Postback URL Tracking - How Affiliate Networks Report Sales to Your Tracker (2026)

What a Postback URL Is

A postback URL is how an affiliate network tells your tracker that a click turned into a sale. Your tracker gives you the URL; you paste it into the network. When a conversion happens, the network's server calls that URL and passes back the click ID and payout.

Because it's server to server, it's also called S2S tracking, a server-to-server pixel, a callback URL or cookieless tracking.

How the Flow Works

1. A visitor clicks your linkYour tracker records the click and creates a unique click ID.
2. The click ID travels to the networkIt's added to your affiliate link in a Sub-ID parameter.
3. The visitor buysThe network stores the Sub-ID with the sale.
4. The network fires your postbackIt replaces placeholders with the stored click ID and payout and calls your tracker.
5. Your tracker matches the clickThe sale is credited to the right ad, keyword or email.

An Example

A simplified postback URL with placeholders the network fills in:

https://tracker.example.com/postback?clickid={subid}&amount={payout}

Placeholder names differ by network. Some use {subid}, others {aff_sub} or #s1#. Your network's help page lists the exact ones.

Pixel vs Postback

Setting It Up

1. Find your network's Sub-ID parameterLook under "Sub-ID", "tracking parameter" or "S2S".
2. Tag your affiliate linksSo your tracker's click ID is passed in that parameter.
3. Copy your tracker's postback URLUsing the placeholders your network expects.
4. Paste it into the networkIn the global postback setting or per offer, depending on the network.
5. Test onceMake one click and one test conversion, then confirm it appears in your tracker.

When It Doesn't Fire

• No click ID in the link, often because a redirect stripped it.
• Wrong placeholder name for that network.
• Postback set at the wrong level, global when the offer needs its own.
• The network doesn't support postbacks for that offer. Ask its support team.

Postbacks in ClickMagick

ClickMagick says it works with every affiliate network that supports Sub-IDs or S2S postback URLs, and its Affiliate Link Builder, under Campaigns then Tools, adds the right tracking to your links. Sales then appear against the exact ad, email or video that sent the click. See ClickMagick for affiliate marketing.