Cross-Domain Tracking

Cross-domain tracking connects one visitor journey across two websites that you track as two properties. The visitor clicks your ad and lands on the source domain, for example an advertorial or a review site. The visitor then buys on a destination domain, for example a Shopify store. AnyTrack copies the purchase back to the source property, which owns the ad click, and the source property sends it to your ad platforms.

Without cross-domain tracking, the purchase stays on the destination property. The destination property records the visit as a referral from your landing page, so your ad platform gets no credit for the sale.

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Plan

Cross-domain tracking is on the Personal, Advance, and Custom plans. Personal includes 3 properties and Advance includes 10. See Plan Comparison.

When You Need Cross-Domain Tracking

Your setup	Cross-domain tracking?	What to do
Advertorial, blog, or review site on one domain, and a shop that you own on another domain	Yes, across properties	Advertorial and Shopify
Review site that links to several of your stores on different domains	Yes, across properties	Review site, stores, and affiliate offers
Your landing page, and a shop or funnel that a partner tracks in another AnyTrack account	Yes, across accounts	Advertorial and partner shop or Review site and partner funnel
Subdomains of one root domain, for example www.example.com and shop.example.com	No	Use one property for all the subdomains. They share the first-party cookie.
Links to affiliate offers	No	Connect the affiliate network. AutoTag adds the Click ID to the SubID parameter.
A cart platform from the Integration Catalog, for example ThriveCart	Read the setup guide	The setup guide of the integration states if you need cross-domain tracking.

How Cross-Domain Tracking Works

You configure everything on the source property: the property where the visitor lands from your ad. The source property lists the destination domains, and the Tracking Tag adds the atrefid parameter to every link that points to them. The value of atrefid is the Click ID of the visitor on the source property.

The Cross-Domain Round Trip

With Sync Conversions on, a purchase on the destination domain returns to the source property, which owns the ad click.

1 Visitor clicks your ad

The visitor lands on the source domain, for example an advertorial. The source property starts the session with the ad click ID and the UTM parameters.

• ad click ID
• utm parameters

2 Tracking Tag tags the link

The Tag adds atrefid to each link that points to a domain in the cross-domain list. Its value is the Click ID of the source property.

• atrefid

?atrefid=<Click ID>

3 Visitor lands on the destination

The Tracking Tag of the destination property reads atrefid from the page URL and keeps it with the session.

4 Destination records the purchase

The integration of the destination property sends the Purchase to AnyTrack.

5 AnyTrack copies the purchase

AnyTrack reads the source property in the atrefid value. If Purchase is in the Event Names list of the source property, AnyTrack copies the purchase to it.

6 Source property sends the purchase

The source property attributes the purchase to the original ad click and sends it through the Conversion API.

Attributed purchase

The campaign that sent the first click gets the credit. The destination property also keeps the purchase, as a referral from the source domain.

1. Visitor clicks your ad. Tools: Facebook Ads. The visitor lands on the source domain, for example an advertorial. The source property starts the session with the ad click ID and the UTM parameters. Data: ad click ID (present), utm parameters (present).
2. Tracking Tag tags the link. The Tag adds atrefid to each link that points to a domain in the cross-domain list. Its value is the Click ID of the source property. Data: atrefid (present). Passes on: ?atrefid=<Click ID>.
3. Visitor lands on the destination. The Tracking Tag of the destination property reads atrefid from the page URL and keeps it with the session.
4. Destination records the purchase. Tools: Shopify. The integration of the destination property sends the Purchase to AnyTrack.
5. AnyTrack copies the purchase. AnyTrack reads the source property in the atrefid value. If Purchase is in the Event Names list of the source property, AnyTrack copies the purchase to it.
6. Source property sends the purchase. Tools: Facebook Ads. The source property attributes the purchase to the original ad click and sends it through the Conversion API.

Result: Attributed purchase. The campaign that sent the first click gets the credit. The destination property also keeps the purchase, as a referral from the source domain.

Applies to two properties in one account, and to two accounts. All the settings live on the source property.

The destination property does its normal job: its Tracking Tag tracks the visit and its integration records the purchase. The visit arrived with atrefid, so AnyTrack knows which source property sent the visitor. If the event name is in the Event Names list of the source property, AnyTrack copies the conversion to the source property.

Sync Conversions On or Off

The setting Sync Conversions decides if the conversion comes back. The full dashboard label is Enable to sync Conversions triggered on cross-domain properties with this property.

Sync Conversions On or Off

With two properties, only Sync Conversions returns the purchase to the property that owns the ad click.

Sync Conversions on

1 Link carries atrefid

The Tracking Tag adds atrefid to links that point to the destination domain.

• atrefid

2 Destination records the purchase

The destination property tracks the Purchase from its integration.

3 AnyTrack copies the purchase

The source property receives a copy of each event in its Event Names list.

Sync Conversions off

1 Link carries atclid

The Tracking Tag adds atclid to links that point to the destination domain.

• atclid
• atrefid

2 Destination records the purchase

The destination property tracks the Purchase from its integration.

AnyTrack does not copy the purchase to the source property.

3 Purchase stays in the destination

The destination property has no ad click for the purchase.

Purchase attributed to the ad

The source property sends the purchase to its ad platforms with the original ad click.

Ad gets no credit

The ad platform of the source property never receives the purchase.

Path 1, working path: Sync Conversions on.

1. Link carries atrefid. The Tracking Tag adds atrefid to links that point to the destination domain. Data: atrefid (present).
2. Destination records the purchase. The destination property tracks the Purchase from its integration.
3. AnyTrack copies the purchase. The source property receives a copy of each event in its Event Names list.

