Recommendation Tracking

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Recommendations display dynamically suggested products, for example, related items on a product page or personalized suggestions on the homepage.

The Recommendation Tracking extension enables product-level analysis of these widgets. It captures which recommended products were loaded into a widget, which of them became viewable on screen, and which were clicked, and links these interactions to later purchases.

This enables the evaluation of how effective different widget placements, positions, and algorithms are.


What you can do

  • Measure recommendation performance from delivery through on-screen exposure to clicks and conversions

  • Compare placements (e.g., homepage vs. PDP vs. checkout)

  • Understand which product positions drive engagement

  • Attribute purchases back to earlier product interactions


How it works

  • When recommended products are loaded into a widget, become viewable on screen, or are clicked, tracking requests are sent, including widget context (placement, product position, algorithm).

  • If a recommended product is clicked, its context is temporarily stored on the client-side (in a cookie).

  • If the product is purchased within seven days, this stored context is automatically attached to the purchase request, enabling attribution in Mapp Intelligence.

  • After sending, or after seven days, the stored data is removed.

  • All results are available through dedicated dimensions and metrics.

Note

In this documentation, we use the term 'widget' to refer to any area on the page where product recommendations are displayed.


Product statuses

The extension records three separate stages for every recommended product. Each stage has its own product status, and the dimensions and metrics in Mapp Intelligence are built on them.

Status

Pixel value

When it is triggered

loaded in reco widget

loaded-reco

The product is rendered inside the widget. The event fires as soon as the element appears in the DOM, so a product that sits below the fold and is never seen is included.

viewable in reco widget

viewable-reco

The product has been visible in the visitor's browser viewport long enough to count as seen. By default this means completely visible for one second. Both the visible share of the element and the duration can be configured in the Recommendation Tracking extension. A product that only scrolls past is not counted, and each product is counted once even if it enters the viewport several times.

clicked in reco widget

click-reco

The visitor clicks the product inside the widget.

Viewable means the visitor had the opportunity to see the product. It does not confirm that the visitor looked at it. Every viewable product was loaded into the widget first, so the three stages always narrow down in that order.

Warning

The pixel values for the loaded and viewable statuses have changed. The Smart Pixel sends the new values from version 6.12.1 onwards; earlier versions still send display-reco and view-reco. Both spellings are accepted during a transition period, after which only the new values are processed. If you send recommendation tracking events without the Smart Pixel, switch your implementation to loaded-reco and viewable-reco. Your Customer Success Manager will contact you if this affects your account.