Conversion tracking on every ad platform: the reference table

You're adding a new ad channel and you need three answers fast: what's its click-ID parameter, does it do server-side, can it take offline conversions? That's buried in a different doc for every platform. This page collects it in one table. Conversion tracking works the same way everywhere: a click ID identifies the visit, a tag or server API reports the action, and the platform attributes the result inside its window. Only the names change (gclid, msclkid, ttclid, twclid), so one table covers all of them, plus a 60-second setup pointer per platform.

Use it as a reference, not a read: find your platform, take the setup pointer, and check the table before assuming a capability exists. The table is maintained. Each row carries a last-verified date and gets re-checked quarterly, because platform capabilities change and a stale comparison is worse than none.

#The capability table

Reading the columns: client-side is the browser tag that consent banners and blockers can stop; server-side is the API path that recovers it (the tradeoffs live in Server-side tracking: what it fixes, what it costs, and whether you need it); values means the platform can optimize toward revenue, not just counts (Value-based bidding needs values you can trust is the why); offline import means conversions that happen after the click (in a CRM or a store) can be sent back, the pattern from Offline conversion tracking: send CRM deals back to Google Ads. Click IDs themselves are covered as a family in Click IDs: what gclid, fbclid, and wbraid do.

#The platforms with their own deep dives

Google Ads, GA4, Meta, Shopify, and LinkedIn each clear enough search and setup complexity to get full guides: Google Ads conversion tracking: setup and the 7 ways it silently breaks, GA4 conversion tracking: setting up key events, Meta conversion tracking end to end: pixel, CAPI, and events that dedup, Shopify and Google Ads conversion tracking without double counting, and LinkedIn conversion tracking for B2B pipelines. Everything below gets the 60-second version.

#X (Twitter) conversion tracking

The X pixel (one base code, event codes per conversion) plus the X Conversions API for server-side; twclid is the click ID, carried into a first-party cookie for attribution. Define conversion events in X Ads Manager, send value and currency on purchases, and dedupe pixel and API events with a shared event identifier, the same contract Meta uses.

#TikTok conversion tracking

The TikTok pixel covers the browser; the Events API covers server-side and offline, deduplicated by event_id. Your TikTok pixel ID lives in Ads Manager → Assets → Events. Capture ttclid on landing pages if you'll send server events. It's the strongest match key TikTok gives you off-platform.

#Reddit conversion tracking

The Reddit pixel plus the Reddit Conversions API, with rdt_cid as the click ID. Low competition keeps it simple: install the pixel, define purchase/signup events, add the CAPI when volume justifies it. Send value/currency from day one; retrofitting values later resets optimization learning.

#Microsoft (Bing) conversion tracking

The UET (Universal Event Tracking) tag is Microsoft's sitewide tag; conversion goals are defined on top of it in Microsoft Advertising. msclkid plus auto-tagging mirrors the GCLID pattern, offline conversion imports mirror Google's, and if you already run the Google stack the whole setup is a structural copy: most teams port their Google Ads conversion architecture across in an afternoon.

#Apple Search Ads

The exception that proves the table: no pixel, no click-ID URL parameter. Attribution runs on-device through Apple's attribution framework (AdAttributionKit, and the Apple Ads Attribution API for app installs), under ATT consent. Your MMP or install-tracking SDK reads the attribution payload; web-style conversion tracking doesn't apply.

#WooCommerce conversion tracking

WooCommerce is a stack question, not a platform question: it's your store, so tracking is whatever tags you install. The maintained path is Google's own WooCommerce plugin (or GTM with the order data layer) feeding the same Google Ads conversion actions described in Google Ads conversion tracking: setup and the 7 ways it silently breaks, with dynamic values from the order object and transaction_id for dedup.

#Phone-call conversion tracking

Calls convert in two places: from ads (Google call assets with forwarding numbers, counted as call conversions by duration or through a call-tracking provider) and from the site (dynamic number insertion swapping a tracked number per session, matching the call to the click ID). If phone is a primary conversion path, treat the call-tracking field like the hidden-field pattern in Offline conversion tracking: send CRM deals back to Google Ads: the click ID must reach the CRM, or calls stay unattributed.

#Affiliate conversion tracking

Affiliate tracking is server-to-server by construction: the network appends its click ID, your order system fires a postback with that ID and the order value on confirmation. The discipline that matters is deduplication against your paid channels. An order that an affiliate postback, a Meta pixel, and a Google tag all claim is the overreporting problem in miniature; Every platform claims the same conversion: why ad platforms overreport explains why every platform will happily take the credit.

#Tracking SEO conversions

Organic has no click ID, so SEO conversions are measured in your analytics layer: GA4 key events segmented by organic sessions (GA4 conversion tracking: setting up key events covers the setup), Search Console for the query side, and, honestly, the same warehouse every other channel lands in, so organic pipeline sits on equal footing with paid.

#What is ad tracking? (and its other names)

Ad tracking is the umbrella term: recording post-ad behavior and attributing it to campaigns. You'll meet it as conversion tracking (the platforms' preferred name and this page's subject), pixel tracking (the implementation detail, see Tracking pixels: how they work and where they're going), and campaign measurement (the analyst's framing). One practice, four names, three components: click identity, event reporting, attribution.

Whatever the platform, the failure pattern is identical too: the tag fires at launch, the site changes, and nobody re-tests. That's why the cross-platform QA routine in The conversion tracking QA checklist: test it like you'd test code applies to every row of the table above. Buron monitors per-channel signal health continuously across connected channels, so a platform quietly dropping values or doubling events becomes a finding, not a quarter-end mystery.

Frequently asked questions

What is ad tracking?

Ad tracking is recording what people do after seeing or clicking an ad (visits, signups, purchases) and matching those actions back to the campaign that caused them. It's built from three parts: a click identifier, an event tag or server API that reports actions, and the platform's attribution logic.

What is another name for ad tracking?

Conversion tracking is the most common synonym; campaign measurement, pixel tracking, and post-click tracking describe the same practice from different angles. Whatever the label, the mechanics are identical: identify the click, record the action, attribute the result.

Which ad platforms support offline conversion imports?

The major ones all do, with different plumbing: Google Ads via Data Manager, Microsoft Advertising via UET offline imports, and Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, X, Reddit, and Pinterest through their server-side conversion APIs. Apple Search Ads is the notable exception: attribution runs through its on-device framework instead.

Related

• Google Ads conversion tracking: setup and the 7 ways it silently breaks
• Meta conversion tracking end to end: pixel, CAPI, and events that dedup
• Click IDs: what gclid, fbclid, and wbraid do
• Server-side tracking: what it fixes, what it costs, and whether you need it
• The conversion tracking QA checklist: test it like you'd test code