyer stores John’s Click ID (abc123) and directs John to the App Store/Play Store.

6. A bit later, John installs the App - which you defined as a conversion in the AppsFlyer dashboard and Realize.

7. AppsFlyer invokes the Taboola postback URL, inserting John’s Click ID, and the event name:
   https://trc.taboola.com/actions-handler/log/3/s2s-action?click-id=abc123&name=install

8. Realize reflects the conversion in the relevant reports.

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What is the Taboola Click ID?

When a user clicks on your campaign creative, Taboola’s {click_id} macro passes a unique identifier to the destination URL.

Creative link:
https://www.example.com/taboola_landing_page?pid=taboola_int&af_siteid={site_id}&c={campaign_name}&af_ad_id={campaign_item_id}&af_click_lookback=7d&clickid={click_id}

Upon clicking, the user is directed to:
https://www.example.com/taboola_landing_page?pid=taboola_int&af_siteid={site_id}&c={campaign_name}&af_ad_id={campaign_item_id}&af_click_lookback=7d&clickid=abc123

The abc123 identifier is a Click ID. It stores information about the click event - e.g., which campaign was clicked and which user, etc. When AppsFlyer passes back the Click ID, Taboola uses it for attribution and tracking.

A real Click ID is an alphanumeric, case-sensitive string. E.g.
GiAsAGJvFovGp9sM6kcwLmGqMeNUF6PYvd7Xwp1pA_mkcSC292Qo-5-A3Ijkt9yQAQ

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Useful links

• AppsFlyer Help Center
• Server-to-Server Events