External trackings

You can fire third-party tracking pixels and scripts from Collective Audience creatives and campaigns.

Desk offers two ways to set them up:

  1. Prepackaged trackers — guided forms for common vendors (Meta, Google, LinkedIn, viewability partners, …). You fill an ID or partner URL; Desk builds the script / pixel for you.

  2. Custom tracking — full control: you choose the event, the injection mode, and the URL (plain or with macros).

Use this when an advertiser wants their own measurement on top of Collective Audience analytics (for example Google and Meta on the same creative).

info: This page covers external trackings fired from our creatives. For Collective Audience conversion postbacks (Click ID), see (→ conversion-tracking). For answer / form / opt-in payloads to a CRM, see (→ webhooks).

Where to configure

Level

Where in Desk

Typical use

Campaign

Campaign editor → Trackings

Same pixels for every creative in the campaign

Creative

Creative editor → Trackings

Creative-specific measurement

Insertion / slot (advanced)

Campaign / adserving flows

Delivery-context trackings

You can add several trackings on the same creative or campaign.

How to add a tracking

  1. Open the campaign or creative in Audience Desk.

  2. Open the Trackings section.

  3. Click Add and either:

    • pick a prepackaged vendor, or

    • choose Custom tracking (advanced mode) for full control.

  4. Save the creative / campaign.

Prepackaged trackers

These types appear in the tracking picker. Guided vendors set a sensible default event and injection mode; some only ask for an ID or partner URL.

Tracker (Desk name)

What you configure

Default event (typical)

Facebook (Meta)

Facebook / Meta Pixel ID + tracking action (PageView, ViewContent, Lead, Subscribe, CompleteRegistration)

Depends on action (e.g. PageView → impression-style, ViewContent → creative visible impression)

Google (GTag)

Google tag ID (e.g. G-…, AW-…)

Impression

Google (Analytics)

Analytics property / category fields (guided form)

Impression

DoubleClick (Google)

Tracker URL (partner pixel)

Creative visible impression

LinkedIn

LinkedIn partner / Insight tag ID

Creative visible impression

IAS (Integral Ad Science)

Tracker URL

Eligible for creative visible impression

Moat

Moat parameters (guided)

Eligible for creative visible impression

Nielsen (DAR)

Tracker URL

Creative visible impression

Sizmek

Tracker URL

Creative visible impression

Weborama

Tracker URL

Creative visible impression

XPLN

Partner fields (guided)

Eligible for creative visible impression

Goodeed

Tracker URL + index (question context)

Question rendered

Custom tracking

Event + injection mode + URL (see below)

Creative visible impression

Meta (Facebook) — quick path

  1. Select Facebook.

  2. Enter the Facebook / Meta Pixel ID.

  3. Choose a tracking action.

  4. Save.

Google — quick path

  1. Select Google (GTag) (or Google (Analytics) / DoubleClick if that matches what the client sent).

  2. Enter the Google tag ID, or paste the DoubleClick pixel URL.

  3. Adjust the event if needed (often Creative visible impression or First engagement).

  4. Save.

If the client only gave a raw image URL (1×1), prefer Custom tracking with injection mode Pixel.

Multiple pixels on the same creative

Yes. Add one row per vendor (or per event). Example: one Facebook + one Google (GTag) on the same creative.

Custom tracking (full control)

Use Custom tracking when:

  • the vendor is not in the prepackaged list,

  • you only received a raw pixel / script / iframe URL,

  • you need a specific event that a guided form does not expose the way you want,

  • you need macros in the URL (campaign ID, choice value, TC string, cachebuster, …).

