A unique identifier generated by an affiliate network when a consumer clicks an affiliate link, used to associate a subsequent purchase conversion with the specific click event for commission attribution. Click IDs are the core tracking unit in affiliate marketing, used in both cookie-based and server-to-server (S2S) tracking implementations. How click IDs work: when a consumer clicks an affiliate link, the affiliate network generates a unique click ID (typically a long alphanumeric string); this click ID is: stored in an affiliate tracking cookie in the consumer's browser; AND/OR passed to the brand's site as a URL parameter (for S2S tracking implementation); when a conversion occurs, the click ID is sent back to the affiliate network (via tracking pixel, conversion script, or S2S postback) to match the conversion to the original click event. Click ID in S2S tracking: in S2S/postback implementations, the click ID is passed to the brand's site in the affiliate link URL (e.g., brand.com/product?clickid=abc123xyz); the brand's site captures this click ID parameter and stores it in the consumer's session; when the consumer purchases, the brand's server includes the click ID in the postback request to the affiliate network; the network matches the click ID to the original click record and records the conversion. Common click ID parameter names by network: Impact: irclickid; Awin: awc; CJ: cjevent; ShareASale: sscid. Implementation requirement: S2S tracking requires the brand's site to: extract the click ID from the URL parameter on landing; maintain the click ID through the shopping session (via server session or first-party cookie); include the click ID in the postback fired at conversion.
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