Click ID persistence

Convultra captures click IDs from ad platform URL parameters and stores them server-side. Attribution keeps working after cookies expire, are blocked, or are cleared by the visitor.

Supported click IDs

Convultra also stores the standard UTM parameters: utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_content and utm_term.

How it works

1. A visitor clicks an ad and lands on your site with a click ID in the URL, for example https://yoursite.com/pricing?gclid=abc123&utm_source=google.
2. The SDK reads the click ID and UTM parameters on the first pageview.
3. It sends them to Convultra, which stores them against the visitor record.
4. When a conversion happens, minutes or days later, the server matches it to the stored click ID.
5. The conversion is forwarded to the ad platform with the right click ID.

No client-side storage is involved. Click IDs are not kept in cookies, localStorage or sessionStorage.

Why this matters

Cookie expiry

Traditional tracking keeps click IDs in first-party cookies, and browsers cap how long those live:

With server-side persistence, Convultra keeps click IDs for 30 days or more regardless of browser policy, which is what makes 30, 60 and 90 day journeys attributable.

Blockers and private browsing

Many visitors use ad blockers, cookie blockers or private mode, which stop cookies being written or read. Because the click ID lives on the server, attribution still works when:

• cookies are blocked entirely
• the visitor uses private browsing
• the visitor clears cookies between sessions
• an extension strips tracking parameters on later navigations

Safari ITP

ITP is the most aggressive cookie restriction in mainstream browsers. It caps JavaScript-set first-party cookies at 7 days, and cookies set after a cross-site navigation at 24 hours. Convultra sidesteps ITP because nothing depends on a cookie. When ITP strips gclid, Google falls back to gbraid or wbraid, and Convultra captures all three.

Setup

None. Once the SDK is installed, click IDs are captured and stored automatically.

The click ID must be in the URL on the first pageview. If a redirect strips query parameters before the page loads, Convultra cannot see it. Check that your landing page redirects preserve the query string.

Verifying capture

1. Open Conversions and click a recent conversion from an ad click. The detail drawer shows the captured click ID and UTM parameters.
2. Or open your browser’s network tab and look at the first pageview request to tracking.convultra.com/v1/track (or /v1/track on your custom domain). The payload includes the captured click IDs.
3. Through the API, list_conversions returns click_ids on every row, which is how you reconcile Convultra’s counts against Google’s.

Attribution windows

Google Ads and Microsoft Ads accept a conversion up to 90 days after the click; Meta accepts up to 7 days. Convultra can attribute a conversion in your dashboard beyond those windows, but a platform will refuse an upload past its own limit. See Events show as pending and never send.