In advanced / custom mode you set three things:

1. Event

When the tracking fires. Desk groups them as:

Group

Events (Desk labels)

Load

Impression (creative injected)

Display viewability

First pixel in viewport, Eligible for creative visible impression, Creative visible impression (0s), Creative visible impression, MRC 50, MRC 100

Video

Video impression, Video visible impression, MRC video 50, Start, Progress (±), 25% / 50% / 75% / 100%, Replay

Engagement

First engagement, Engagement, First vote, Vote, Click, Form page / form submission, Chatbot line view / answer, Optin submission, Format complete, Creative complete

Questions

Question rendered

Tooltips in Desk explain each event in more detail.

2. Injection mode

Mode

Behavior

Pixel

Loads the URL as an image / beacon (most classical ad pixels)

Script

Injects a <script src="…"> (or vendor helper URL)

Iframe

Loads the URL in an iframe beacon

Pick the mode your vendor documentation requires. Wrong mode is a common reason a pixel “does nothing” in Events Manager / Tag Assistant.

3. Tracker URL (with or without macros)

Paste the full https://… URL. You can leave it static, or insert macros from the template picker so values are filled at fire time.

Examples

https://example-measurer.com/pixel.gif?cb=[RANDOM]
https://example-measurer.com/hit?campaign=[BEOP_CAMPAIGN_ID]&creative=[BEOP_CONTENT_ID]&page=[PAGE_URL]&tc=[TC_STRING]

Common macros (template picker)

Macro

Meaning

[TIMESTAMP]

Fire time

[RANDOM] / %%CACHEBUSTER%%

Cache buster

[BEOP_RESOURCE_ACCOUNT_ID]

Owner / resource account ID

[BEOP_ADVERTISER_ID]

Advertiser ID

[BEOP_CAMPAIGN_ID]

Campaign ID

[BEOP_INSERTION_ID]

Insertion ID

[BEOP_CONTENT_ID] / [BEOP_CONTENT_NAME]

Creative ID / name

[BEOP_FORMAT]

Format type

[BEOP_PUBLISHER_ID] / [BEOP_PUBLISHER_NAME]

Publisher

[BEOP_SLOT_NAME]

Slot name

[BEOP_WIDGET_ID]

Widget / session container id

[BEOP_QUESTION_ID] / [BEOP_QUESTION_TEXT]

Question context (when the event has one)

[BEOP_CHOICE_INDEX] / [BEOP_CHOICE_VALUE]

Vote choice (single)

[BEOP_CHOICE_INDEXES] / [BEOP_CHOICE_VALUES]

Vote choices (JSON arrays)

[BEOP_CHOICE_SEGMENT_IDS] / _NAMES / _SEGMENTS

Publisher segments on choices (when enabled)

[BEOP_VIDEO_PROGRESS]

Video progress

[PAGE_URL] / [PAGEURL]

Page URL

[SITE_USER_ID]

Site user ID when provided via SDK login

[TC_STRING]

TCF consent string when available

${GDPR} / ${GDPR_CONSENT_…} / ${ADDTL_CONSENT}

Consent flags (IAB-style)

%%SITE%% / [BEOP_PAGE_DOMAIN]

Page domain

%%REFERRER_URL%% / %%REFERRER_URL_ESC%%

Referrer

Some ad-server style tokens (%ebuy!, %eadv!, …) are also recognized for legacy partner URLs.

info: Not every macro is meaningful for every event. For example choice macros are useful on Vote; video progress on video events. If a value is unknown at fire time, it may be replaced by an empty string.

Consent and testing

  • Third-party trackings are subject to consent. Publishers should allow Collective Audience (IAB TCF Vendor 666) and relevant advertising / measurement purposes. See (→ consent-management).

  • Ad blockers can reduce fire rates. Agree with the client which events matter most.

Test checklist

  1. Creative preview or a live test placement.

  2. Trigger the chosen event.

  3. Confirm hits in Meta Events Manager, Google Tag Assistant / Ads diagnostics, or the network tab (fb.js, gtag.js, or your custom URL).

  4. Re-check on production creatives after publish when the client requires it.

Related

Need help?

If Trackings is not visible on your account, or you need a recommended event mapping for a media plan, contact your Collective Audience account team.