What is a Conversion?

A conversion is the target action an advertiser pays for or an ad platform optimizes toward: lead, signup, install, purchase, deposit (FTD), subscription. In affiliate marketing, conversions are confirmed via postback and may be pending/approved/rejected.

Attribution chain

Click with click ID → user on offer → action → postback/S2S/pixel to tracker and ad account. The click ID must pass in the offer URL (often sub1={clickid} or a network-specific param); without it, postback cannot tie conversion to click.

Report types

• Lead / registration — top of funnel.
• Sale / FTD — monetization event.
• View-through conversion — from impression without click.

Conversion vs payout

Not every tracker conversion is paid—check approval rate and payout rules. Multiple types (lead + sale) need separate postback URLs or status params.

Optimization

Ad platforms optimize to declared events (pixel/CAPI/S2S). Event definition mismatch across LP, network, and account is a common “conversions exist but optimization fails” cause.

See also: postback, CR, CPA, pixel tracking.