Impression Pixel

The Ours Privacy impression pixel is a 1x1 invisible pixel that can be loaded on any website or served alongside advertisements. When a visitor views the pixel, Ours Privacy checks if it has seen that visitor before using cookies, tracks an event, and sets a cookie so that any future events tracked on your website or other properties can be attributed back to the same person.

This impression pixel is particularly useful for advertising attribution, allowing you to match ad impressions to conversion events for view-through conversion tracking. It works seamlessly with advertising destinations like Basis and The Trade Desk.

The impression pixel is also useful for tracking user interactions when JavaScript is not available or when you want to track email opens.

Custom Domain Support

One key advantage of the Ours Privacy impression pixel is support for custom domains. When you configure a custom domain, the impression pixel can be served from your own domain instead of cdn.oursprivacy.com. This provides several benefits:

• First-party cookies: Cookies are set on your own domain, improving persistence and reliability
• Better privacy compliance: First-party cookies are generally more trusted and less likely to be blocked
• Improved attribution accuracy: Custom domains help ensure consistent visitor identification across your properties

This custom domain capability is a differentiator that many competitors don't offer, making it easier to maintain accurate attribution even as browser privacy restrictions increase.

Configuration

To add this source to your account, go to Sources > Add Source. Then, select the Pixel source. You can use the form builder to configure your tracking pixel before using it.

How It Works

The impression pixel works through a simple but powerful mechanism:

1. Pixel Loading: When the 1x1 invisible pixel image is loaded (either from a web page, email, or alongside an advertisement), it sends a request to the Ours Privacy API with the specified tracking data.

2. Cookie-Based Visitor Matching: Ours Privacy checks if it has seen this visitor before by reading cookies. If a cookie exists, the visitor is identified as a returning visitor. If not, a new cookie is set to identify this visitor for future interactions.

3. Event Tracking: The impression event is automatically tracked and stored in your Ours Privacy account. Any variables passed in the pixel URL (such as click IDs, UTM parameters, or custom identifiers) are automatically collected and attached to the event.

4. Attribution: When the same visitor later converts on your website or other properties (tracked via the Ours Privacy Web SDK or other sources), the conversion event can be matched back to the original impression based on the cookie. This enables view-through conversion tracking and attribution.

5. Forwarding to Destinations: When conversion events are forwarded to advertising destinations like Basis or The Trade Desk, the impression data and any variables collected at the time of the impression are included, allowing the advertising platform to properly attribute the conversion to the ad impression.

You can completely customize the event that is tracked through the pixel configuration in your Ours Privacy application. You can track custom event parameters, user properties, and set default event properties that will be automatically collected and attached to tracked events.

Passing Variables

The impression pixel allows you to pass variables through query parameters in the pixel URL. These variables are automatically collected and attached to the tracked event, making them available for attribution and forwarding to advertising destinations.

Click IDs and Advertising Identifiers

You can pass advertising platform-specific identifiers such as click IDs or auction IDs. For example, when using Basis, you can pass the Basis click ID:

default.basis_cid=abc-123

These identifiers are automatically collected and forwarded to the respective advertising destination when conversion events are matched to impressions.

UTM Parameters

UTM parameters and other marketing campaign identifiers can be passed using the default. prefix:

default.utm_campaign=summer_sale
default.utm_medium=display
default.utm_source=ad_network

All UTM parameters and other variables passed via the default. prefix are automatically collected and attached to events, allowing you to track campaign performance and attribution.

Custom Parameters

You can pass any custom parameters you need for your tracking and attribution needs. Simply prefix them with default. to have them automatically collected:

default.custom_identifier=value123
default.campaign_id=456

These custom parameters will be included in the tracked event and can be forwarded to your configured destinations.

Automatic Collection

Ours Privacy automatically collects all variables passed in the impression pixel URL and attaches them to the tracked event. When a conversion event is later matched to an impression (based on cookie matching), these variables are included in the conversion event data that gets forwarded to your advertising destinations, enabling proper attribution.

Response

The API returns a 1x1 transparent GIF image. This image is used to track the event without displaying any visible content to the user.

• Content-Type: image/png
• Cache-Control: no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate, proxy-revalidate

Integration with Advertising Destinations

The impression pixel is designed to work seamlessly with advertising destinations for view-through conversion tracking and attribution. When you configure the impression pixel with advertising destinations, conversion events can be matched back to ad impressions, enabling accurate attribution reporting.

Supported Destinations

The impression pixel works with the following advertising destinations:

• Basis: Use the impression pixel with Basis to track view-through conversions and improve campaign attribution
• The Trade Desk: Integrate the impression pixel with The Trade Desk for programmatic advertising attribution

When using the impression pixel with these destinations, pass the appropriate click IDs or auction IDs (such as default.basis_cid for Basis) in the pixel URL. These identifiers will be automatically collected and forwarded to the destination when conversion events are matched to impressions.

Example

Basic Usage

To track an event, embed the following image tag in your HTML:

<img src="https://cdn.oursprivacy.com/pixel.png?token={{token}}&event=My+Event+Name&event.value=50" width="1" height="1" alt="tracking pixel" style="display:none;" />

Impression Pixel with Variables

For advertising attribution, you can pass click IDs, UTM parameters, and other variables:

<img src="https://cdn.oursprivacy.com/pixel.png?token={{token}}&event=Ad+Impression&default.utm_campaign=summer_sale&default.utm_medium=display&default.utm_source=ad_network&default.basis_cid=abc-123" width="1" height="1" alt="impression pixel" style="display:none;" />

Using Custom Domains

If you have a custom domain configured, use your custom domain instead:

<img src="https://metrics.yourdomain.com/pixel.png?token={{token}}&event=Ad+Impression&default.utm_campaign=summer_sale&default.basis_cid=abc-123" width="1" height="1" alt="impression pixel" style="display:none;" />

All variables passed with the default. prefix (like default.utm_campaign, default.basis_cid) are automatically collected and attached to the event, making them available for attribution and forwarding to your advertising destinations.