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The reftag is a unique Adjust-generated identifier used for device matching. Our systems assigns a reftag to the following activities:
impression
san_impression
click
san_click
install
If an install is organic, then it keeps the reftag created for it. If Adjust attributes the install to an engagement, then we assign the reftag from the engagement to the install.
If a reattribution or reattribution reinstall occurs, Adjust assigns the reftag from the attributed engagement to the reattribution or reattribution reinstall.
The {reftag} placeholder (singular) represents the single reftag ID that Adjust creates or assigns for each activity.
The {reftags} placeholder (plural) is a JSON list that contains the reftags for all valid engagements considered, but not selected, for attribution. The {reftags} placeholder is available on these activities:
install
reattribution
reattribution reinstall
To be included on the {reftags} JSON list, an engagement must:
When a user clicks a link, our server creates a reftag for it. If the link sends the user to a website with our Web SDK, our Web SDK receives the reftag immediately. We are then able to match the reftag from the click with the reftag we receive from the Web SDK. For more information, read about Adjust's web attribution solution.
Multi-Touch
You can add the {reftag} and {reftags} placeholders in your raw data export for Multi-Touch. This lets you see all of the engagements (including the attributed engagement) considered for attribution.
Google Play Referrer matching
When an Android user clicks on a link and we redirect the user to Google Play, we pass the reftag for the click into the referrer parameter. If the user installs the app, we retrieve the reftag from Google using the Google Play Referrer API. We are then able to match the click to the install. For more information, read about Adjust's attribution methods.
We also use referrer matching with the Huawei Referrer API.
Custom scheme deep links
In some cases, links may have a custom scheme deep link passed as a parameter. Here's an unencoded example:
This deep link will open the app on the user's device, and the app will call the Adjust SDK with the deep link value. Our server receives the deep link and reads the reftag value. We are then able to match the click to the app session, which means a reattribution may occur, if applicable.
LinkMe
Adjust's LinkMe solution appends a reftag to the URL that users copy to their pasteboard. The Adjust SDK reads this information from the pasteboard and sends it to the Adjust backend. Adjust can then match the click to the app session for attribution purposes.