This is a long ass post, don't read it if you're happy with your tracking system.
I've been working on my own tracking system over the past month, mainly because the stuff thats out there lacked a lot of the features I wanted.
I've been using it for myself and am working to get it to a point where I can release it for people to self host. I wanted to get an idea of what people want
Framework
I designed the entire system to be plugin based. Everything is modularized into a plugin, and I made writing plugins as easy as possible. Its also very easy for plugins to use functionality of other plugins.
The system is multi-user with Admins and normal users. Every plugin can have multiple accounts (ex: multiple Facebook account for the Facebook plugin) and Admins can limit which plugins and accounts users can use.
Setting it up
To set up the system you input your affiliate networks, offers (with payout and affiliate link), and landing pages. Once you input all this info its stored and you can either go and add ads you've already submitted or create ads to be submitted automatically by the system.
Tracking
This system supports Javascript and redirect tracking for PPC clicks, and currently only pixel tracking for conversions. For javascript there is a single script you place on all your landing pages, you don't have to add any custom id to the script for each landing page unless you're adding tracking to ads you've already submitted.
For conversion tracking, there is a global pixel that reads cookies (just like the other tracking systems).
Ad Submission
The system makes creating and submitting ads for PPC networks a lot easier by automating much of it.
For example, on Facebook you input X number of Landing pages, Y number of Titles, Z Number of descriptions, and W number of images and it will create every combination of the 4. Once you generate the adcopies and demos from your input, you can uncheck ones you don't want to use.
For demographic targeting you have all the same options you would from the Facebook ad interface. The system uses the same ajax functions to pull things like keywords, cities, workplaces, etc.
You can enter multiple values for each (Just like Facebook) except you can pivot on values. For example, if you pivot on sex it will create two demographics for each adcopy, one for male and one for female. If you also pivot on age, you can group in given chunks (ex: ages 30 to 50 grouped every 3 years). For each pivot you make you are multiplying the number of demos you target.
After you're done selecting your demo, you generate the adcopies and demos. Each adcopy has an option to list all the demos for that particular adcopy where you can uncheck demos you don't want to target for that adcopy.
After you're done, you submit the ads and they are stored locally. The ads are submitted automatically (via a cron job) in number and increments that you set in the settings. You basically just forget it and let the system go and don't have to worry about bombarding Facebook with a lot of ads at once.
Analyzing
The thing I wanted the most out of a tracker was a way to compare many different things from various ads easily. I did this by adgroups where you can group ads by anything you want.
There is a section which lets you search all Ads for every PPC network by any field you want (even plugin specific ones) and then add them to groups. For example, you can search for all ads targeting males for a single offer on Facebook and add them to your Male group, then search PlentyOfFish for all ads targeting males and also add them to that group. This allows for an infinite number of ways to compare performance (By Landing page, by PPC network, by targeting, etc).
Once grouped, you can compare multiple groups for a given date range in terms of clicks, conversions, or profit (working on adding more).
When searching for ads you can also see the profit for individual ads as either a red or green box next to the row. The profit is updated in real time as clicks and conversions come in.
Communicating with the PPC network
The system automatically logs in to your PPC account and fetch bid and cost data (although its buggy atm). You also have the choice of pasting the data (from a csv file) or entering it manually.
What I have left to do
Export stats to excel
Need to fix some issues with communicating with Facebook and fetching data.
Need to add postback conversion tracking
Need to allow pausing/deleting/changing bid on ads.
Need to implement Spy type feature similar to p202.
Need to implement dayparting
I've been working on my own tracking system over the past month, mainly because the stuff thats out there lacked a lot of the features I wanted.
I've been using it for myself and am working to get it to a point where I can release it for people to self host. I wanted to get an idea of what people want
Framework
I designed the entire system to be plugin based. Everything is modularized into a plugin, and I made writing plugins as easy as possible. Its also very easy for plugins to use functionality of other plugins.
The system is multi-user with Admins and normal users. Every plugin can have multiple accounts (ex: multiple Facebook account for the Facebook plugin) and Admins can limit which plugins and accounts users can use.
Setting it up
To set up the system you input your affiliate networks, offers (with payout and affiliate link), and landing pages. Once you input all this info its stored and you can either go and add ads you've already submitted or create ads to be submitted automatically by the system.
Tracking
This system supports Javascript and redirect tracking for PPC clicks, and currently only pixel tracking for conversions. For javascript there is a single script you place on all your landing pages, you don't have to add any custom id to the script for each landing page unless you're adding tracking to ads you've already submitted.
For conversion tracking, there is a global pixel that reads cookies (just like the other tracking systems).
Ad Submission
The system makes creating and submitting ads for PPC networks a lot easier by automating much of it.
For example, on Facebook you input X number of Landing pages, Y number of Titles, Z Number of descriptions, and W number of images and it will create every combination of the 4. Once you generate the adcopies and demos from your input, you can uncheck ones you don't want to use.
For demographic targeting you have all the same options you would from the Facebook ad interface. The system uses the same ajax functions to pull things like keywords, cities, workplaces, etc.
You can enter multiple values for each (Just like Facebook) except you can pivot on values. For example, if you pivot on sex it will create two demographics for each adcopy, one for male and one for female. If you also pivot on age, you can group in given chunks (ex: ages 30 to 50 grouped every 3 years). For each pivot you make you are multiplying the number of demos you target.
After you're done selecting your demo, you generate the adcopies and demos. Each adcopy has an option to list all the demos for that particular adcopy where you can uncheck demos you don't want to target for that adcopy.
After you're done, you submit the ads and they are stored locally. The ads are submitted automatically (via a cron job) in number and increments that you set in the settings. You basically just forget it and let the system go and don't have to worry about bombarding Facebook with a lot of ads at once.
Analyzing
The thing I wanted the most out of a tracker was a way to compare many different things from various ads easily. I did this by adgroups where you can group ads by anything you want.
There is a section which lets you search all Ads for every PPC network by any field you want (even plugin specific ones) and then add them to groups. For example, you can search for all ads targeting males for a single offer on Facebook and add them to your Male group, then search PlentyOfFish for all ads targeting males and also add them to that group. This allows for an infinite number of ways to compare performance (By Landing page, by PPC network, by targeting, etc).
Once grouped, you can compare multiple groups for a given date range in terms of clicks, conversions, or profit (working on adding more).
When searching for ads you can also see the profit for individual ads as either a red or green box next to the row. The profit is updated in real time as clicks and conversions come in.
Communicating with the PPC network
The system automatically logs in to your PPC account and fetch bid and cost data (although its buggy atm). You also have the choice of pasting the data (from a csv file) or entering it manually.
What I have left to do
Export stats to excel
Need to fix some issues with communicating with Facebook and fetching data.
Need to add postback conversion tracking
Need to allow pausing/deleting/changing bid on ads.
Need to implement Spy type feature similar to p202.
Need to implement dayparting
