CPC V2 FAQs

With our latest version of Cost per Click, CPC V2, you can create sophisticated partner payout groups and payout restrictions for your CPC program, like payouts that scale based on the web browser, geographical location, or type of device that performed the click. To do so, you'll add a click event type to your template terms and create customized rules for different types of clicks to credit partners for clicks driven from specific traffic sources only. For guidance on setting up customized payout rules, see Set Your Click Payout Rules with CPC V2.

What parameters can I use for payout groups and payout restrictions?

The following parameters are available for customizing Payout Group and Payout Restriction rules:

Parameter option	Description	Tracking link example
Ad	The ID of the ad that referred the click, which is automatically embedded in every tracking link. You can configure payout rules based on the presence, absence, or value of this ad ID.	https://le.pxf.io/c/1416144/123456/8882
Ad Program	The program to which the referral ad belongs. You can configure payout rules based on the presence, absence, or value of a specified ad program. (This is a custom field that can be specified in tracking links.)	https://le.pxf.io/c/1416144/674249/8882?adcampaign=acmeanvils
Ad Program Id	The ID of the program to which the referral ad belongs. You can configure payout rules based on the presence, absence, or value of a specified ad program ID. (This is a custom field that can be specified in tracking links.)	https://le.pxf.io/c/1416144/674249/8882?adcampaignid=111
Ad Group	The group to which the referral ad belongs. You can configure payout rules based on the presence, absence, or value of a specified ad group. (This is a custom field that can be specified in tracking links.)	https://le.pxf.io/c/1416144/674249/8882?adgroup=banners
Ad Group Id	The ID of the group to which the referral ad belongs. You can configure payout rules based on the presence, absence, or value of a specified ad group ID. (This is a custom field that can be specified in tracking links.)	https://le.pxf.io/c/1416144/674249/8882?adgroupid=123
Ad Keyword	The keyword associated with an ad. You can configure payout rules based on the presence, absence, or partial presence or absence of a specified keyword. (This is a custom field that can be specified in tracking links.)	https://le.pxf.io/c/1416144/674249/8882?kw=anvil
Ad Placement	The location of an ad on the partner's web page. You can configure payout rules based on where an ad is situated on a web page. (This is a custom field that can be specified in tracking links.)	https://le.pxf.io/c/1416144/674249/8882?adplacement=home
Derived Browser	The internet browser associated with incoming traffic. impact.com detects a user's browser from the tracking link redirect. You can configure payout rules based on this internet browser type.	N/A
Derived Country	The country associated with incoming traffic. impact.com detects this from the tracking link redirect, where the user's IP address is captured. You can configure payout rules based on this user country.	N/A
Derived Device Type	The type of computing device associated with incoming traffic. impact.com detects a user's device type from the tracking link redirect. You can configure payout rules based on this device type.	N/A
Derived OS	The device operating system associated with incoming traffic. impact.com detects a user's device type from the tracking link redirect, where the user's IP address is captured. You can configure payout rules based on this operating system type.	N/A
Derived State/Region	The geographical region associated with incoming traffic. impact.com detects a user's regional location from the tracking link redirect, where the user's IP address is captured. You can configure payout rules based on this geographical region.	N/A
Landing Page	The brand landing page to which users were referred. You can pass this directly in the tracking link. If not, impact.com will report the landing page that was configured for this ad tracking link. You can configure payout rules based on the presence, absence, or value of a landing page.	https://le.pxf.io/c/1416144/674249/8882?u=acme.com
Param1-10	You can configure payout rules based on the presence, absence, or value of a custom UTM parameter.	https://le.pxf.io/c/1416144/674249/8882?param1=trending https://le.pxf.io/c/1416144/674249/8882?param2=black https://le.pxf.io/c/1416144/674249/8882?param3=iron
Product Category	The product catalog category under which the product falls. You can configure payout rules based on the presence, absence, or value of this category, but note that there must be an exact string match with the value specified in the product feed. When partners do not leverage tracking links from product catalogs, you or the partner can manually append a category instead.	https://le.pxf.io/c/1416144/674249/8882?prodcat=tools
Product Sub Category	The product catalog subcategory under which the product falls. You can configure payout rules based on the presence, absence, or value of this subcategory, but note that there must be an exact string match with the value specified in the product feed. When partners do not leverage tracking links from product catalogs, you or the partner can manually append a subcategory instead.	https://le.pxf.io/c/1416144/674249/8882?prodsubcat=anvils
SharedId	A value associated with the click that the partner shares with you for the benefit of your tracking. You can configure payout rules based on the presence, absence, or partial presence or absence of a specified SharedId, but note that there must be an exact string match with the value passed in the tracking link.	https://le.pxf.io/c/1416144/674249/8882?sharedid=partner_blog
SKU	The product's Stock Keeping Unit, as recorded in the product catalog. You can configure payout rules based on the presence, absence, or value of a specific product SKU, but note that there must be an exact string match with the value specified in the product feed. When partners do not leverage tracking links from product catalogs, you or the partner can manually append a SKU instead.	https://le.pxf.io/c/1416144/674249/8882?prodsku=ANVL_2023_12
Subaccount ID	The sub affiliate or partner account Id on the impact.com platform. You can configure payout rules based on the presence, absence, or value of a specific subaccount ID. (This is a custom field that can be specified in tracking links.)	https://le.pxf.io/c/1416144/674249/8882?subacctid=111
Subaccount Name	The name of the sub-affiliate or partner account on the impact.com platform. You can configure payout rules based on the presence or absence of a specific subaccount name. (This is a custom field that can be specified in tracking links.)	https://le.pxf.io/c/1416144/674249/8882?subacctname=hazel_nutt
Traffic Type	The category of incoming traffic, such as traffic coming from a social media property or a display on a web page. The partner can pass any value to which you've agreed, e.g., forum, toolbar etc. You can configure payout rules based on the presence or absence of a specified traffic type, but note that there must be an exact string match with the value passed in the tracking link.	https://le.pxf.io/c/1416144/674249/8882?trafcat=toolbar
Traffic Source	The origin of incoming traffic, such as traffic coming from social media, a web page, a search engine etc. The partner can pass any value to which you've agreed, e.g., Instagram, toolbar, paid search, etc. You can configure payout rules based on the presence or absence of a specified traffic source, but note that there must be an exact string match with the value passed in the tracking link.	https://le.pxf.io/c/1416144/674249/8882?trafsrc=paidsearch
URL	The referring URL from which the tracking link redirected a user. impact.com detects this in HTTP referrer header during the gateway redirect from a partner's promotional site to your program landing page. You can configure payout rules based on the presence, absence, or partial presence or absence of a specific URL.	N/A

