Cross Domain Tracking

[SeongHyunPa]

Is it possible to track a user's journey from one domain to another?

E.g., User would land on a website that explains car model information >> User clicks buttons/links that send them to a different domain website that is specified for requesting a test drive of that specific car model

Currently, we are unable to track the origin of users who complete the test drive request in domain B. (Where the acquisition happened, through which campaign?)

[Jennifer_Dungan · Accepted solution]

Yes, the Adobe Visitor Service should be able to properly identify most users across domains without requiring any special treatment.

For instance, in my network, if I open a new Incognito window and open domain A (and check my ECID), then I open a new tab and open domain B, I will see the same ECID...  I can't close my Incognito session since that will fully clear all first and third party cookies...  but even if I take a browser that I don't use regularly, and do the same thing (or even close the browser between domains) ... so long as I still have the third party cookies set by the Visitor Id Service (demdex) I should be re-identified as the same user.

Now, that said... both domains still have to be tracking into the same suite for my campaigns to be maintained.. both domains should be treated as internal URLs (so there is no exit tracking or referrer instance being tracked that can cause issues with the flow).

I would first check your implementation that all of the above is properly implemented... 

If you are still having issues, you can add in the appendVisitorIDsTo plugin (https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/id-service/using/id-service-api/methods/appendvisitorid) that should append the ECID from domain A to domain B in the flow (this should compensate for potential loss due to third party cookie rejection)...this will append query parameters to your URL when you move from domain to domain, but you have to make sure that domain B is reading this information and using it... (I've heard of people mentioning that this wasn't always happening for them.... I don't use this myself, since I haven't had a lot of issues thus far)

Again, for your campaigns to properly work, both sites need to track into the same suite.. because even if the same user is identified, the campaign is limited to the suite where it was captured.

Hope this helps, at least as a starting point for investigating your implementation and what is happening.

[SeongHyunPa]

Hello Jennifer,

Thanks for the update.

Would it be possible to review directly through an online call on the case with one of my clients?

I would like to understand if cross-domain tracking is actually well implemented.

[Vinay_Chauhan]

Yes, it is possible to track a user’s journey across two domains in Adobe Analytics — but there are a few critical things that need to be in place for it to work consistently.

First, both domains need to be part of the same Experience Cloud Org and use the Experience Cloud ID Service (ECID). If the ECID is implemented correctly, and the demdex third-party cookie isn’t blocked by the browser or user settings, then Adobe should be able to recognize the same user across domains, as long as the session isn’t fully reset (e.g., Incognito windows closed, cookies cleared, etc.).

That said, there are three key things I'd suggest checking:

1. Same Report Suite: Both domains should be sending hits to the same Adobe Analytics report suite. If Domain A and Domain B use separate suites, the campaign attribution won’t carry over — even if the user is recognized as the same person.

2. Internal URL Configuration: Make sure both domains are listed as internal URLs in your report suite settings. If not, Adobe might treat the click from Domain A to Domain B as an exit and re-entry, which could mess with your attribution and flow reports.

3. Visitor ID Linking (if needed): If you're seeing inconsistent ECID persistence — possibly due to third-party cookie restrictions — you can implement the appendVisitorIDsTo() plugin. This appends ECID values as query parameters when users move from Domain A to Domain B. Just make sure that Domain B is configured to read those values on page load and initialize Adobe Analytics using them.

I’d recommend using Adobe’s Experience Platform Debugger or Charles Proxy to check that the ECID remains consistent across both sites and that no unexpected campaign overwrites are occurring mid-journey.

Hope this helps as a troubleshooting path forward