Creating a Direct Link

This page describes use cases for Direct Links, what Programs are compatible with Direct Links, and how to generate them.

Description

A Direct Link is a type of tracking link that bypasses all other types of tracking, sending a user directly to an Advertiser’s landing page. This type of link requires special URL parameters so that the Partner still receives credit for this traffic. Additionally, the URL and parameters must be compatible with the Advertiser’s technical setup for the traffic to be tracked correctly.

Direct Links are primarily used on social media buying campaigns, such as Meta Ads Campaigns. Systems like Meta’s require Partners to use Direct Links due to “link validation” techniques; Partners must resort to using Direct Links because that is the only type compatible with Meta’s link validation process.

Read about other types of Tracking Links ->

Direct Links should only be used when other types of tracking links are not available. Direct Links are brittle: they require special setup on the Advertiser’s website and may break if the Advertiser updates their funnel.

Instructions

To create a Direct Link, you must fulfill these requirements first:

• You must have access to a Partner Profile.

• You must be approved for a Program on the Katalys Marketplace.

• You must select a compatible URL. (validation steps below)

Not all Programs or tracking links are eligible to be converted into Direct Links. You must create the Direct Link and validate the link works correctly before using it in your promotion or advertisement.

Follow these steps to generate a Direct Link:

1. Navigate to your KMP Profile.
   Go there now →

2. Click on “Create Link” button in the header

   

3. Select a valid Traffic Source and Program.

4. Click on “Link Type” to see the available link types for this Program.

When Direct Links are not available, you might see this:

When Direct Links are available, you might see this:

5. Enter your desired Landing Page URL into the box, and click “Start Test”.

6. Wait for the test to complete (up to 30 seconds).
   If the test was successful, you will see your Direct Link URL at the bottom of the form.

Manual Validation

The automated validation can return a false-negative result if you have previously tested this Direct Link before. This could be because you previously clicked on a Tracking Link to this Program, and the validation tool is not generating a new click to replace your old one.

You can use these steps to manually validate that your Direct Link is working correctly:

1. Open a new incognito window and open the Developer Tools window.

   1. You can accomplish this by right-clicking on the newly-opened blank window and clicking “Inspect”, or by using the “View” window for your browser.

2. Paste your Direct Link into the URL bar, and press Enter.

3. Wait for the page to load.

4. In the Developer Tools window, view the “Network” tab.

5. Search for the text aff_c.

   1. You should see an entry in the list for the URL https://track.revoffers.com/aff_c.

   2. If you do not see this entry, then this tracking links not eligible to be a Direct Link.

   3. You can further validate the entry by confirming the parameters offer_id and aff_id are defined and match your Program ID and Traffic Source ID from your original tracking link.

You must use an incognito window when performing validation because we use cookies to avoid creating duplicate clicks. To see the correct data in the Developer Tools window, that cookie value must be missing. Using an incognito window is the easiest way to ensure your session is clean.