When a customer clicks on an affiliate link or banner and lands on your site, which is integrated with the click tracking code (or lands on a replicated site), the click tracking code sends a request to the server. The server then replies with a PAPVisitorId—a unique, 32-character-long alphanumeric string.
This PAPVisitorId is stored in cookies and is also saved in the database of Post Affiliate Pro or Post Affiliate Network if the click was associated with an affiliate.
The PAPVisitorId stores the following data within the Post Affiliate Pro (or Post Affiliate Network) database:
- Merchant account ID (in Post Affiliate Pro, this is always 'default1')
- IP address of the customer
- Details of the affiliate whose link or banner was clicked
- Banner ID and campaign ID
- Date of visit
- Time validity of the particular PAPVisitorId—a cookie limit that can be set within campaigns in Post Affiliate Pro or Post Affiliate Network
Even if a Standard Link (redirect) or Mod_Rewrite link is used, a PAPVisitorId is still created on the domain where the Post Affiliate Pro (or Post Affiliate Network) installation resides.