Path 2, broken path: Sync Conversions off.

1. Link carries atclid. The Tracking Tag adds atclid to links that point to the destination domain. Data: atclid (present), atrefid (missing).
2. Destination records the purchase. The destination property tracks the Purchase from its integration. Break point: AnyTrack does not copy the purchase to the source property. The connection to the next step breaks here.
3. Purchase stays in the destination. The destination property has no ad click for the purchase.

Path 1 result: Purchase attributed to the ad. The source property sends the purchase to its ad platforms with the original ad click.

Path 2 result: Ad gets no credit. The ad platform of the source property never receives the purchase.

• Purchase returns to the source property
• Purchase stays on the destination
• Break point

With Sync Conversions off, the links carry atclid and AnyTrack copies nothing back. With two properties, always turn Sync Conversions on. See Cross-Domain Settings for each field.

Across Properties or Across AnyTrack Accounts

The data flow is the same in both setups. One check is different.

	Across properties	Across AnyTrack accounts
Example	Your advertorial and your Shopify store	Your review site and the ClickFunnels funnel of a partner
Who configures the settings	You, on the source property	You, on the source property in your account
What the partner configures	Not applicable	The Tracking Tag and the integration on the partner property. No cross-domain settings.
What to enter in Additional Domains	The root domain, for example shop.com	The root domain and each exact host of the destination pages, for example shop.com and www.shop.com
Extra check before AnyTrack copies	None	The host of the destination page must be in your list

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Across accounts, the exact host decides

Across accounts, AnyTrack copies a conversion only if the host of the destination page is in the list of the source property. shop.com does not match www.shop.com. Open a destination page, read the host in the address bar, and add that exact host.

What to Expect After Setup

• The source property shows the conversion with the original ad click, the campaign, and the UTM parameters of the first visit.
• The source property sends the conversion to the ad platforms connected to it, through the Conversion API.
• The destination property keeps the conversion too. Its reports show the conversion as a referral from the source domain.
• Only the events in the Event Names list come back. An event outside the list stays on the destination property.
• Only visits that arrive through a tagged link come back. A visitor who types the shop address in the browser has no atrefid, so the conversion stays on the destination property.
• Direct links to a Shopify cart or checkout are a separate method. The Shopify checkout does not load the Tracking Tag, so atrefid does not reach the store property. See Shopify Cart Permalinks.
• The same pixel on two properties counts twice in Events Manager. AnyTrack does not deduplicate across properties. Ads Manager attribution stays correct. See Deduplication.

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Connect your ad platform to the source property

The ad click belongs to the source property. Connect the ad platform that runs the campaign to the source property. A destination property with no ad platform still records the purchase, and the cross-domain copy carries it to your ad platform.

Pick Your Guide

Advertorial and Shopify

Two properties in one account: an advertorial that sends visitors to your Shopify store.

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Review Site, Stores, and Affiliate Offers

A top 10 review site that links to your WooCommerce store, your Shopify store, and an affiliate offer.

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Advertorial and Partner Shop

Your advertorial sends visitors to a shop that a partner tracks in another AnyTrack account.

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Review Site and Partner Funnel

Your review site sends visitors to a ClickFunnels funnel in another AnyTrack account.

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Related Articles

• Cross-Domain Settings: each field, its default, and the verification steps
• AnyTrack Identifiers: the Click ID, atrefid, and atclid
• Deduplication: why the same pixel on two properties counts twice in Events Manager
• Install the AnyTrack Tag

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ was last reviewed on 2026-11-12

Should I use one property for both domains instead of cross-domain tracking?

No. Use one property for each root domain, and connect them with cross-domain tracking. Each property tracks its own domain completely, so tracking and attribution stay accurate on both sides. Use one property only for subdomains of the same root domain.

Can I add a domain that I do not own to the cross-domain list?

Yes, when the owner tracks the domain in another AnyTrack account. Add the root domain and each exact host of the destination pages, and turn on Sync Conversions. See Advertorial and Partner Shop. If the domain has no AnyTrack Tracking Tag, AnyTrack cannot record conversions there.

Do I need the AnyTrack Multiaccount integration and an outgoing webhook for cross-domain tracking across accounts?

No. Sync Conversions copies the conversion across accounts when the host of the destination page is in the cross-domain list of the source property. The partner installs the Tracking Tag and the integration on the partner property, and nothing else.

Shall I add the domain of a platform integrated in AnyTrack (example: ThriveCart)?

No. ThriveCart has its own integration settings that you should follow and which covers the cross domain tracking requirements. There is one exception: several properties on different domains promote the same ThriveCart product. See Cross-Domain Tracking with ThriveCart.

My checkout or booking engine is embedded as an iframe on my site. Why do purchases stay in the destination property?

In a tested iframe booking flow, almost every page inside the iframe got a new AnyTrack visitor ID. The click ID reached the first iframe page only. The purchase on the confirmation page had no click ID, so AnyTrack did not copy it to the source property. If your embedded checkout loses the click ID in the same way, follow these steps. 1. Replace the iframe with a link or a button that opens the booking page. 2. Check that the booking host is in the cross-domain list of the source property, that Sync Conversions is on, and that Purchase is selected. 3. Remove every script that adds a _ga= parameter to booking links or iframes. With _ga= present, the Tracking Tag adds atclid instead of atrefid, and only atrefid syncs a conversion to the source property. 4. Start a test booking on the source site. Finish the booking. Then check for a copy of the purchase in the source property.