Universal Event Tracking (UET) using an IMG tag

Universal Event Tracking (UET) using an IMG tag

If you can't use JavasScript-based UET tagging, you can use a non-JavaScript-based version. One option is using an IMG tag.

Universal Event Tracking (UET)

Universal Event Tracking (UET) is a Microsoft framework which captures user engagement data on your website and enables features such as conversion tracking (e.g., purchases or leads), audience targeting (e.g., remarketing), auto bidding and Microsoft Advertising for commerce. Learn more about UET and why it is important for conversion tracking and remarketing in Microsoft Advertising.

We recommend that you use the JavaScript version of the UET tag and install it across all pages of your website. JavaScript UET tags capture richer data for conversion tracking and remarketing. However, if JavaScript-based tagging is not feasible, you may use a non-JavaScript-based version. One way to do this is via an <img> tag.

UET event framework

The UET framework defines multiple events:

• Page load: Fired on all page visits.
• Custom event: Fired on specific events and page types and captures richer data.

Multiple UET events can fire on the same page visit. uses the mid param to connect different events fired on the same page.

Implementation of UET with no script looks like this:

• Capture and save msclkid in a first-party cookie on your website. This will be shared with all pageLoad and custom events.
• Understand pageLoad event definition and fire it on all page views.
• Understand custom event definition and fire it on specific pages with the required parameters. Each page view will only have one pageLoad event but may have multiple custom events.
• Some custom events need to be fired when the user takes an action instead of when the page loads. For example, when the user adds a product to a cart, the page may not refresh, and the event details need to be captured after they select the "Add to cart" button. Use an appropriate mechanism to fire this UET event.

API Endpoint

UET fires this endpoint when an event is fired: https://bat.bing.com/action/0?
The expected response is: 204

Parameters to be captured

MSCLKID

MSCLKID is used in conversion attribution and is generated at ad click time. This ID is appended to the landing page URL when auto-tagging of the Microsoft click ID is enabled. It should be stored in a first-party cookie on your website and sent with the UET call.

MSCLKID is a GUID, like "cdd4afcccb1c9a4cad9544dd7e5006d5".

Suggested cookie name: _uetmsclkid

Cookie expiration: 90 days

Here is an example:

<script>
    function setCookie(name, value, days) {
        var date = new Date();
        date.setTime(date.getTime() + days * 864e5);
        var expires = "; expires=" + date.toGMTString();
        document.cookie = name + "=" + value + expires;
    }
    function getParam(p) {
        var match = RegExp("[?&]" + p + "=([^&]*)").exec(window.location.search);
        return match && decodeURIComponent(match[1].replace(/\+/g, " "));
    }
    var msclkid = getParam("_uetmsclkid ");
    if (msclkid) {
        setCookie("_uetmsclkid", msclkid, 90);
    }
</script>

MID

Mid allows joining different events from the same page, such as pageLoad and custom events. Here is an example of code used to generate the MID:

<script>
    this._S4 = function () {
        return Math.floor((1 + Math.random()) * 0x10000)
        .toString(16)
        .substring(1);
    };
    this.getGuid = function () {
        var guid =
            this._S4() +
            this._S4() +
            "-" +
            this._S4() +
            "-" +
            this._S4() +
            "-" +
            this._S4() +
            "-" +
            this._S4() +
            this._S4() +
            this._S4();
        return guid;
    };
</script>

For a full list of parameters you can capture with pageLoad or custom events, take a look at this table.

Items

Items capture details of products such as product ID, quantity, and price. They are captured on page views and events involving multiple products, such as the "add to cart" event or visiting the cart page.

