Link retargeting
keep the audience you paid for.
When you send a click to a page you don't own — a merchant, a partner, an app store — the visitor is gone. Fire your own Meta, Google Ads, LinkedIn or Pinterest pixel on the redirect and they land in your audience instead.
Quick answer
Link retargeting fires your own ad network's pixel at the moment someone clicks your short link, so you can build an audience from traffic you send to somebody else's page. Track Link fires each network's documented no-script image beacon — never its JavaScript — and skips the EU, UK and Switzerland unless you explicitly opt in.
Not the same as a tracking pixel
Both are called pixels and that's where the similarity ends. One builds an ad audience; the other counts views. You can use both on the same campaign.
| Link retargeting | Tracking pixel | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Your ad network's pixel, fired when someone clicks your link | Our 1×1 image you place on a page or in an email |
| Where it lives | On the redirect, between the click and the destination | In the HTML of a page or email you control |
| What you get | A retargeting audience in Meta, Google Ads, LinkedIn or Pinterest | Opens and views in your Track Link analytics |
| Needs a page you own | No — that's the point | Yes, somewhere to put the image |
| Plan | Agency and above | Every plan, including free |
Looking for the second one? Our tracking pixel generator is free on every plan.
Four networks
One ID per network, up to all four on the same link. These are your pixels on your ad accounts — we never see the audience.
Meta (Facebook & Instagram)
1234567890123456Events Manager → Data sources → your pixel
Google Ads
AW-123456789Google Ads → Goals → Conversions → your tag
1234567Campaign Manager → Analytics → Insight Tag
2612345678901Pinterest Ads → Conversions → Tag manager
How to set it up
- 1Open a tracked link and go to the Rules tab, then Retargeting.
- 2Pick a network and paste your own pixel or tag ID. You can add one per network, up to all four.
- 3Save. From that click on, visitors join the audience on your ad account — the same audience your own site's pixel builds.
Two things change the moment you turn this on, and both are stated in the dashboard before you save: the link stops going straight through and holds on a blank page for about half a second, and you take on the consent decision for the visitors you choose to include.
Link retargeting FAQ
What is link retargeting?
Adding someone to your own advertising audience at the moment they click your link, rather than when they reach a page you own. It means the traffic you send to a merchant, a partner or an app store is still traffic you can advertise to later.
Why can't a normal redirect fire a pixel?
A redirect is an HTTP response with no page in it, so there is nothing for a pixel to load. Turning this on replaces the instant redirect with a blank page that holds for about half a second while the beacons fire, then forwards. That delay is the cost, and it is the only cost.
Do you run the ad network's JavaScript?
No, never. Each network is fired as its documented no-script tracking image — a 1×1 request to the network's own endpoint. Nothing third-party executes on the page, which is why we only offer networks that publish an image beacon.
Which networks are supported?
Meta (Facebook and Instagram), Google Ads, LinkedIn and Pinterest. TikTok is not, because it has no documented no-script beacon and we won't inject a vendor's JavaScript to get around that.
What about visitors in the EU, UK and Switzerland?
They are skipped by default, and a visitor whose country can't be determined is treated as though they were in scope. Firing an ad network's pixel there without consent needs a lawful basis that is yours to have, not ours to assume. There is a switch to include them, off until you turn it on.
Will every click land in my audience?
No. Browsers that block cross-site tracking drop some of these requests, which is true of any pixel anywhere. Expect the audience to be smaller than your click count — that gap is the browser, not the link.
Does this replace conversion tracking?
No, they answer different questions. Retargeting builds an audience from the click; conversion tracking tells you which click produced a sale. Most people running paid traffic want both.
Which plans include retargeting pixels?
Agency ($49/mo) and above. It sits higher than the other link rules because it is the one that changes how the redirect behaves for every visitor.
More ways to control a link
Expiring links
Set the day a link starts working and the day it stops.
Device targeting links
iPhones to the App Store, Android to Play, desktop to your site.
Password-protected links
A password before the link opens, on any destination.
Link click tracking
Measure clicks, devices and locations on every link.
Tracking pixel generator
A 1×1 pixel that logs opens and views in email and on pages.
Advertise to the clicks you send away
Retargeting pixels come with Agency at $49/mo, alongside 500 links, 150k clicks and 50 custom domains. Start free and upgrade when the audience is worth it.
See Agency