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Comparing 3 Conversion Tracking Processes

Selecting the Right Conversion Tracking Methodology

White paper

Executive summary
Experienced online marketers know that you cant measure what you cant track. And with campaigns that extend across Bing, Google, and other publishers, its essential to be able to integrate, track, and optimize various conversion metrics to meet strategic and tactical marketing goals. But how is a conversion defined? And how is it specifically tracked? Unfortunately, theres no one answer as that can vary across all publishers. And with third-party campaign management platforms, such as SearchForce, DART, Omniture, and Google Analytics, there can be an added layer of complexity. In this white paper, youll learn how various publishers and solutions providers track conversions and use cookies so you can more accurately measure key performance indicators, improve campaign efficiency, and account for possible conversion tracking discrepancies that may arise.

How conversions are counted

How cookies track conversions

Selecting the right conv. tracking method

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1) How conversions are counted

Google, Microsoft, and Third-Party Providers
Most online advertising tracking solutions use a small code snippet that you place on your confirmation/thank you page. When a user completes a specific tracked event and reaches a conversion page, the code records that as a conversion. But tracking solutions vary based on how many different conversion events can be tracked on your site and how the conversion data is reported.

Google AdWords
AdWords allows you to track multiple events on the same website. You can define custom action names for each conversion event and map those events to a predefined conversion type, such as lead, sale, page view, sign-up or other action. Once the tracking codes are in place, you can view the conversions under the Conv (1-per-click) and Conv (many-per-click) columns. You can also view conversion-per-action data in the Reporting & Tools ->Conversions tab. But keep in mind that AdWords credits a conversion to a click date, also known as a landing date. Thats the date the user clicked on an ad and landed at your site. The user might complete the transaction that same day, or may come back after a few days. In either case, the conversion is mapped to the click date. AdWords will look back 30 days for a landing date to credit the conversion to. So the number of conversions that are ultimately credited accumulate and update over that 30-day window.

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Microsoft adCenter
Microsoft adCenter operates differently than AdWords. In AdWords, conversions are attributed to a click date. In adCenter, conversions are attributed to the date the conversion occurred. That means its not necessary to look back over a specific timeframe to obtain the correct number of conversions.

But adCenter does not allow for tracking revenue and different event types. Microsoft adCenter does, however, provide an analytics solution that enables you to set up multiple steps over the course of a transaction. You can define multiple goals (a specific action, such as a purchase, page view, sign-up, etc.), but conversion data is consolidated under one column in the report.
In addition, adCenter offers three options for configuring the tracking code to define how many conversions are counted per click. These options include: 1) Count one conversion per click (default setting) Counts only the first conversion that occurs after initial click Subject to adCenter 7-day cookie (see Cookies section on page 6) Subsequent conversions, if any, within the 7 day window not counted Clicks after the 7-day window not counted

Note: this option prevents double counting of conversions, but may undercount if your rightis to track Select the goal How How cookies every transaction a user completes. Because this option tracks only one event per click, its not useful for conv. tracking conversions track tracking multiple events on your site. method

are counted

conversions

2) Count one conversion per unique URL Allows tracking of multiple conversions per unique URL Confirmation page URL changes for each transaction (for example if there is a parameter with a unique ID in the URL thats different for each valid transaction) Ensures that all valid transactions are recorded, but ignores duplicate transactions, such as reloading of confirmation pages

(See example on p5.)

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Example: A user clicks on your ad and ends up making a purchase within the 7-day window, leading to a conversion. During the conversion process, your site adds a unique parameter to your URL. If the user comes back to make another purchase within 7 days, another unique parameter will be added to the URL, and this conversion will be counted. 3) Count all conversions Includes duplicate conversions if users refresh the confirmation/thank you page

Third-party tracking solutions With the increasingly sophisticated capabilities of third-party tracking solutions such as SearchForce, there are more flexible choices for tracking, consolidating, and optimizing conversions.