Examples of API calls for different events/pages

Page load event

https://bat.bing.com/action/0? 
ti=1234567&
ver=2.3&
evt=pageLoad&
mid=d34f6979-ecfc-ecac-745d-e40447afd9b2&
uid=3966616149922&
vid=a5ia770-97ac68-cd211&
msclkid=292049a17e2413e3a4081719e839afe6-0&
rn=692799&
p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.contoso.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dwall%2Bclock&
r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2F&
tl=Wall%20Clocks&
kw=clocks,homedecor  

Custom events for retail specific scenarios
Homepage

https://bat.bing.com/action/0? 
ti=1234567&
ver=2.3&
mid=d34f6979-ecfc-ecac-745d-e40447afd9b2&
uid=3966616149922&
vid=a5ia770-97ac68-cd211&
msclkid=292049a17e2413e3a4081719e839afe6-0&
rn=692799&
evt=custom&
pagetype=home 

Category browse page

https://bat.bing.com/action/0? 
ti=1234567&
ver=2.3&
mid=d34f6979-ecfc-ecac-745d-e40447afd9b2&
uid=3966616149922&
vid=a5ia770-97ac68-cd211&
msclkid=292049a17e2413e3a4081719e839afe6-0&
rn=692799&
evt=custom&
pagetype=category&
ecomm_category=cat123&
prodid=pid1,pid2,pid3,pid4,pid5,pid6,pid7,pid8,pid9,pid10 

Search results page

https://bat.bing.com/action/0? 
ti=1234567&
ver=2.3&
mid=d34f6979-ecfc-ecac-745d-e40447afd9b2&
uid=3966616149922&
vid=a5ia770-97ac68-cd211&
msclkid=292049a17e2413e3a4081719e839afe6-0&
rn=692799&
evt=custom&
pagetype=searchresults&
search_term=wall%20clocks&
prodid=pid1,pid2,pid3,pid4,pid5,pid6,pid7,pid8,pid9,pid10 

Product display page

https://bat.bing.com/action/0? 
ti=1234567&
ver=2.3&
mid=d34f6979-ecfc-ecac-745d-e40447afd9b2&
uid=3966616149922&
vid=a5ia770-97ac68-cd211&
msclkid=292049a17e2413e3a4081719e839afe6-0&
rn=692799&
evt=custom&
pagetype=product&
prodid=pid1  

Add to cart event
The example below captures the details for an add to cart event happening on the product display page. If the add to cart happens on another page type, use that pagetype.

https://bat.bing.com/action/0? 
ti=1234567&
ver=2.3&
mid=d34f6979-ecfc-ecac-745d-e40447afd9b2&
uid=3966616149922&
vid=a5ia770-97ac68-cd211&
msclkid=292049a17e2413e3a4081719e839afe6-0&
rn=692799&
evt=custom&
ea=add_to_cart&
pagetype=product&
prodid=pid12345&
items=id%3Dprod12345%26quantity%3D2%26price%3D25.1&
gv=50.2&
gc=usd 

Cart page

https://bat.bing.com/action/0? 
ti=1234567&
ver=2.3&
mid=d34f6979-ecfc-ecac-745d-e40447afd9b2&
uid=3966616149922&
vid=a5ia770-97ac68-cd211&
msclkid=292049a17e2413e3a4081719e839afe6-0&
rn=692799&
evt=custom&
pagetype=cart&
prodid=prod12345,prod2345&
items=id%3Dprod12345%26quantity%3D2%26price%3D25.1%2Cid%3Dprod2345%26quantity%3D1%26price%3D121.1&
gv=171.3&
gc=usd 

Purchase confirmation page

https://bat.bing.com/action/0? 
ti=1234567&
ver=2.3&
mid=d34f6979-ecfc-ecac-745d-e40447afd9b2&
uid=3966616149922&
vid=a5ia770-97ac68-cd211&
msclkid=292049a17e2413e3a4081719e839afe6-0&
rn=692799&
evt=custom&
ea=purchase&
pagetype=purchase&
prodid=prod12345,prod2345&
items=id%3Dprod12345%26quantity%3D2%26price%3D25.1%2Cid%3Dprod2345%26q uantity%3D1%26price%3D121.1&
gv=171.3&
gc=usd 

Custom event with advertiser defined labels
Custom labels like ea, ec, ev and el can be used to define custom remarketing lists and conversion events.

https://bat.bing.com/action/0? 
ti=1234567&
ver=2.3&
mid=d34f6979-ecfc-ecac-745d-e40447afd9b2&
uid=3966616149922&
vid=a5ia770-97ac68-cd211&
msclkid=292049a17e2413e3a4081719e839afe6-0&
rn=692799&
evt=custom&
ea=add_to_cart&
ec=shoes&
el=recommendations&
ev=23.99 

Implementation details for IMG tag