Skip to main content
TrafficStars traffic source template TrafficStars is a self-serve ad network selling popunder, push, native, banner and video traffic, bought on CPM, CPC or CPA. This guide sets up TrafficStars as a traffic source in ClickFlare. It covers passing TrafficStars’ click data into your reports and sending conversions, with revenue, back to TrafficStars so its optimization and your stats agree. You do everything from the campaign editor. The TrafficStars traffic source is created inline, without leaving the campaign.

​
At a glance

​
How it works

1

TrafficStars sends the click

A visitor clicks your ad. TrafficStars opens your ClickFlare campaign URL and fills in its macros: the click ID in externalid, the price paid in cost, plus the site, ad spot, format, OS, browser and other details.
2

ClickFlare stores the TrafficStars click ID

ClickFlare saves the value of externalid as the visit’s External ID, records the cost, and redirects the visitor to your lander or offer.
3

The conversion reaches ClickFlare

Your affiliate network or store posts the conversion back to ClickFlare, matched on the ClickFlare click ID.
4

ClickFlare posts it back to TrafficStars

ClickFlare fires the TrafficStars postback, replacing {external_id} with the stored TrafficStars click ID and {payout} with the revenue. TrafficStars matches it to the original click.
The mirror to keep straight: in the campaign URL you write ClickFlare’s parameter (externalid) and TrafficStars’ macro ({click_id}). The template does this for you. In the postback URL you write TrafficStars’ slot for the click ID (the URL path after /action/) and ClickFlare’s token ({external_id}). The template does this too. Both platforms use curly braces, so check which side of the mirror you are on before you paste.

​
Before you start

  • Set up your own tracking domain. Run the campaign and the postback on your own custom domain. Shared domains get flagged by networks and blocked by browsers. See Custom Domains.
  • Have an offer ready in ClickFlare, and its affiliate network set up to post conversions back to ClickFlare. See Creating an Offer and Adding an Affiliate Network.
  • Get your TrafficStars key. The postback needs the key that identifies your advertiser account. You find it in Step 2.
  • Decide which conversions TrafficStars should receive. TrafficStars optimizes on what you send it, and CPA campaigns are charged per conversion it receives. If your funnel has several steps (lead, then sale), decide now whether to send one event or several. See Tracking several events.

​
Step 1 – Create the campaign and the TrafficStars traffic source

  1. Go to Campaigns and click New.
  2. In Traffic Source, open the dropdown and click + New Traffic Source.
  3. Type trafficstars in the search box and select the TrafficStars template.
  4. Enter a Name, for example TrafficStars.
  5. Leave Cost currency on USD unless your TrafficStars account is billed in another currency.
The template fills in the Parameters table for you: The TrafficStars template's Parameters table in ClickFlare, with TrafficStars' macros pre-filled Each tracking field becomes a column you can group reports by. site_id and adspot_id are the ones you will use most: they tell you which sites and spots convert, so you can block or bid up spots in TrafficStars.
Don’t change or remove the externalId row. Without {click_id} in the campaign URL, TrafficStars cannot match conversions. TrafficStars only shows its S2S test button when the URL contains the click_id macro.
To pass more TrafficStars data, click Add Parameter, give it a name and parameter, and enter the TrafficStars macro as the TS Token. ClickFlare assigns the next free tracking field. Useful extras from TrafficStars’ token list: {campaign_id}, {creative_id}, {geo} (2-letter country code), {category} and {pricing_model}.

​
Step 2 – Set up the postback

The postback is what sends conversions to TrafficStars. It lives on the traffic source, so every campaign that uses this TrafficStars traffic source sends conversions the same way.

​
Add the template’s postback in ClickFlare

  1. Back in the New Traffic Source form, scroll to Passing conversion info to traffic source.
  2. Turn on Traffic source postback URL. The template’s postback appears:
The Traffic source postback URL switched on, showing the TrafficStars template's postback It already has everything except your key:
  1. Replace REPLACE with your TrafficStars key. See Find your key in TrafficStars below.
  2. In the dropdown on the left, choose the ClickFlare event that should fire the postback. Keep Conversions to send every conversion. If your final action is a custom conversion (for example purchase), choose that instead.
  3. Click Save. You are back in the campaign editor with the TrafficStars traffic source selected.
Replace REPLACE with the key itself, without adding curly braces. If your key is abc123, the end of the URL reads key=abc123, not key={abc123}. ClickFlare treats anything in curly braces as a token, sends an unknown token empty or as literal text, and TrafficStars then rejects the postback.

