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Advertiser Sub Ids

Updated

Advertisers can use advertiser parameters to pass values from their tracking system to yours on conversion. Advertiser sub-IDs and Advertiser unique IDs are a subset of parameters and macros.  They are used for values that have meaning for the advertiser but don’t correspond to one of the standards, named TUNE parameters. For instance, TUNE doesn’t have parameters specific to e-commerce SKU numbers or product categories. To store that type of data from your advertiser, you use advertiser sub ID or advertiser unique values. Do check the list of parameters in the above parameters and macros link because we are always adding new options. You may find that TUNE already has a standard, named parameter that fits your needs.

Note:  Use the Advertiser Unique parameters as opposed to Advertiser Sub IDs if you are storing data with uncommon or unique values (also known as high-cardinality). Storing a high number of distinct/unique values in Advertiser sub-IDs results in sluggish reporting.

How Advertiser Parameters Work

Advertiser parameters are typically used to help you and your advertiser cross-reference conversion data. They can be used to keep track of various information that is meaningful to various advertiser verticals.

  • e-commerce: order numbers (cart ids), product SKU numbers, Product category, store location code
  • Subscriptions: subscription type, estimated LTV, cancelation reason
  • Gaming: game level, score, gaming group id, tutorial id
  • Session IDs from a third-party system (external to TUNE), to cross-reference and validate data across systems

Remember: use adv_unique values (as opposed to adv_sub) any time your values are uncommon or unique:

You can receive advertiser parameters via the following parameters in the conversion link:

  • adv_sub, adv_sub2,  adv_sub3, adv_sub4, adv_sub5
  • adv_unique1, adv_unique2,  adv_unique3, adv_unique4, adv_unique5

On conversion, values for these advertiser parameters are stored in the session and appear in conversion reports. Once a value is stored, you can provide it to your publisher using the corresponding advertiser sub ID and advertiser unique macro in a partner conversion link.

Only advertiser sub-IDs are shown as Dimensions in aggregate reports such as the Stats report, where the user can group by their values. By contrast, adv unique values are only shown in event reports such as Conversion and Event Tracer. Due to the potentially high number of distinct/unique values, it would not be useful to group by these fields.

Important: Each advertiser sub ID must be a URL-encoded value up to 500 characters in length. Your conversion link may not work if you use longer or non-encoded sub-ID values.

Receiving Advertiser Sub IDs

To add advertiser sub-ID parameters to an offer’s conversion link, first, go to the offer’s page. In the Details panel, click Tracking. Then in the Sub ID section, click the Click here link. For postback conversions, click the link appends &adv_sub=SUB_ID to the postback URL:

http://demo.go2cloud.org/aff_lsr?offer_id=4&transaction_id=TRANSACTION_ID&adv_sub=SUB_ID

Notice that the values for transaction ID and sub-ID are written in all caps. This is so your advertiser can tell at a glance what values they need to insert when they start working with the link.

For pixel-based conversions, clicking the link similarly appends &adv_sub=SUB_ID to the pixel URL:

<!-- Offer Conversion: Example Offer -->
<iframe src="http://demo.go2cloud.org/aff_l?offer_id=4&adv_sub=SUB_ID" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" width="1" height="1"></iframe>
<!-- // End Offer Conversion -->


For adv_unique1 through 5 values one can append &adv_unique values manually, following a similar pattern to adv_sub.

Forwarding Sub IDs to Partner Conversion Links

You or your advertiser may want to forward advertiser sub-ID values to the partner conversion link. To set this up, go to Partner > Conversion Pixels / URLs. From there, click Add Conversion Pixel/URL. Then select the Offer, Partner, and Goal (if any) that the partner pixel/URL is using.

Type or paste the partner conversion link you receive from your publisher in the Conversion Pixel / URL field and insert the {adv_sub} macro in the appropriate parameter. For example, your publisher may want to accept the {adv_sub} macro in their “ordernum” parameter. The partner conversion link after inserting the macro would then look something like this:

http://track.publisherstuff.com/track?ordernum={adv_sub}

Similarly, one can use the {adv_unique1} and related macros to pass along adv_unique values.

Viewing Advertiser Parameters in  Reports

Advertiser sub ID and unique values are visible in the conversion report. In the Data section, select one or more of  the Advertiser Sub ID and Advertiser Unique parameters to see them when you run the report:

By default, advertiser sub-ID values are invisible to your publishers. This is to protect advertisers who may want to share sensitive information with ad networks but not publishers. However, you can change this setting if necessary.

To allow publishers to see an advertiser’s sub ID and advertiser's unique values in the publisher interface, first, go to Advertisers > Manage Advertisers and select the advertiser’s name. Then in the Account Information panel, you can change the Display Advertiser Sub IDs to the Partner setting.

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