Tradedoubler Launches European-Wide Cross-Device Tracking Solution

Affiliate network Tradedoubler has unveiled a cross-device tracking solution, enabling its partners to better analyse the impact of marketing activity across desktop and mobile.

Similar technology has been utilised by its competitors, while Tradedoubler claims to be the first to make it workable on a European-wide level, at the advantage of its advertisers and publishers operating affiliate programmes in multiple markets.

Cookies which rely on a consumer using the same device are no longer an effective way of tracking consumer behaviour, says Tradedoubler, as mobile plays an evermore leading part in consumer purchasing decisions.

This is a point backed by the group’s own research, showing that while 80% of Europeans prefer to make a purchase on a desktop or laptop, nearly half (49%) use mobile to research goods and services before buying on another device, or in-store.

Tradedoubler can now detect consumers shopping across multiple devices using deterministic matching, whereby consumer profiles are made based on an anonymous connection between users and their devices.

This profile is then tracked every time it interacts with a website. As a result, the network’s advertisers will be better able to recognise the influence of publishers on mobile, and award them more effectively.

“Cross-device tracking is essential technology for any customer-centric marketer who wants to accurately track consumer purchase behaviour, and correctly assign sales to the devices and channels on which they converted,” said Dan Cohen, regional director at Tradedoubler.  

“We have developed a solution based on deterministic matching, rather than probabilistic matching – which has accuracy rates as low as 60% – because we recognise the importance of accuracy and transparency in the digital marketing sector.”

The solution prevents clients paying for false sales that can often occur with probabilistic methods, continues Cohen: “With more accurate tracking we can work with our clients to further optimise their digital marketing budgets and improve the customer experience.”