In this guide
- CJ adds a
cjeventvalue to the landing URL. Store it and send it with the order. - The order needs your enterprise and action IDs, an order ID, amount, currency and any coupon code.
- Use a unique order ID so a pixel and a server report are not both paid.
CJ, formerly Commission Junction, is one of the long-standing affiliate networks. Its standard integration is a tracking tag on your confirmation page. As blockers and browsers limit tags and cookies, CJ and its advertisers use server-side methods too. This page describes the pattern for a Tag Manager server container. CJ's product names, endpoints and fields change, so read its current documentation and ask your account manager for the exact S2S details. See the general guide to affiliate conversion tracking.
The click event ID
Visitors arriving through CJ links carry a click event ID in the cjevent parameter. Store it when they land. A first-party cookie set from your own subdomain is more durable than a script cookie. Save it also with the order if the visitor may return later, and pass it with the conversion.
Ask Ari instead of digging through reports
Ari reads your tracking and ad data and answers in plain words.
What an order report contains
| Data | Notes |
|---|---|
| Enterprise ID | Your CJ account identifier, used in the tag or request |
| Action tracker ID | The type of conversion, such as sale or lead |
cjevent | The stored click event value |
| Order ID | Your unique order ID |
| Items | Item IDs, prices and quantities, if your programme tracks items |
| Currency | Three-letter code |
| Coupon | If a coupon was used |
| Amount or discount | As your programme rules require |
Steps
Confirm S2S with CJ
Ask your account manager which server-to-server method your account supports.
Store cjevent on arrival
First-party cookie, set by your tagging server.
Add it to your purchase event
With the order ID, items, currency and coupon from the data layer.
Add the server-side request
In the server container, to CJ's documented endpoint, triggered on purchase.
Deduplicate
Share the order ID between the page tag and the server request, or remove the page tag after testing.
Test
Place a test order and verify it in the CJ interface.
Connected in minutes
Add your domain, install the pixel, connect your ad platforms and watch the first events land.
Refunds
Send corrections for returns and cancellations through CJ's method, with the same order ID. Without them, commissions on returned orders stand.
Common problems
cjevent is missing at the order.A realistic example
A retailer on CJ finds that its publishers complain about missing sales, especially from mobile traffic. Investigation shows that the page tag misses visitors who use in-app browsers and those who close the page before it fires. The retailer stores cjevent in a first-party cookie from its tagging subdomain, adds it to the purchase event, and sends the order from its server container as well as through the page tag, with the same order ID. CJ deduplicates the two. Over the next month, publishers see more of the sales they sent and the retailer sees fewer complaints. The set-up also revealed a few orders with unusual coupon use, which the team then reviewed with its account manager.
Orders from your store, back to the ad that earned them
Your store sends the order once. Open Tracked passes it on to each ad platform, cleaned and deduplicated.
Frequently asked questions
What is cjevent?
The click event ID that CJ adds to landing page addresses, used to attribute a sale to a partner click.
How do I send CJ conversions from a server?
Store cjevent on arrival and send it with the order data from your server container, using the method CJ documents for your account.
Do I still need CJ's page tag?
Many advertisers keep it during testing and share an order ID.
How do I avoid duplicates?
Use a unique order ID in every source.
Where do I get the exact request format?
From CJ's current documentation or your account manager.
Do I need spreadsheets to read my results?
No. Once tracking is live, the Open Tracked analytics shows spend, revenue, ROAS and profit, and you can ask Ari, the built-in AI assistant, questions about your own numbers in plain words. Ari's allowance depends on your analytics plan.
Is Open Tracked different from Open Track or Open Space Track?
No. Open Tracked is the official name of our server-side tracking platform, and the website is opentracked.io. Many people search for it as Open Track, OpenTrack or Open Space Track. All of them lead to the same product: server-side Google Tag Manager hosting, first-party analytics and a CRM pipeline.
Fix your tracking at the source
Open Tracked hosts your server-side Tag Manager, keeps first-party cookies alive and shows what each ad is really worth.
The Open Tracked team
We build Open Tracked: server-side tracking hosting, analytics and the tools around them, for stores that spend on ads. Questions about this guide, or an idea for the next one?
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