URL Parameters & Macros

URL Parameters and Macros can be used together to dynamically manage all of your Gamesight Trackers. These two features together with a bit of creativity can let you do anything from managing Dynamic Trackers, to giving users unique landing pages, to setting up complex Ad Network integrations.

URL Parameters

Hierarchy Parameters

Read more about passing Tracker Hierarchy parameters through URL Parameters in the Dynamic Trackers guide.

URL ParameterDescriptionDefault
campaignTracker's Campaign IDNone
campaign_nameCampaign's display name in the ConsoleInherits Campaign ID value
ad_groupTracker's Ad Group IDNone
ad_group_nameAd Group's display name in the ConsoleInherits Ad Group ID value
adTracker's Ad IDNone
ad_nameAd's display name in the ConsoleInherits Ad ID value

Reporting Dimensions

The following parameters let you provide more precision in your reporting structure by tracking additional common dimensions. These values do not alter Tracker behavior, they are simply passed directly into your reporting as additional fields that you can group/filter by.

URL ParameterDescriptionDefault
ad_typeUsed to designate the type of creative being used in this ad (text/video/banner/etc)None
placementLocation on the page where this ad was placed (sidebar, feed, top, position 3, etc)None
keywordHolds keyword(s) for SEM campaignsNone
creativeHolds a unique ID for the specific creativeNone
site_idIdentifies specific site/platform ad was run through within a network, used for differentiating Facebook vs Instagram vs Messenger, for exampleNone
sub_site_idIdentifies sub-site/sub-platform ad was run throughNone
sub1, sub2, sub3, sub4, sub5, sub6, sub7, sub8, sub9, sub10Arbitrary tag-like parameters that can be used to track any additional dimensions you would like to add to your reportingNone
adsrv_campaign, adsrv_ad_group, adsrv_ad, adsrv_placement, adsrv_creative, adsrv_site_idHolds ad serving IDs when you are using a third party ad server (such as Google CM360)None

Cost

Cost parameters can be used to help you track the cost of each Touchpoint for campaigns that are running with simple pricing models. Review the Measuring ROAS guide for more details on working with cost reporting.

URL ParameterDescriptionDefault
cost_modelThe model to use when assigning cost to this touchpoint. Allowed values are: CPM, CPC, CPICPC
cost_amountCost amount on a per unit basis. For example, for a 1.00 CPI this field would be set to 1.000.00
cost_currencyCurrency that cost information is reported in.USD

External IDs

If any of the External IDs that you are using for direct attribution are known at the time of click/impression those values can be passed directly as URL Parameters instead of using the Web SDK to create session mappings. General details about External ID implementation can be found in the Web Measurement SDK Quick Start.

URLParameterNameDescriptionDefault
xid[][id]The External ID value, format depends on the Type provided.None
xid[][type]The External ID Type, supported types can be found here.None
xid[][sha256]Set the hashing behavior for this external ID.
- client: you are sending a hashed ID
- server: our ingestion servers hash the ID prior to storage
- unset: stores the ID unhashed
None
xid[][scope_type]Used to manage this id's scope:
- game: This ID is scoped for usage by this game only
- org: This ID is available for matching between all games in this Org.
None
xid[][scope_id]The organization that this ID is scoped to.None

As an example here are a few complete External ID definitions using URL Parameters:

# Passing a single id
?xid[0][id]=123456789&xid[0][type]=steamid64

# Passing a single id with hashing options
?xid[0][id]=testing&xid[0][type]=xbgt&xid[0][sha256]=server

# Passing multiple ids
?xid[0][id]=123&xid[0][type]=psid&xid[1][id]=456&xid[1][type]=xuid

Miscellaneous

URL ParameterDescriptionDefault
attribution_windowClick through attribution window (in seconds) for this Touchpoint. Only valid on Click Tracking URLsNone. Inherited from Parent Tracker(s)
impression_attribution_windowView through attribution window (in seconds) for this Touchpoint. Only valid on Impression Tracking URLsNone. Inherited from Parent Tracker(s)
destination_urlFull URL to redirect user to. Only valid on Click Tracking URLs. More details belowNone. Inherited from Parent Tracker(s)

Destination URL

The destination_url macro can be useful for complex tracking scenarios where you have multiple landing page variants. By passing destination_url to your tracker you can override the Destination URL value set on your tracker.

For example, if you have a tracker https://gsght.com/c/XXXXXX that normally directs users to https://gamesight.io but you want to send some traffic selectively to https://store.steampowered.com you can override the Destination URL like so:

https://gsght.com/c/XXXXXX?destination_url=https://store.steampowered.com

This link will now send the user to Steam when clicked. Some common use cases for the destination_url macro include:

  • Overriding the landing page when working with Dynamic Trackers - specifically for managing multiple landing pages on Facebook Ads.
  • Managing multiple localized landing pages without generating separate Trackers for each page.
  • Chaining your Gamesight tracking structure with third party click measurement solutions such as Sizmek or DCM.

Macros

Built-In Macros

The following macros are available on all click tracking links despite their values not being passed through the URL Parameters.

MacroDescriptionExample Value
{click_id}ID for current click9025267f-6bab-4861-a88c-85f6568f389a
{game_id}Game ID for Tracker used for click100
{team_id}Team ID for Tracker used for click100
{network}Network for Tracker used for clicktwitter
{campaign}Campaign for Tracker used for clickmy-campaign
{ad_group}Ad Group for Tracker used for clickgroup-1
{ad}Ad for Tracker used for clickad-1

Custom Macros

Any parameter passed to the click URL (whether that is a SubID, cost, or even a
custom parameter that you append) can be replaced in the destination URL for the
tracker.

For example, if my tracker has a destination URL of:
https://gamesight.io?group={sub1}&token={my_token}

We can use a click link of:
https://gsght.com/c/12345?sub1=Users&my_token=aaabbbccc

This will send the user to:
https://gamesight.io?group=Users&token=aaabbbccc