Technical documentation
Link tracking
Dollar Media measures the clicks on the partner and content campaigns we run for advertisers through a pass-through tracking link on go.dollarmedia.net. This page explains exactly what that link does.
Why we use a tracking link
Every click that passes through the link is recorded, which lets us:
- attribute clicks and conversions to the right partner, campaign and placement, so partners are paid correctly;
- monitor that every ad link resolves and every landing page responds, so broken links are caught quickly;
- spot unusual click patterns — repeated clicks, automated traffic — before they cost the advertiser money.
URL format
Values in braces are filled in by the ad platform’s own macros when the click happens.
https://go.dollarmedia.net/r/{campaign}?g={adgroup}&a={ad}&k={keyword}&d={device}&id={click_id}&to={destination}/r/{campaign} | Campaign identifier, in the path |
g | Ad group or ad set identifier |
a | Ad or creative identifier |
k | Keyword or targeting term, where the platform provides one |
d | Device type |
id | The ad platform’s click identifier |
to | Destination — the advertiser’s final URL. Always the last parameter. |
The destination is always visible in the link, in the to parameter, and it is always last. Some platforms don’t escape & when they insert the final URL, so the link reads the destination as everything after to=. The final URL’s own query string stays intact.
What happens on a click
The link answers with a single 302 Found redirect whose Location is the decoded value of to — the final URL exactly as the ad platform supplied it. Recording the click never delays the redirect. If the platform requests the link in the background instead (parallel tracking), the response is identical.
GET /r/spring-sale?k=running%20shoes&to=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.example.com%2Fshoes%3Fcolor%3Dred
Host: go.dollarmedia.net
HTTP/1.1 302 Found
Location: https://www.example.com/shoes?color=red
Cache-Control: private, no-store, max-age=0What the link never does
The link will never:
- send a visitor anywhere other than the address in the to parameter;
- choose or change the destination from a server-side setting, rotation or test;
- respond differently depending on the visitor’s device, location, network or whether it looks like a crawler;
- add, remove or reorder parameters on the destination URL;
- show an interstitial page, run scripts, or set cookies;
- modify, frame or proxy the advertiser’s landing page.
Abuse protection
The link only accepts plain http and https destinations. Other schemes, addresses with embedded credentials and malformed URLs get 400 Bad Request and no redirect. Every click’s destination domain is logged. Domains reported for phishing, malware or spam are blocked, and links to them return 400 instead of redirecting.
Data collected
For each click we record the time, IP address, user agent, referrer, language header, country and network, the parameters above, and the destination domain. We don’t collect names, email addresses or payment details, don’t set cookies, and don’t track visitors across websites. Click records are kept for up to 90 days and are never sold.
Contact
Questions or abuse reports: admin@dollarmedia.net