Quora Ads Cross-Domain Tracking | OpsBlu Docs

Quora Ads Cross-Domain Tracking

Configure cross-domain tracking for Quora Pixel across multiple domains and subdomains.

Overview

Cross-domain tracking enables Quora Pixel to maintain user identification and attribution across multiple domains in your conversion funnel. This is essential for:

  • Main website to separate checkout domain
  • Multiple country-specific domains
  • Third-party payment processors
  • Subdomain tracking (www vs app)

Quora Pixel uses third-party cookies for user tracking:

  • Cookie Name: _quora_token, qp_uid
  • Domain: .quora.com (third-party)
  • Expiration: 90 days (default)
  • Purpose: User identification and attribution

Deploy Same Pixel Across Domains

The simplest approach is deploying the same Quora Pixel on all domains:

<!-- Domain A: www.example.com -->
<script>
!function(q,e,v,n,t,s){if(q.qp) return; n=q.qp=function(){n.qp?n.qp.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments);}; n.queue=[];t=document.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v; s=document.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s);}(window, 'script', 'https://a.quora.com/qevents.js');
qp('init', 'PIXEL_ID');
qp('track', 'ViewContent');
</script>

<!-- Domain B: checkout.example.com -->
<!-- Use the SAME pixel ID -->
<script>
!function(q,e,v,n,t,s){if(q.qp) return; n=q.qp=function(){n.qp?n.qp.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments);}; n.queue=[];t=document.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v; s=document.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s);}(window, 'script', 'https://a.quora.com/qevents.js');
qp('init', 'PIXEL_ID');
qp('track', 'ViewContent');
</script>

For browsers with third-party cookie restrictions:

function setQuoraFirstPartyCookie(userId) {
  const expiryDays = 90;
  const date = new Date();
  date.setTime(date.getTime() + (expiryDays * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000));
  const expires = "expires=" + date.toUTCString();

  // Use leading dot for subdomain sharing
  document.cookie = "quora_user_id=" + userId + ";" + expires + ";path=/;domain=.example.com;SameSite=Lax;Secure";
}

function getQuoraFirstPartyCookie() {
  const name = "quora_user_id=";
  const decodedCookie = decodeURIComponent(document.cookie);
  const cookieArray = decodedCookie.split(';');

  for (let i = 0; i < cookieArray.length; i++) {
    let cookie = cookieArray[i].trim();
    if (cookie.indexOf(name) === 0) {
      return cookie.substring(name.length, cookie.length);
    }
  }
  return null;
}

// Generate or retrieve user ID
function getOrCreateUserId() {
  let userId = getQuoraFirstPartyCookie();

  if (!userId) {
    userId = 'user_' + Date.now() + '_' + Math.random().toString(36).substr(2, 9);
    setQuoraFirstPartyCookie(userId);
  }

  return userId;
}

// Use in Quora events
const userId = getOrCreateUserId();
qp('track', 'Purchase', {
  'value': '99.99',
  'currency': 'USD',
  'order_id': 'ORDER_12345',
  'external_id': userId // Pass as custom parameter
});

Subdomain Tracking

For subdomains under the same root domain:

// Set cookie for all subdomains
function setSharedCookie(name, value) {
  const expiryDays = 90;
  const date = new Date();
  date.setTime(date.getTime() + (expiryDays * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000));
  const expires = "expires=" + date.toUTCString();

  // Leading dot allows subdomain sharing
  document.cookie = name + "=" + value + ";" + expires + ";path=/;domain=.example.com;SameSite=Lax;Secure";
}

Subdomain Examples

www.example.com     → domain=.example.com
app.example.com     → domain=.example.com
checkout.example.com → domain=.example.com

URL Parameter Passing

Pass user identifier across domains via URL:

function appendQuoraId(url) {
  const quoraUserId = getQuoraFirstPartyCookie();

  if (quoraUserId) {
    const separator = url.indexOf('?') > -1 ? '&' : '?';
    url += separator + 'quid=' + encodeURIComponent(quoraUserId);
  }

  return url;
}

// Apply to cross-domain links
document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
  const crossDomainLinks = document.querySelectorAll('a[href*="checkout.example.com"]');

  crossDomainLinks.forEach(function(link) {
    link.addEventListener('click', function(e) {
      this.href = appendQuoraId(this.href);
    });
  });
});

Extract User ID from URL

// On destination domain
function extractQuoraId() {
  const urlParams = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search);
  const quoraUserId = urlParams.get('quid');

  if (quoraUserId) {
    setQuoraFirstPartyCookie(quoraUserId);
  }
}

// Call on page load
extractQuoraId();

Form Field Injection

For forms submitting to another domain:

function injectQuoraIdIntoForm(formElement) {
  const quoraUserId = getQuoraFirstPartyCookie();

  if (quoraUserId) {
    const hiddenField = document.createElement('input');
    hiddenField.type = 'hidden';
    hiddenField.name = 'quid';
    hiddenField.value = quoraUserId;
    formElement.appendChild(hiddenField);
  }
}

// Apply to forms
document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
  const forms = document.querySelectorAll('form[action*="checkout.example.com"]');

  forms.forEach(function(form) {
    form.addEventListener('submit', function(e) {
      injectQuoraIdIntoForm(this);
    });
  });
});

Server-Side Cross-Domain Handling

Node.js Implementation

const express = require('express');
const app = express();

app.get('/checkout', (req, res) => {
  // Extract Quora user ID from URL or cookie
  const quoraUserId = req.query.quid || req.cookies.quora_user_id;

  if (quoraUserId) {
    res.cookie('quora_user_id', quoraUserId, {
      maxAge: 90 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000, // 90 days
      domain: '.example.com',
      httpOnly: false,
      sameSite: 'lax',
      secure: true
    });
  }

  res.render('checkout', {
    quoraUserId: quoraUserId
  });
});

