Transparency

ArcTrack tracking links are designed to meet Google's requirements for transparent click trackers — the rules for third-party trackers used in Google Ads tracking templates. ArcTrack applies for Google's Transparent Click Tracker certification for its tracking domains.

Guarantees#

For every request that carries a url parameter — on /c/, and on /r/ and /s/ links when url is present:

1. The next hop is visible. The url query parameter (URL-encoded or not) is the immediate next hop. An optional secondary parameter, force_transparent=true, may precede it.
2. The server follows it. The response is a single 302 whose Location is exactly that URL. It never redirects to a destination configured on the server instead.
3. No extra hops. There are no intermediate tracking redirects.
4. Nothing foreign is added. The only changes allowed are expanding macros that you placed inside the URL ({click_id}, {transaction_id}, {aff_id}, {offer_id}, {sub1}…{sub5}, {source_id}) and, if your workspace enables it, appending our own click-ID parameter. No UTM tags or partner parameters are added; nothing is removed. HTTP is not upgraded to HTTPS automatically.
5. No conditional destinations. The destination never depends on bots, reviewers, country, device or any other condition. Caps, targeting and paused offers are recorded on the click for reporting but do not change where it goes.
6. Refuse, never divert. If the URL is invalid (not absolute http/https, longer than 4096 characters, an IP address or localhost) or its host is not on your allowlist, the response is a 403 error page — never a redirect to anywhere else.
7. No cookies required. The redirect does not depend on cookies.

Allowlist#

A host is allowed when it matches your workspace's allowed destinations, the offer's allowed domains, or the host of the offer's destination URL. Rules are exact hostnames or *.example.com, which matches example.com and any subdomain.

Example#

GET /c/demo?gclid=abc&force_transparent=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fshop.example.com%2Fsale%3Fcolor%3Dred HTTP/1.1
Host: track.example.com

HTTP/1.1 302 Found
Location: https://shop.example.com/sale?color=red
Cache-Control: no-store

Testing a link#

The panel's transparency tester (Google Ads section) requests a link without following redirects and checks: HTTPS, a single hop, a Location equal to the expected URL with only allowed parameters added, no cookie required, and the response time. You can paste a template containing {lpurl} together with a final URL and it is substituted the way Google does it.

Tracking-domain information pages#

The root page of every tracking domain explains that the domain is a click-tracking domain operated by ArcTrack, what data is collected and how to contact us, and links to the privacy policy and terms. These pages are what reviewers see when they open a tracking domain directly.

Nested trackers#

Google requires every click tracker in a chain to be certified. If a final URL redirects through another tracker, that tracker must be certified as well.