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Webpage retargeting

Updated

Retargeting pixels are HTML snippets that must be placed on an advertiser webpage so that iPromote can track a known user as they browse the web. As the user browses, iPromote "sees" these users and places suitable ads on behalf of the advertiser who owns the tagged webpage.

iPromote currently provides the following retargeting pixels:

  • pixel_cid: Enables users to retarget based on campaign ID and/or category ID. Categories used by this pixel come from the iPromote taxonomy.
  • pixel_rcat: Enables users to retarget based on partner category ID. Categories used by this pixel come from a partner taxonomy.

When an advertiser's tagged webpage opens, the iPromote pixel saves a cookie on the user's browser. The cookie associates the advertiser's campaign ID with that user's browser. The next time that user goes to an in-network website, the cookie "fires" and iPromote gets a notification.

The notification tells iPromote that the user who opened the advertiser's webpage is now looking at another webpage and that iPromote has an opportunity to show the user a suitable ad. iPromote then bids to place an ad on the newly opened webpage on behalf of the advertiser of the tagged webpage mentioned above.

Embedding retargeting pixels

The following procedures explain how to embed retargeting pixels on an advertiser's webpage. Be sure to carefully check which procedure applies to you before following one.

To embed an iPromote retargeting pixel

Note: The retargeting pixel includes a cid and a cat parameter. You can choose to use one or the other, or both, depending on your needs.

To use a retargeting pixel, an advertiser must add an HTML tag known as a "retargeting pixel" to an applicable webpage on their site. The tag is called a pixel because it renders an invisible 1 x 1 image on the advertiser's webpage.

Take the following steps to embed a new retargeting pixel:

  1. Sign in to your iPromote account.
  2. Retrieve retargeting pixel HTML.
    1. Click Campaigns, then select the campaign you want to enable retargeting for.
    2. In the campaign's Overview, go to the Campaign Links area and copy the HTML <img> element from the Retargeting Pixel field.
  3. If you manage advertisers whose websites display ads in the European Union or California, they are subject to GDPR and/or CCPA compliance. For more information, see Privacy law and compliance.
  4. Using a text editor, edit the advertiser webpage HTML.
    1. Edit the source HTML in one of two ways.
      • Paste the <img> element provided into the footer used by the website. This ensures that the element appears on all pages.
      • Paste the <img> element provided into each applicable page of the website. This ensures that only specific pages are affected.
    2. Save your edits and publish the site.
  5. Use iPromote platform reporting tools to evaluate the effectiveness of retargeting.

Example: Retargeting pixel

<img src="https://servedby.ipromote.com/ad/?src=pixel_cid&nid=[Network_ID]&cid=[Campaign_ID]&cat=[Category_ID]" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" />

Example: Retargeting pixel with Facebook retargeting

<img src="https://servedby.ipromote.com/ad/?src=pixel_cid&nid=[Network_ID]&cid=[Campaign_ID]&cat=[Category_ID]&redir=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Ftr%3Fid%3D[FB_ID]%26ev%3DPageView%26noscript%3D1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" />

To embed a partner retargeting pixel

To use a partner category retargeting pixel, an advertiser must add an HTML tag known as a "retargeting pixel" to an applicable webpage on their site. The tag is called a pixel because it renders an invisible 1 x 1 image on the advertiser's webpage.

Take the following steps to set up a partner retargeting pixel:

