When a user views or clicks on one of your ads, they activate a link that notifies your attribution provider of the view or click. The attribution provider uses this information to track mobile app installs and re-engagements. The link can include other information, which will eventually be displayed in your reports.

Singular Links are Singular’s new tracking link solution. Marketers can create and manage their Singular Links through an intuitive UI that walks the user through all the available options for link behavior, attribution settings, and additional information to include in the link.

Singular Links automatically leverage iOS Universal Links and Android intent technology to create deep links whenever possible (see the Prerequisites).

Here is an example of a Singular Link - you can try it out on your iOS or Android device:

https://singularassist.sng.link/A59c0/nha7?_dl=singularassist%3A%2F%2F

Deep links are links that not only open the app on the user’s device (if the user already has the app installed) but also show specific app content or a specific user experience instead of just opening the app’s default screen.

 Learn more in our Deep Linking FAQ.

When a user clicks a regular link on the web, such as www.linkedin.com, the browser asks the URL’s server (in this case, LinkedIn) what it should do, and in return, the URL’s server gives the browser some HTML to display to the user.

When a user clicks a tracking link, the link provider’s server tells the user’s browser to go to a different URL instead (the redirect URL) and to serve the content from that URL. The redirection is usually performed via HTTP 302.

In the context of deep linking, a fallback redirect is a redirect destination that you want to take the user to if the deep link fails.

Typically, if a user clicks an ad for your app, you want the deep link to send them into a specific screen inside the app. But if the user doesn’t already have the app installed, you want to redirect the user to the app store instead to download your app.

Deep linking support varies by partner. Some partners even require deep links for re-engagement campaigns, since these campaigns target known existing users who already have the app.

Self-Attributing Network (SAN) Partners

Self-attributing partners such as Facebook and Google Ads do not support tracking links for mobile app campaigns. To configure deep links with these partners, you need to use the partner's dashboard and you may have to configure your app according to the partner's instructions.

Learn more about deep linking with the following self-attributing partners:

• Facebook
• Google Ads
• Snap Ads
• Twitter (App Cards)

For more information, we recommend reaching out to your partner contact.

Non-Self-Attributing Partners

Some partners in this category do not use MMP tracking links for redirects or deep links. Instead, Singular receives the click notification asynchronously.  These partners are also known as server-to-server or asynchronously integrated partners, and deep links can generally be configured in the partner campaign dashboard.

For non-self attributing partners that support tracking link redirects for mobile app campaigns, Singular Links may be used to deliver the deep link experience when engaging users who already have your app installed.

When working with a partner, you may want to consider using deferred deep links in your campaigns, and is also recommended when a campaign is using deep links as well.  Similar to deep links, deferred deep links set-up differs between self-attributing and non-self attributing partners.

Self-Attributing Partners

Self-attributing partners such as Facebook and Google Ads do not support tracking links for mobile app campaigns. Therefore, deep linking and deferred deep linking are configured in the partner's dashboard and may require partner-specific app handling requirements. Deferred deep linking with self-attributing networks are built into the MMP integration itself with partners that support deferred deep linking in the integration. As of January 2020, Singular supports deferred deep linking with Facebook. Reach out to your Singular customer success manager to inquire about deferred deep linking possibilities for more self-attributing networks in the works.

Non-Self-Attributing Partners

Deferred deep linking with any non-self-attributing partner can be enabled and used with any of these partners by simply by configuring the deferred deep link value for the Singular Link. Unlike deep links, deferred deep linking is not dependent on partner redirects and is a feature enabled via your integrations with Singular's SDK (or S2S API).

Singular tracking links have the following structure, where [SUB-DOMAIN] is chosen by you:

https://[SUB-DOMAIN].sng.link/[PARAMETERS]

For example, for a campaign that markets an app called Jewel Rush, you can create the sub-domain “jewelrush.” Then you can use it to create tracking links with the following structure:

https://jewelrush.sng.link/[PARAMETERS]

You can create a single sub-domain and use it for all your links, or you can create several to use for different purposes. You have to create at least one sub-domain.

Partners are services that are integrated with Singular’s attribution service.

When you create a Partner link, Singular automates the process by:

• Displaying only the options that are supported by that partner. For example, some partners support only iOS or only Android.
• Generating the tracking link with partner macros that allow the partner to pass campaign information to Singular.

Custom Sources are self-owned or self-managed marketing channels such as email or SMS campaigns, social media, and cross-promotion campaigns.

Note: If you are working with an email service provider, create a Partner tracking link. If you manage your own email campaigns, create a Custom tracking link.

Self-Attributing Networks such as Facebook and Twitter do not use Singular tracking links. To configure them, see the instructions in Partner Integrations in Detail.

This is just a name you give your tracking link, and it can be whatever you want (although most users use the campaign name or a variation of the campaign name).

The Tracking Link Name will appear in your reports as “Tracker Name.”

You can sometimes - depending on the partner.

• Some partners support only iOS or only Android.
• Others support both platforms but require you to create a separate link for each.
• Finally, some partners allow you to create multi-platform links, where you create one tracking link for use with both platforms.

The Create Link page displays the options that are supported by the partner you have selected.

