Create Deep Links Outside the Dashboard

Introduction

Our network provides publishers with a standard format to generate tracking links to pages on an advertiser's site, known as deep links. This can be done without logging into the publisher dashboard or making a web service call. You can follow this link structure to automate the process of creating thousands of tracking links.

Requirements

Some of your advertiser partners may not offer deep linking. To see if an advertiser allows deep linking, click Links then Link Tools on the publisher dashboard, then click the advertiser drop-down menu to see if they are listed.

Creating Tracking Links

To create a tracking link, follow this format by inserting values for id= , mid= , and murl= as name-value pairs to this base URL:

https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink

Here's an example:

https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink? id= xxxxxxxxxxx& mid= 24513& murl= https%3A%2F%2Fwww.merchant.com%2Fdeals.htm

Parameter Definitions

  • id= This is a unique 11-character code that identifies which Publisher a click came from. It is case-sensitive and can be found in any of your links.
    • Here's an example with the ID in red:
https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=lMh2Xiq9xN0&mid=14028&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tigerdirect.com%2Fapplications%2FSearchTools%2Fitem-details.asp%3FEdpNo%3D8437980%2526sku%3DS02-14020%2526cm_re%3DHomepage-_-Zone2_1-_-CatId_17_S02-14020
  • mid= The ID of the advertiser whose site you are creating a link to. This can be found in the Publisher Dashboard by clicking Programs then My Advertisers and then clicking the advertiser's log and Advertiser Info at left.
  • murl= The URL where your site visitors will be taken. The special characters in this URL must be URL-encoded.
    • In HTML, special characters have specific meanings or purposes. For example, the special character '?' is used to separate the page identity from the arguments that follow. To use special characters for another purpose, they must be URL-encoded. In the example above, the ':' following HTTP is encoded as %3A and all slash marks are encoded as %2F. There are several online resources that URL-encode special characters. 

 Attention

The & (ampersand) that separates parameters is not URL-encoded (to &). Encoding the ampersand will cause problems with the link.

  • u1= An optional parameter. Signature Publishers use this to track sub-sites and members.

Values are required for id, mid, and mURL If values are not passed for these parameters, your deep link will direct you to an error page.

Best Practices

A few advertisers limit the pages or sections of their site that can be deep linked to. We suggest testing your deep links to make sure they go to the intended page. If your deep link is redirected to the advertiser's home page, it means that this advertiser does not allow deep linking to the page in the murl= parameter.

We also have a Deep Links API available for publishers who wish to generate deep links confidently and hassle-free. The API will check for the validity of a URL and will error out if the link is not eligible for tracking commissions.

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