Python/Flask Implementation

from flask import Flask, request, make_response, render_template

app = Flask(__name__)

@app.route('/checkout')
def checkout():
    # Extract Quora user ID
    quora_user_id = request.args.get('quid') or request.cookies.get('quora_user_id')

    response = make_response(render_template('checkout.html', quora_user_id=quora_user_id))

    if quora_user_id:
        response.set_cookie(
            'quora_user_id',
            quora_user_id,
            max_age=90 * 24 * 60 * 60,
            domain='.example.com',
            httponly=False,
            samesite='Lax',
            secure=True
        )

    return response

Third-Party Payment Processors

For payment processors like PayPal, Stripe:

Pre-Redirect Tracking

function trackBeforePaymentRedirect(orderData) {
  // Fire Quora pixel before redirect
  qp('track', 'Generic', {
    'event_name': 'begin_checkout',
    'value': orderData.value,
    'currency': 'USD',
    'order_id': orderData.orderId
  });

  // Store order ID for post-return tracking
  sessionStorage.setItem('quora_order_id', orderData.orderId);
  sessionStorage.setItem('quora_order_value', orderData.value);

  // Delay redirect to ensure pixel fires
  setTimeout(function() {
    window.location.href = orderData.paymentUrl;
  }, 500);
}

Post-Return Conversion

// On return URL: /order-confirmation
function trackPaymentReturn() {
  const orderId = sessionStorage.getItem('quora_order_id');
  const orderValue = sessionStorage.getItem('quora_order_value');

  if (orderId && orderValue) {
    qp('track', 'Purchase', {
      'value': orderValue,
      'currency': 'USD',
      'order_id': orderId
    });

    // Clear stored data
    sessionStorage.removeItem('quora_order_id');
    sessionStorage.removeItem('quora_order_value');
  }
}

// Call on confirmation page
if (window.location.pathname === '/order-confirmation') {
  trackPaymentReturn();
}

Multiple Top-Level Domains

For separate TLDs (e.g., example.com, example.co.uk):

LocalStorage Synchronization

// Store in localStorage for cross-domain access
function storeQuoraIdGlobally(userId) {
  if (typeof localStorage !== 'undefined') {
    localStorage.setItem('quora_global_user_id', userId);
    localStorage.setItem('quora_global_timestamp', Date.now().toString());
  }
}

// Retrieve and sync
function syncQuoraIdAcrossDomains() {
  if (typeof localStorage !== 'undefined') {
    const globalUserId = localStorage.getItem('quora_global_user_id');
    const timestamp = localStorage.getItem('quora_global_timestamp');

    // Check if ID is recent (within 90 days)
    const ninetyDaysMs = 90 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
    const now = Date.now();

    if (globalUserId && timestamp && (now - parseInt(timestamp)) < ninetyDaysMs) {
      setQuoraFirstPartyCookie(globalUserId);
      return globalUserId;
    }
  }

  return null;
}

// Sync on page load
const syncedId = syncQuoraIdAcrossDomains();
if (!syncedId) {
  const newId = getOrCreateUserId();
  storeQuoraIdGlobally(newId);
}

Testing Cross-Domain Tracking

Browser Developer Tools

function testQuoraCrossDomain() {
  console.log('=== Quora Cross-Domain Test ===');

  // Check Quora cookies
  const cookies = document.cookie.split(';').filter(c => c.includes('quora'));
  console.log('Quora Cookies:', cookies);

  // Check first-party cookie
  const fpCookie = getQuoraFirstPartyCookie();
  console.log('First-Party Cookie:', fpCookie);

  // Check localStorage
  if (typeof localStorage !== 'undefined') {
    console.log('LocalStorage ID:', localStorage.getItem('quora_global_user_id'));
  }

  // Check URL parameters
  const urlParams = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search);
  console.log('URL quid parameter:', urlParams.get('quid'));

  console.log('===================================');
}

testQuoraCrossDomain();

Network Tab Verification

  1. Open Developer Tools → Network tab
  2. Filter by "quora"
  3. Click cross-domain link
  4. Verify requests to a.quora.com or q.quora.com
  5. Check cookie headers

Privacy Considerations

GDPR Compliance

// Only fire pixels with consent
function fireQuoraPixelWithConsent(eventName, eventData) {
  if (window.gdprConsent && window.gdprConsent.advertising) {
    qp('track', eventName, eventData);
  } else {
    console.log('Quora pixel blocked - no consent');
  }
}

function detectThirdPartyCookieSupport(callback) {
  // Simple test: try to set and read a third-party cookie
  const testCookie = 'quora_3p_test=1; path=/; SameSite=None; Secure';
  document.cookie = testCookie;

  const supported = document.cookie.includes('quora_3p_test');

  if (!supported) {
    console.log('Third-party cookies blocked - using first-party fallback');
  }

  callback(supported);
}

detectThirdPartyCookieSupport(function(supported) {
  if (!supported) {
    // Implement first-party cookie strategy
    const userId = getOrCreateUserId();
    console.log('Using first-party user ID:', userId);
  }
});

Best Practices

  • Deploy same Quora Pixel ID across all domains
  • Use first-party cookies as fallback for third-party restrictions
  • Pass user identifiers via URL for critical cross-domain flows
  • Fire pixels before redirects to third-party processors
  • Test cross-domain tracking in all browsers (especially Safari)
  • Implement consent management before setting cookies
  • Document your cross-domain setup for team reference
  • Monitor pixel firing across all domains
  • Use server-side tracking for critical conversions
  • Regularly audit cross-domain tracking after site updates
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