Re-engagement is the renewed use of a product by a user who has already been converted in the past. Singular can track re-engagement if you mark the campaign as one that aims at re-engagement. To do so, select Enable Re-engagement Tracking in the campaign's tracking link(s).

For more information, see the Re-engagement FAQ.

Note that not all partners support this type of marketing campaign.

Some partners do not support retargeting campaigns (campaigns that aim to create re-engagement). If a partner does support these campaigns, but the option is not available in Singular’s Create Link/Edit Link page, contact Singular’s support team so we can update the integration.

Deterministic clicks/views are attributed to a source based on a device identifier or Google Install Referrer.

Fingerprinted clicks/views are attributed based on device fingerprinting methods, i.e., a combination of various properties that Singular gathers about the user’s device at the absence of a device ID.

For more information, see Singular Attribution Methods.

By default, tracking links use the default lookback window configured for the partner in the Partner Configuration page. However, you can override the default lookback window and customize it for each individual link by selecting Override attribution windows under Attribution Settings.

This allows greater control for partners with different types of channels that can benefit from varying attribution windows.

See The Attribution Lookback Window for more information.

Check if the link exists already. You cannot create a tracking link with the same source, tracking link name, and configured app site(s) as an already existing link.

After you click Generate and see the tracking link URL, you can select Shorten Link to create a shorter version of the same link. This is useful for custom channels where the URL is exposed to the end-user, or for channels with restrictions on the length of the URL, such as SMS.

This is an example of a Singular Link generated in the Create Link page:

https://nike.sng.link/C59c0/47bm?_dl=singular%3A%2F%2Ftestlink&idfa={idfa}&aifa={aifa}&pcn={campaign_name}&pcid={campaign_id}&pcrn={creative_name}&pcrid={creative_id}

The components of the link are:

See Tracking Link Parameters and Report Dimensions for the full list of query parameters.

The changes take effect as soon as you click Save in the Edit Tracking Link page.

If the link is already active in campaigns, any past clicks, impressions, and attributions belonging to these campaigns are not affected.

When you archive a tracking link, that link is hidden from your tracking link dashboard. The purpose is to declutter your dashboard by hiding old links that belong to past campaigns.

Archiving does not deactivate a link. If you archive a link that is still being used in a live campaign, the link will still redirect and attribute users.

To search and filter your link list, use the search bar at the top left of the Manage Links page.

Just type in a tracking link URL (or a part of it), a link name, a source name, etc. The links that match your string will appear on the right under Available Links.

You can make the link do even more work by adding data to it dynamically as you display your ads. This data can then be read and used by your app if a user engages with one of the ads and then arrives into your app. To add dynamic data, append the _p parameter and any value to the end of your Singular Link. _p stands for "passthrough" and you can give it a URL-encoded JSON value or an unstructured string value. 

{
  “productid”:”Shoes123”,
  “qty”:1
}

https://myshoppingapp.sng.link/A59c0/nha7?_p=%7B%22productid%22%3A%22Shoes123%22%2C%22qty%22%3A1%7D

If you decide that a landing page is right for your campaign, and your campaign depends on a mobile attribution provider for tracking, first consider the following:

• Make sure there is a way for the user to convert to the app from the landing page.
• Consider the media channel you’re working with. Integrated partners may support different methods to execute a landing page.

Then, decide which touchpoint you would like to attribute the install to.

1. Tracking the click that takes the user to the landing page: In this case, just use the Singular Link you generate in the Link Management page as usual and define the landing page as your Mobile Fallback URL.
2. Tracking the click that the user engages with within the landing page: If you choose this option, embed the Singular Link is in your landing page. Ensure the link from the ad to the landing page passes any necessary tracking values through to the landing page.

You can use Singular Links to track your marketing efforts in self-owned channels such as social media or SMS. However, deep linking only works in some channels with some technologies.

We’ve compiled a list of known and common redirect limitations:

When you use Singular Links in custom sources, you can add dimension information to get that added granularity in your reports. For example, if you pass the campaign name in your tracking link, you will get campaign-level granularity in your report.

To pass the information, add it as a parameter to the link when you serve it. See the full list of tracking link reporting parameters supported by Singular. For example, the following link records the Campaign Name dimension as "CoolShoes123":

https://singularassist.sng.link/A59c0/u53f?_dl=singularassist%3A%2F%2F&_p=%7B%22productid%22%3A%22Shoes123%22%7D&pcn=CoolShoes123

You can override link redirects dynamically by adding _dl, _ddl, or other redirecting parameters to your Singular Link (see full table below). This can be useful, for example, if you're serving a dynamic deep link based on some input from the user, or in the context of the user engagement.

The following query parameters can be appended or modified as needed. Remember to URL-encode the value when appending it to a parameter.

Singular Links will automatically forward any utm_* or referrer parameters that are included in the link. This includes the singular_click_ID that is a part of the referrer parameter value. (Additional referrer= values appended to a Singular Link will be appended to the referrer next to the singular_click_ID.)

Appending &_forward_params=1 (or &_forward_params=true) to a Singular Link will forward all appended parameters for explicit parameter forwarding.

Examples: