Meta Pixel
DefinitionThe Meta Pixel (formerly the Facebook Pixel) is a piece of code on your website that tells Meta Ads what visitors do there, such as viewing a product or making a purchase. Meta uses this to count conversions, build audiences and optimise campaigns.
How it works
The pixel runs in the browser: when someone takes an action on your site, the code sends an event to Meta. Today the pixel is one of several sources inside a dataset in Events Manager, alongside CAPI, apps and offline events, and the pixel ID doubles as the dataset ID. Ad blockers, browser privacy settings and declined consent mean some browser events never reach Meta.
- PageView
- page visit
- ViewContent
- product page
- AddToCart
- added to basket
- InitiateCheckout
- checkout started
- Purchase
- purchase with value and currency
These are Meta’s standard event names.
What it means for you
A sales campaign in Meta Ads learns from pixel events. If a purchase doesn’t get through, or arrives without a value, the system can’t tell which audiences buy, and you can’t calculate ROAS.
From our accounts
In accounts we take over, we often find events being sent twice, because the pixel is installed both in the shop theme and in Tag Manager. Meta then reports twice as many purchases as the shop, and ROAS looks superb. Once the duplicate is removed, results drop back to their real level, and only then do we start making decisions.
We set up the Meta Pixel together with CAPI and check that purchases in Meta match the orders in your shop.
Web analytics