  1. Supply iPromote with a listing of partner categories in an Excel spreadsheet. iPromote uses this to map the partner's categories to iPromote categories on iPromote servers.
  2. Request a specialized retargeting pixel from your partner manager at iPromote.
  3. Add the correct nid and rcat values. (iPromote might have supplied these values in the requested retargeting pixel. Also, pixel_rcat does not support cid, radv, or rcid parameters.)
    • nid means network ID. nid represents all of the networks on which a partner's ads run. To stamp the same retargeting data across all of a partner's networks, nid can contain multiple comma-separated ID values. The first network in the list of IDs (or the only network) must be the one to which partner categories are mapped in the iPromote system.
    • rcat means remote category ID. This ID represents the partner category value. The value must have already been supplied to iPromote for proper mapping, otherwise iPromote servers won't recognize it.
  4. If you manage advertisers whose websites display ads in the European Union or California, they are subject to GDPR and/or CCPA compliance. For more information, see Privacy law and compliance.
  5. Using a text editor, edit the advertiser webpage HTML.
    1. Edit the source HTML in one of two ways.
      • Paste the <img> element provided into the footer used by the website. This ensures that the element appears on all pages.
      • Paste the <img> element provided into each applicable page of the website. This ensures that only specific pages are affected.
    2. Save your edits and publish the site.
  6. Use iPromote platform reporting tools to evaluate the effectiveness of retargeting.

Example: Retargeting pixel

<img src="https://servedby.ipromote.com/ad/?src=pixel_rcat&nid=[Network_ID]&rcat=[Partner_Category_ID]" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" />

Example: Retargeting pixel with Facebook retargeting

<img src="https://servedby.ipromote.com/ad/?src=pixel_rcat&nid=[Network_ID]&rcat=[Partner_Category_ID]&redir=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Ftr%3Fid%3D[FB_ID]%26ev%3DPageView%26noscript%3D1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" />

Privacy law and compliance

If you manage advertisers whose websites display ads in the European Union or California, they are subject to GDPR and/or CCPA compliance. iPromote, too, must comply with these regulations.

If GDPR and/or CCPA apply to you and your pixel source (src) types are as follows, then you must update your pixels:

  • pixel_cat (obsolete, but could still hit iPromote servers)
  • pixel_cid
  • pixel_dds
  • pixel_rcat

iPromote checks its pixels to ensure compliance from advertisers who use its platform. Please implement the required pixel changes to ensure iPromote can honor your pixels.

Edit applicable pixels by following these steps:

  1. Add the applicable query parameters and values to your pixel(s):
    • ccpa: If CCPA applies to the user seeing the tagged webpage, this value must be passed to indicate the user's CCPA privacy settings. Value is a CCPA consent string.
    • cs: If GDPR applies to the user seeing the tagged webpage, this value must be passed to indicate the user's GDPR privacy settings. iPromote is a vendor on the IAB Transparency Consent Framework (TCF) global vendor list. Given that, we validate the consent string you provide against TCF specifications for consent strings. If you do not receive cookies back when testing our pixel with gdpr=1 requests, please check the validity of your consent string using https://iabtcf.com/#/decode. Must be used in conjunction with gdpr.
    • gdpr: Indicates that GDPR applies to the user seeing the tagged webpage. Values are 0 or 1. Must be used in conjunction with cs.
  2. Customize site code or work with your Consent Management Provider (CMP) to pass in the required values mentioned above.

Example: Retargeting pixel with GDPR and CCPA compliance

<img src="https://servedby.ipromote.com/ad/?src=pixel_cid&nid=[Network_ID]&cid=[Campaign_ID]&cat=[Category_ID]&gdpr=[0 OR 1]&cs=[GDPR_consent_string]&ccpa=[CCPA_consent_string]" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" />

For information about whether GDPR applies to you or your advertisers, see https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/reform/rules-business-and-organisations/application-regulation/who-does-data-protection-law-apply_en.

For information about whether CCPA applies to you or your advertisers, see https://www.iab.com/topics/ccpa/.

Non-retargeting pixel uses

The retargeting pixel is used to do more than "just" retarget. For example, it is also used in these cases:

  • Display-Driven Search (DDS). DDS correlates the viewing of a display ad with the viewing of an advertiser's webpage.
  • Conversion tracking in a cost-per-acquisition (CPA) campaign. CPA correlates the viewing of a CPA ad with landing on a specialized landing page.
  • GDPR and CCPA privacy law consent compliance, where applicable. In order for iPromote to use cookies related to a retargeting pixel, the user must provide GDPR or CCPA consent.

Carefully review the use-cases above and make sure that your pixels are implemented correctly and optimally.

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