The invention discloses an application installation package processing and installation source determination method and apparatus, and a traceability system. The processing method comprises the stepsof receiving a link acquisition request sent by a first account for a target application; acquiring an installation package identifier list of the target application program according to the link acquisition request, and determining a target installation package identifier from the installation package identifier list; recording an association relationship between the target installation package identifier and the first account; and generating an invitation link according to the target installation package identifier, and sending the invitation link to the first account, so that the first account sends the invitation link to other accounts. According to the embodiment of the invention, the target installation package identifier can be quickly determined for any channel, and the invitationlink is generated according to the target installation package identifier, so that the response speed of the server to the link acquisition request is improved.