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A tracking domain is a subdomain you own (e.g. go.yourbrand.com) that points at Datalyr’s edge. Serving your tracking script, event collection, and redirect links from your own origin — instead of a shared Datalyr domain — makes tracking dramatically more durable.

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Why use a tracking domain

  • Durable identity under Safari/ITP. A first-party, server-set visitor cookie survives far longer than a JavaScript-set one, so repeat visitors aren’t seen as new — better attribution and higher CAPI match rates.
  • Fewer blocked events. Ad-blockers and privacy lists target shared tracker domains. Your own subdomain isn’t on those lists.
  • Exact link tracking. Redirect links served from your domain (go.yourbrand.com/spring) count every click precisely, independent of any landing-page script.
  • Reputation isolation. Your domain’s deliverability is yours alone — never affected by another customer.

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Set it up

1

Add your domain

Go to Settings → Domains and enter a subdomain you own. We suggest go.yourbrand.com (the go. prefix is deliberate — tracker-sounding prefixes like track. or analytics. are exactly what blocklists match on).
Use a subdomain, not your apex domain — an apex (yourbrand.com) can’t point to us with a CNAME.
2

Add the DNS records

We’ll show you two records to add at your DNS provider, shown as separate, numbered entries:
  1. CNAME — points your subdomain at our edge (and proves ownership).
  2. TXT (_acme-challenge.…) — issues the SSL certificate.
If your domain is on Cloudflare, set the CNAME to “DNS only” (grey cloud), not proxied — otherwise it won’t reach our edge.
SSL is issued automatically once both records are detected, usually within a few minutes.
3

Verify

Click Verify. Once the status flips to Active, your domain is live and your install snippet + tracking links can use it.

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What changes once it’s active

  • Install snippet — point your script tag at your domain. The SDK auto-derives its endpoint from the script’s origin, so no extra config is needed: 
    <script defer src="https://go.yourbrand.com/dl.js" data-workspace-id="YOUR_WORKSPACE_ID"></script>
  • Tracking links — create redirect links on your domain in Track: pick the domain, and we generate a short link like https://go.yourbrand.com/spring that 302s to your destination and counts the click exactly.
Existing installs on the shared Datalyr domain keep working — there’s no forced migration.

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Shopify: one-click first-party

If your store is on Shopify and connected to Datalyr, the active domain’s card shows a Route Shopify tracking through this domain button. One click re-points your Datalyr Web Pixel to send events through go.yourbrand.com — no theme editing, no code. Your storefront and checkout events then flow first-party, which is especially valuable for health/wellness and other privacy-sensitive verticals (the data stays on your own origin) and lifts CAPI match quality. For app advertisers, create a link in Track, choose App install, and add your iOS / Android store URLs. The link opens a fast first-party page on your domain that:
  • runs the Datalyr SDK to capture the device fingerprint, IP, and ad click-ids, firing an $app_download_click — the anchor your mobile SDK matches the install against;
  • routes the visitor to the right store by device (iPhone → App Store, Android → Play Store), and on Android encodes the click attribution into the Play Store install referrer for a deterministic match;
  • sends everyone else (desktop, etc.) to your destination URL.
This first-party interstitial beats a bare redirect on match rate (a device fingerprint is more stable than IP alone) and is friendlier to ad-platform review. For the highest match — deterministic email — pair it with a prelander you host that captures the visitor’s email (see App Campaigns).
iPads are handled. Since iPadOS 13, Safari on iPad sends a desktop (Mac) user-agent, but the interstitial detects iPads by their touch support (navigator.maxTouchPoints) and routes them to the App Store like any other iOS device.
A first-party, server-set visitor cookie is still a tracking cookie. Making it first-party does not remove your consent obligations — in the EU/UK, analytics/tracking cookies require consent regardless of whether they’re first- or third-party. The edge suppresses the persistent cookie when the request carries a Global Privacy Control (Sec-GPC: 1) or Do-Not-Track (DNT: 1) signal, or an explicit X-DL-Consent: denied. Wire your consent management platform (CMP) so it only enables tracking after the visitor consents — and have it signal denial when they don’t. Datalyr respects those signals; obtaining consent is your responsibility as the site owner.