But its important to understand how third-party solutions introduce additional layers into the conversiontracking methodology.
Most third-party tracking solutions allow you to track a limited number of multiple events (usually 2 to 5) with conversions usually mapped to the conversion date. On the SearchForce platform, you can track an unlimited number of conversion events, which can be attributed to either the click date or the conversion date. Whats more, you can track revenue for each conversion event and record extra information about the conversion event, such as order id, number of products purchased, specific product purchased, etc.

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2) How cookies track conversions

Understanding how cookies differ across platforms
Most tracking solutions use cookies that are placed on the users computer. Cookies contain information on the clicked ad, the bidded keyword, a unique user ID, etc. This information is then used to track the users clicks and queries that lead to a conversion. However, publisher and third party cookies implement different approaches for both the type of cookie used and the life of the cookie.

Three types of cookies

First-party cookies: Created on a website domain and treated as reliable and secure by browsers. Because these cookies are browser dependent, they cant be used to reliably track users across different browsers. Third-party cookies: Created in a different domain, usually the one hosted by the tracking solution provider. These are generally treated as unreliable by browsers, although most browsers will accept third-party cookies unless a user opts out. Flash cookies: Stored on the users computer but are browser independent. Unlike first- and thirdparty cookies, tracking codes can access this cookie even if a customer uses a different browser to complete a transaction.

Life of the cookie

How long a cookie is stored on a users computer is an essential parameter in tracking conversions, especially if a completed transaction does not occur until days or weeks after an initial click.

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Here is an overview of how publishers and third-party solutions handle cookies Publisher cookies
Both Google AdWords and Microsoft adCenter create first-party cookies which stay on a users browser for a predefined number of days. For AdWords, the cookie is stored for 30 days. For adCenter, the cookie expires in 7 days. A conversion will only be recorded if the user completes a transaction while the cookie still exists. Once the cookie expires, all other conversions will be ignored. Third-party tracking cookies Each third-party solution differs somewhat in the types of cookies they use. SearchForce creates first-party cookies and flash cookies (which are optional if your sire does not support Flash) to record conversions an approach that provides more accurate information on conversion performance. In addition, the SearchForce platform allows you to configure how long a cookie will remain on the users computer. This makes it possible to track delayed conversions from returning users in a way thats customized to your campaign tracking needs.

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3) Selecting the right conversion tracking methodology

This table summarizes the major differences between Google AdWords, Microsoft adCenter, and the SearchForce tracking solution. You can use this as a reference guide to evaluate any specific solution you may wish to deploy. Features Track multiple events on the same website Report on multiple events at different levels like campaign, adgroup, keyword, etc. Revenue tracking Additional order information Flexible Cookie expiration times Type of tracking cookie Attribute conversion to landing date or conversion date Allow testing of code before enabling the tracking Track clicks from other publishers and channels Report on conversion contributors Google AdWords Yes No Yes No No (fixed 30 days) First party Landing date No No* No* Microsoft adCenter No No No No No (fixed 7 days) First party Conversion date No No No SearchForce Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes First party and Flash cookie Configurable Yes Yes Yes

Give credit to conversion contributors

Allows adding offline conversions or revising conversions tracked by the solution

No
No

No
No

Yes
Yes

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* Is available with the Google analytics solution.

About SearchForce
The industry-leading PPC and online marketing platform
With SearchForce, you eliminate tedious manual processes through one customizable bid optimization, campaign management, and reporting platform that offers:
Centralized user dashboard to manage multiple campaigns. A set of flexible bidding strategies to meet virtually any goal, with complete synchronization across all major search engines. Customized and consolidated reporting plus cross-channel conversion tracking across all channels Social media tools to make the most of advertising opportunities on Facebook Advanced reporting and analytics to streamline campaign management

Contact SearchForce today to find out more about how our platform can suit your needs: Email: info@searchforce.com | Phone: 650.235.8777

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GLOSSARY
Click date Landing date Conversion date Cookie First-party cookie Third-party cookie Flash cookie

Sources
http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55535 http://community.microsoftadvertising.com/blogs/advertiser/archive/2009/01/27/faq-on-adcenterconversion-tracking.aspx http://community.microsoftadvertising.com/forums/t/68558.aspx

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