There are several issues that you may encounter when using the platform tracking pixel (Tracker) as your revenue integration. It is not always immediately clear exactly what is the cause of the problem, and sometimes there can even be multiple causes. This article has been written to help you identify potential issues and solve them.
Potential Issues With Platform Tracking
Like any other revenue integration, there are many different symptoms that can occur when using platform tracking. The most common of these are:
- Missing conversions (or none at all).
- More conversions than expected.
- Fewer conversions than expected.
Other problems may also occur, however the symptoms are almost always caused by one of a handful of core problems, as we’ll explore below.
Causes Of Tracking Issues
When you have issues with conversion tracking and are using the platform tracking pixel, the cause of the problem is usually:
- Incorrectly tagged URLs (include errors in tracking parameters).
- A problem with the deployment of the tracking code snippet.
- Incorrectly set up conversion types.
How To Troubleshoot Tracking Issues
You will need to carry out different steps depending on the particular symptom that you’re seeing in the platform. It’s a good idea to go through each of these guides to ensure that you’ve tried everything before contacting our Support Team.
Check Parameters For Any Mistakes
Your tracking parameters need to be set up correctly and accurately in order for your conversions to be tracked and attributed in the right way. To double-check these, follow these steps:
- Click the Settings link in the upper right.
- Click the Revenue & Tracking sub-tab.
- Choose the Tracking IDs option from the tabs.
- Use the grid to inspect each of your parameters and their start and stop values. For example, a common keyword ID would be mkwid. Note that the start field should not contain any characters (like the ‘equals’ sign) other than the parameter.
Check Your Tracking Code Snippet Deployment
If the tracking code is not inserted into your website pages correctly, conversions may not be tracked. For information about how to view and how to check the correct placement of your code snippet, please read our Help article How to View the Tracking Pixel Code Snippet.
Check Your Conversion Types
If your conversion types are incorrectly set up, you may encounter issues with the attribution of conversions. For more information about how to set up conversion types in the platform, please read our Help article on Setting Up Conversion Types.
Check That Your Destination URLs Have Tracking Parameters Inserted
You can use grid filters to detect any destination URLs that do not have tracking parameters inserted. Just follow these steps:
- Go to the Keywords or Creatives grid, under Accounts.
- Use the Column Selector to bring the Destination URL column into the grid.
- Click the 'filter' icon at the top of the Destination URL column and add a filter for Doesn't contain mkwid. If any rows appear with this filter, you'll know that they need tracking inserted.
Important Notes:
- If you are using keyword-level tracking or creative-level tracking, it may be expected that some rows do not have mkwid values.
- Microsoft creative URLs should have {param1} as the URL.
Check The Activity Log For Revenue File Uploads
By clicking the Settings link in the upper right of the platform, you can check whether or not Marin Tracker files have been loaded. If so, you can check these to ensure they look accurate and formatted correctly.
If you do find issues, you can search our Help section for more information on specific error messages.
Check That The Conversion Code Does Not Contain The Placeholder Values Of @ORDER-ID@ And @PRICE@
These @ values should really be dynamically populated values inserted server-side (instead of keeping the static @ placeholder value). Our system will de-duplicate conversions with the same orderId (ie. an order ID of: @ORDER-ID@). This could therefore explain why there is a lower conversion count loading into the platform. If you don't need to utilize the orderId and price values in the conversion code, you can either:
- Remove the orderId line and price line completely.
OR
- Leave the orderId line and price line in the code, but remove the values: @ORDER-ID@ and @PRICE@, in which the values would instead be two single quotes.
Check That Sitelinks Have The Correct Tracking On The URLs
If sitelink URLs are missing tracking parameters (i.e. {copy}), no conversions will be captured for that specific keyword/creative. To check the URLs have the tracking parameters, go to the Ad Extentions (under Accounts > Ads > Ad Extensions) tab in the platform or in the publisher.
The following article explains in more detail how to set up tracking for sitelinks: A Guide to Tracking Sitelink Conversions.