Note: The descriptions above are only relevant to brands that make use of tracking links in their affiliate tracking, not those who use direct traffic tracking.

Can I create customized rules for payout limits or adjustments?

At this time, impact.com does not allow you to create complex rules for payout limits or payout adjustments. However, be sure to set payout Limits in order to prevent unbudgeted expenses:

Will I have to pay for invalid traffic?

Types of clicks that might be considered invalid include bots/crawlers, data center clicks, and intentional click fraud.

Invalid Traffic Type	Description	Mitigation Strategy
Bots/crawlers	These are computer programs that can generate clicks in large volumes.	impact.com filters known crawlers. These “clicks” are excluded from impact.com click metrics entirely, and thus will not be considered for CPC payouts.
Data center clicks	Data center clicks are those where the IP address that the click originated from belongs to a hosting provider, like AWS or Google Cloud.	impact.com allows a brand to prevent or permit CPC payouts for clicks originating from data centers. You can find this toggle in your Template Terms under Advanced Settings. The default setting prevents payouts for these clicks.
Intentional click fraud	This refers to a human attempting to game the CPC payout model by clicking a link many times in order to inflate click metrics and receive a commission.	This isn't a very effective strategy for a fraudster, and impact.com's system is not designed to prevent this behavior. However, our click deduplication methodology (outlined below) mitigates the risk of this sort of behavior.

What is impact.com's click deduplication methodology?

Despite impact.com's mitigation strategies against invalid click traffic, it's still possible that a given partner generates high volumes of clicks with a low conversion rate. impact.com advises that you follow the click deduplication methodology outlined below to maintain a healthy CPC program in such circumstances:

• Set Payout Limits: Limits prevent you from footing the bill for unexpected traffic spikes, which could be caused by anything from invalid traffic (bad) to unanticipated virality (good).

• Monitor partners’ click performance metrics regularly: Check your Performance by Partner report at least once a quarter, and look for outliers in the Conversion Rate column (low conversion rate = low-quality traffic). You may need to make the column visible by selecting [Checked box] Conversion Rate in the Show dropdown at the top of the report.

• Adjust contract settings as necessary: Before making contract adjustments, it’s always a good idea to discuss your findings with the partner. If you still notice low-value clicks thereafter, here are some ways to “rebalance” your contract:

  • Lower the partner’s default CPC payout until their effective Cost-Per-Action (CPA) is in line with what you’re seeing across other partners.

  • If the partner is a sub-affiliate network and the traffic quality is lower for one or more specific sub-affiliates, you can lower (or remove) the CPC payout for just those sub-affiliates. You can do this by creating a Payout Group or Payout Restriction based on the SharedId parameter.

It's worth noting that you are not responsible for paying out "duplicate clicks". A click is considered a duplicate if it comes from the same user within a specific time window. You can customize this window on the program level:

1. From the top navigation bar, select [User profile] → Settings.

2. On the right, under Tracking, select Gateway.

3. Below Click Tracking Settings, use the [Drop-down menus] to customize the window.