Server-to-server tracking is CAKE’s recommended best practice for affiliate programs. It’s reliable, accurate, and gives networks full visibility into clicks and conversions without relying on browser-based cookies.
But server-to-server tracking depends on a click ID traveling with the user through their conversion journey and being returned when a conversion fires.
How server postback tracking works in normal setups where a click ID is present.
In most setups, that works exactly as expected. In some setups, it doesn’t.
Call tracking workflows, mobile app installs, and offline conversions all share a common challenge: the standard postback flow requires a click ID that these environments can’t always provide. When that handoff breaks down, conversion records go missing, affiliates don’t get credited correctly, and reporting loses accuracy.
CAKE’s Clickless Postback is a built-in solution for these scenarios. This post covers what it is, when to use it, and how to configure it correctly.
Why Some Conversions Don’t Generate a Click ID
A standard CAKE postback works like this: a user clicks an affiliate link, CAKE generates a click ID, that ID is stored on the user’s device or passed through the URL, and when a conversion fires, the click ID is returned to CAKE to complete attribution.
This flow works well in browser-based environments. It runs into problems in environments that operate outside the browser or can’t accept third-party parameters:
- App stores (iOS App Store, Google Play) historically could not ingest CAKE’s click ID, making install tracking difficult to attribute through a standard postback.
- Phone calls don’t generate clicks. When a consumer calls an affiliate phone number directly, there’s no click ID to capture or return.
- Offline events, such as in-store purchases or scheduled appointments, have no digital footprint tied to the original click.
In each case, the conversion happened. The attribution source is known. But CAKE’s standard mechanism for recording it can’t be completed.
“The key is that you’re handing off the attribution to some other upstream system. We wanted to give our customers a tool where they could rely on the upstream system’s attribution, but still pump a conversion record back into our system.”
— Luke Kadillak, Senior Onboarding Manager, CAKE
What the Clickless Postback Does
The Clickless Postback is an API option in CAKE that allows a third-party system to insert a conversion or event record without a click ID. Instead of CAKE performing attribution through its own click tracking, the feature defers to the upstream system that already has the attribution data and accepts the result.
The third-party platform signals to CAKE: a qualifying event occurred, here is the affiliate it came from, record it. CAKE handles the rest: logging the conversion, attributing it to the correct affiliate, and making it visible in their portal.
From an affiliate’s perspective, the benefit is a unified view of their performance. If they are driving both website traffic and phone calls for the same advertiser, they can see clicks, lead form submissions, and qualified phone calls in a single CAKE report, without logging into a separate system.
“Having a system of record is really important to the overall lifecycle of running a performance company.”
— Garth Harris, COO, CAKE and TUNE
The Most Common Use Case: Call Tracking
When CAKE originally built the Clickless Postback, the primary use case was mobile app install tracking. At the time, app stores couldn’t pass CAKE’s request ID, making traditional postback attribution impossible for install events. That gap has since narrowed. Modern mobile measurement platforms like AppsFlyer and Adjust can now accept CAKE’s ID, so a standard postback is often supported for mobile tracking out of the box.
Today, the feature is used most commonly for call tracking setups. Here is how a typical implementation works:
Step 1: Drive traffic to a landing page
An affiliate promotes an offer and drives traffic to a landing page. A unique phone number, assigned to that affiliate by the call tracking platform, is displayed on the page.
Step 2: Consumer calls directly
The consumer calls the affiliate phone number. No form is submitted, no click ID is generated. The call tracking platform detects the call and begins qualifying it against the advertiser’s conditions.
Step 3: Qualifying event triggers the Clickless Postback
Once the call meets the qualifying conditions, the call tracking platform fires a Clickless Postback to CAKE. Platforms like Ringba and Retreaver support this integration and can dynamically pass the necessary attribution parameters.
Step 4: CAKE records the conversion
CAKE receives the postback, logs the conversion event, and attributes it to the correct affiliate. The affiliate can now see the qualified call alongside their other performance data in CAKE.
The result is a consolidated affiliate view: clicks to the landing page, lead form conversions, and qualified phone calls, all tracked in one place.
“If they are a traditional affiliate, they get the benefit of seeing how many clicks they drive to the landing page, how many leads submit through the page, and how many phone calls come from their phone number that’s displayed on that page.”
— Luke Kadillak
Configuring the Clickless Postback: Attribution Parameters
To generate a Clickless Postback in CAKE, go to the offer card, click the Pixel button, select the conversion event, and choose Clickless Postback from the Tracking Type dropdown. The generated URL uses CAKE’s /mhx endpoint and includes every available attribution parameter by default.
The configuration decision is which attribution parameters you actually use. That depends on how your third-party platform stores and passes IDs. There are two common approaches:
Affiliate + Offer
This is the most common configuration for call tracking integrations like Ringba. Both the affiliate ID and offer ID can be assigned dynamically in the call tracking platform, allowing you to build a single global postback structure that routes attribution correctly across all campaigns.
Campaign ID
Campaign ID is the most granular entity in CAKE, representing the exact affiliate-to-offer combination. Using campaign ID also enables sub-affiliate attribution, so you can track and pay not just the primary affiliate but their downstream sub-affiliates as well. When flexibility and reporting depth are priorities, this is typically the stronger choice.
“When in doubt, campaign it out.”
— Luke Kadillak
There is no universal default. The right choice depends on your third-party platform and how it handles ID storage. CAKE’s onboarding and customer success teams can walk you through the tradeoffs for your specific setup. For Ringba specifically, CAKE has a dedicated integration article that outlines the recommended configuration step by step.
Security: Set Up IP Whitelisting
Because the Clickless Postback is an open API endpoint, securing it is an important step before going live. CAKE’s IP Whitelisting feature lets you restrict which IP addresses are authorized to insert conversions into your account, functioning as an access control layer at the network level.
For Ringba integrations, the required IP addresses are listed in CAKE’s integration guide. For other third-party platforms, request the IP addresses from your vendor and add them to your whitelist before your implementation goes live. This step ensures that only your authorized systems can trigger conversion records in CAKE.
CAKE’s knowledge base includes a dedicated best practices section for IP Whitelisting that covers setup instructions and recommended configuration.
When to Use the Clickless Postback
Consider using the Clickless Postback if any of the following apply to your program:
- You run call-based offers and want to consolidate affiliate performance data, including phone calls, in a single CAKE view.
- You are integrating with a call tracking platform like Ringba or Retreaver.
- You need to track conversions in mobile apps or other environments that cannot pass a click ID.
- You want to capture offline events tied back to affiliate traffic, such as scheduled appointments or in-store purchases.
- You are building CAKE as your central system of record for all conversion types across multiple platforms.
Getting Started
CAKE’s knowledge base includes dedicated articles for the Clickless Postback feature, including a separate guide for the Ringba integration. For questions about which configuration is right for your setup, your CAKE onboarding manager or account manager can help you work through the options.
To watch a short video about this feature, head over to our From Setup to Success: Clickless Postback Tracking post.
Ready to set up Clickless Postback Tracking in CAKE? Reach out to your account manager directly or contact our team at support@getcake.com.