​
Find your key in TrafficStars

  1. In TrafficStars, open Tracking Tools and go to the postback page. Older TrafficStars guides call this tab Goals & Postbacks.
  2. Choose a custom tracking service. ClickFlare is not in TrafficStars’ list of integrated trackers.
  3. Name it and click Generate.
  4. In the generated URL, copy the value after key=. That is the value that goes in place of REPLACE.
The generated URL points to https://tsyndicate.com/api/v1/cpa/action too. You only need its key: the ClickFlare template already carries the click ID and the revenue. The postback page also lists these options: You don’t need lead_code for one conversion per click, which is how most campaigns run. Add it only to report several conversions from the same click, as described in Tracking several events. Leave price out unless you need it. TrafficStars charges the CPA you set on a CPA campaign for each conversion, unless a different amount arrives in the postback. If you add price, fill it with the amount you agreed to pay per conversion, never with {payout}. To learn what each postback token does, see How to Configure a Traffic Source S2S Postback URL.

​
Step 3 – Finish the campaign and copy its URL

  1. Name the campaign.
  2. Set the Cost Model. See Cost.
  3. Choose Redirect or Direct tracking. Redirect is the usual choice for TrafficStars’ popunder, push and banner traffic.
  4. Click Next and, on Destination, add your lander (optional) and your offer.
  5. Save, open Tracking, select your own tracking domain and copy the campaign URL.
The campaign URL already contains every TrafficStars macro from the template, for example externalid={click_id} and site_id={site_id}. If you use a lander, its call-to-action must link to the ClickFlare click URL, not to the offer directly. Otherwise the visit reaches the offer without a ClickFlare click ID, and the conversion cannot be traced back to TrafficStars. See Creating a Campaign in ClickFlare.

​
Step 4 – Create the campaign in TrafficStars

  1. In TrafficStars, create a campaign.
  2. Choose the ad format, pricing model, targeting and bid as usual.
  3. Paste the ClickFlare campaign URL as the ad’s URL. TrafficStars asks for it on the last page of the campaign settings.
  4. Publish the campaign and wait for approval.
Paste the URL exactly as ClickFlare gives it. TrafficStars replaces each {...} macro when the ad is clicked. Don’t add {click_id} a second time under another name: the template already sends it in externalid.

​
Step 5 – Test the integration

TrafficStars has an S2S test page for checking the postback before you spend anything.
  1. Open the S2S test page, either from Tracking Tools or from Step 3 of the campaign creation page. The test button only appears if the URL contains the click_id macro.
  2. Paste your ClickFlare campaign URL.
  3. Follow the link and complete the offer the way a real visitor would. Or use your affiliate network’s own S2S test tool to send a test conversion.
  4. Click Check Status. The status should be OK. Click Update to refresh it after a resend, and Regenerate to clear the test and start again.
  5. In ClickFlare, go to Logs → Postback Status and filter by the campaign. A successful request to tsyndicate.com confirms ClickFlare sent it.
TrafficStars also has a test click API that generates a click code for a campaign without a real impression:
It returns a code and a callback URL. Open your ClickFlare campaign URL with that code as the externalid value, complete the offer, and check that ClickFlare’s postback reaches TrafficStars with the same code.

​
Tracking several events

TrafficStars separates conversion types with goals, for example a registration, a purchase or an install. Each goal has its own postback URL. The key is the same for every goal.
  1. In TrafficStars, create a goal for each step and generate a postback for each one.
  2. In ClickFlare, create a custom conversion for each step, for example lead and purchase.
  3. On the TrafficStars traffic source, click + Another postback URL once per extra goal.
  4. Map each postback to its ClickFlare event: the lead custom conversion to the registration goal’s URL, purchase to the purchase goal’s URL. In each URL TrafficStars generates, replace {click_id} with {external_id} and {value} with {payout}.
  5. Test each goal.
By default TrafficStars counts one conversion per click. To report several, for example repeat deposits, tick Track post-conversion events and add &lead_code={txid} to the postback. {txid} is the conversion’s transaction ID, so each conversion reaches TrafficStars with its own code. Your affiliate network must send a transaction ID to ClickFlare for this to work.Tick Allow duplicates only if TrafficStars should record repeated postbacks for the same conversion.
If TrafficStars should only learn from your final sale, keep a single postback and map it to that event. Earlier steps (leads, add to carts) still show in ClickFlare. They just don’t reach TrafficStars.To send a postback only for some conversions, for example only those above a certain payout, use Event filter under the postback to add conditions.
If you send TrafficStars the full payout you receive from your affiliate network, TrafficStars’ Payout modifier adjusts it so the ROI in TrafficStars matches your real margin. Set it in TrafficStars, on the CPA campaign.

