Google-certified tracking domains let you create affiliate tracking links that comply with Google's requirements for cross-site tracking. This gives you more flexibility in how affiliate tracking links are generated for your program.
Certified Google tracking domain is an on-demand feature. To enable it for your account, please contact sales.
How it works
Affiliate tracking links from Trackdesk can be generated on two types of domains:
System domains:
Traffic flows through your redirect service.
All targeting rules and caps are applied automatically.
Affiliates can choose from available redirect domains.
The system decides which landing page to show based on your configured rules.
Google-certified domains:
Affiliates select a specific landing page upfront.
Traffic goes directly to the chosen landing page.
Targeting rules are bypassed for more predictable routing.
Links are optimized for Google's tracking requirements.
Configuring the mode
You can configure which domain types are available to affiliates under Settings → Tracking → Redirect domains. Three modes are available:
System domains: traditional redirect tracking where affiliates choose from your available redirect domains. The system handles all routing and targeting automatically.
Google certified: all tracking links use Google-certified domains. Affiliates must select a specific landing page when generating their tracking link. This provides the most predictable behavior and best compatibility with Google's tracking standards.
Both: affiliates can choose between system domains and Google-certified domains for each tracking link. Useful if you have different needs for different campaigns or affiliates.
Affiliates will see the appropriate options when generating tracking links in their dashboard.
Creating tracking links
When generating a tracking link with Google-certified domains:
Select an affiliate.
Choose a specific landing page (required for Google-certified domains, optional for system domains).
Optionally enable deep linking to direct traffic to a specific subpage.
Generate the tracking link.
The resulting link directs traffic to your chosen landing page while still tracking all affiliate performance data.
Notes
Landing page is required: a specific landing page must be selected for each Google-certified tracking link.
Targeting rules are bypassed: the selected landing page is always used, regardless of visitor attributes like location, device, or other targeting criteria.
Deep linking is supported: affiliates can customize the final destination URL to point to specific subpages of your landing page (for example, a specific product page instead of the homepage).
Tracking accuracy is unchanged: conversion tracking, affiliate attribution, and commission calculations work the same as with system domains. Only the routing behavior changes.