​
Cost

The template passes cost per click. The cost row sends TrafficStars’ {cost} macro, which is the amount actually paid, and ClickFlare records it as the visit’s cost. TrafficStars fills {cost} on CPC, CPA and DCPM (popunder only) pricing. On the campaign, set the Cost Model to Not Tracked so ClickFlare uses the cost passed in the URL. If you buy on another pricing model, such as plain CPM, check the Cost column after launch. If it is empty, switch to a CPC cost model and enter your per-visit price instead. When the recorded spend differs from your TrafficStars invoice, correct it with a manual cost upload. See Cost Models.

​
Delayed revenue

If you run search arbitrage (RSOC or AFD) behind TrafficStars, the feed reports revenue hours or days after the click. To pass that revenue to TrafficStars once it arrives, see Sending Delayed Revenue to Traffic Sources.

​
Troubleshooting

  • The campaign URL in TrafficStars is missing externalid={click_id}, or the macro was edited. Copy the URL from ClickFlare again.
  • The postback still uses TrafficStars’ {click_id} instead of ClickFlare’s {external_id}. ClickFlare doesn’t know {click_id} and sends it as literal text.
  • The key in the postback is missing or belongs to another TrafficStars account.
  • The postback still ends in key=REPLACE, or the key was wrapped in curly braces (key={abc123}). It must read key=abc123.
  • The externalId row was removed from the traffic source.
  • Traffic source postback URL is off on the TrafficStars traffic source.
  • Disable sending postbacks to traffic source is on in the campaign.
  • The postback is mapped to a different event than the one the conversion logged. Check Logs → Event Logs to see which event was recorded.
  • Check Logs → Postback Status: a failed request shows the status code TrafficStars returned.
The cost row sends {cost}, the amount actually paid. TrafficStars fills it on CPC, CPA and popunder DCPM pricing. On other pricing models, such as plain CPM, it can arrive empty: switch to a CPC cost model with your per-visit price. If the totals still differ from your TrafficStars spend, correct them with a manual cost upload.
The macros were not replaced, usually because the URL was edited or pasted somewhere TrafficStars doesn’t process macros. Paste the campaign URL from ClickFlare unchanged. See Traffic Source Tokens Arriving Empty.
For the general checklist, see Conversions not showing.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q1: Can I use the same TrafficStars traffic source for all my TrafficStars campaigns?
A1: Yes. The postback is set once on the traffic source and every campaign using it sends conversions the same way. Create a second TrafficStars traffic source only if a campaign needs a different postback, for example a different goal setup.
Q2: TrafficStars lists Voluum, Binom, RedTrack and other trackers, but not ClickFlare. Is that a problem?
A2: No. The ClickFlare template already has the postback in TrafficStars’ format, with ClickFlare’s tokens in place. You only take your key from TrafficStars. When you generate a postback there, choose a custom tracking service.
Q3: Why is it externalid in the campaign URL but not in the postback?
A3: They are two halves of the same value. ClickFlare reads TrafficStars’ click ID from its own externalid parameter. TrafficStars expects it back in the URL path, after /action/, as the template sends it. TrafficStars’ own generated URLs use a clickid parameter instead. Change neither.
Q4: Should I use Redirect or Direct tracking with TrafficStars?
A4: Redirect is the usual choice and works with every TrafficStars format. Use Direct only if TrafficStars must see your lander’s domain as the destination. See Direct Campaign Tracking.
Q5: Does the template work for TrafficStars’ CPA campaigns?
A5: Yes, once your key is in the postback. CPA campaigns need the postback, because TrafficStars charges and optimizes on the conversions it receives. Set the campaign’s cost model to CPA in ClickFlare, with your CPA as the value.

Traffic source postbacks

Every token you can use in a postback.

Custom conversions

Split leads and sales into separate events.

Cost models

How CPC, CPA and URL-passed costs are calculated.

Conversions not showing

The general checklist when postbacks don’t arrive.