View desktop instructions

View mobile app instructions
Create an Article Asset

Published on: Fri, 17 Mar, 2023 at 12:02 AM | Updated on: Thu, 4 Dec, 2025 at 6:39 AM

impact.com supports both static and dynamic HTML ads, including search widgets, embedded forms, and product banners. As an Article Asset, you can update your HTML ad anytime without third-party tools. To upload, include these two required items:

An absolute link, aka a landing page, served securely with HTTPS.
Any dynamic URL tokens you want to be tracked whenever the ad is clicked.

Create Article Asset

From the left navigation bar, select [Engage] → Content → Ads.
In the top-right corner, select Create Ad [Drop-down menu], then select Article.
Under Asset Details, enter the Name of your ad.

In the Content section, enter the HTML/CSS/JS code for your ad.

If you're using dynamic tokens, select Show/hide special token options and refer to the Dynamic token reference and Dynamic content ad example sections below.
Optionally, upload an HTML file by selecting [Toggle on] Upload files → Choose files.

Dynamic token reference

Token	Description
`{irpid}`	Populates with the partner's impact.com partner ID.
`{iradid}`	Populates with the ACME ad ID assigned to the ad.
`{ircid}`	Populates with the impact.com program (or campaign) ID assigned to your program.
`{subId1}` - `{subId3}`	Populates with the partner's SubId's value (used for tracking and reporting).
`{sharedId}`	Populates with the partner's SharedId value for reporting.
`{domain}`	Populates with the tracking domain for your program.
`{timestamp}`	Populates with a timestamp (in Unix epoch format) when the ad is retrieved.
`{randint}`	Populates with a randomly generated integer when the ad is retrieved.

Under Ad Unit Size, select [Drop-down menu] and choose the appropriate display size.
Optionally, enter a Description of the article ad.
Enter the Landing Page to which the email ad should redirect.
- You can set up a custom landing page by selecting Custom from the [Drop-down menu].
- If the image ad is hosted on a mobile app, [Toggle on] Mobile Fallback, then enter the app store link.
In the Metadata section, [Toggle on] Add metadata to this ad.
- From the [Drop-down menu], select the field and enter the value of the query parameters you want to pass.
  - You can add more parameters by selecting [Add Item].
  - Metadata added to your ads will be appended to the end of the ad's tracking links.
  - If you select the Custom parameter you can set both the parameter name and value.
From the [Drop-down menu] select the Deal list this ad should be.
- Optionally, select Add new deal to add a new deal to this ad.
Add Labels to the ad so your partners can more easily find it.
[Toggle on] Available Dates to set start and end date for this ad.
- Select [Unchecked box] to change landing page on expiration.
[Toggle on] Restrict Partner Access to set which partners can use this ad. Search for the partners you want this ad to be usable for from the Search partners field.
Adding Promotional Themes can help you organize ads by what time of the year the ad is for, and partners can also find these ads more conveniently for their marketing efforts.
- [Toggle on] Seasonal and select which seasonal theme you want to add from the [Drop-down menu].
- [Toggle on] Top Seller to select the offer as Offer is a top selling item.
Optionally, select Show Advanced Settings expand and configure settings.
Advanced Settings
[Toggle on] [Tracking Code] if you want to limit partners to only having iFrame tracking codes for this ad.
Select in which Language you want to serve this ad from the [Drop-down menu].
Select [Unchecked box] to Setup a third-party impression pixel for this ad if you want to record how users interact with your ad.
Save if you want partners to begin using the ad as soon as you finish creating it.
- Optional, select [Unchecked box] and Save as a draft.
- Optionally, select the [Drop-down menu] if you want to Save & Create Another or Save & Create Another with Same Settings.

Dynamic content ad example

In the Example code provided below, we have:

An HTML form with a textbox entry and "Submit" button
Embedded CSS to style the form independently of other content
A <div> container for the widget
JavaScript function that dynamically creates an impact.com tracking link and appends query string parameters

A <noscript> tag for the system to accept the script when it doesn’t have an outgoing link (Without this tag, we’d encounter an error when trying to upload this creative.)

In practice, many of these elements can be hosted or embedded on your website—impact.com supports external HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files for dynamic content.

<style type="text/css">  
#search-widget-container 
{    font-family:"Verdana";
     padding:20px;     
     width:280px;    
     height:75px;
     margin:30px;
     background:#FFFFFF;
     border:1px solid #BBBDBF;
     border-radius:6px;
     box-shadow:5px 5px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.1);   }   
     #submitbutton 
     {background:#fff;
     color:#3B91CF;
     font-weight:bold;
     font-size:12px;
     padding:5px:
     border-radius:6px;
     border:1px solid #3B91CF;
     cursor:pointer;   }   
    #submitbutton:hover {    
     background:#3B91CF;
     color:#fff;  }
     #searchbox {
      width:200px;
      margin:10px 10px 10px 0px;   }
</style>
<div id='search-widget-container'>
<img src="http://www.impactradius.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/impact-radius-logo.png" width="150px">  
<form><input name='searchTerm' 
   id='searchBox'
   type='text' 
   placeholder='Search The Website'>
    <input onClick="searchFunction()" 
     type='submit' 
     value='Submit'
     id='submitbutton'>
 </form>
</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
function searchFunction() {  
// Get the user-submitted value from the search box 
var searchTerm = document.getElementById("searchBox").value;  
var landingPage = "http://{domain}/c/{irpid}/{iradid}/{ircid}?p.searchTerm=";
// Append the searchTerm to the end of the landingPage
var completeURL = landingPage.concat(searchTerm);
// Send the customer to the complete final URL
window.location.href = completeURL;   } 
</script>
<noscript>
<a href=”http://www.example.com”>No script link</a>
</noscript>

The JavaScript code generates a tracking URL using dynamic tokens and appends the search terms as query string parameters.
Since the content doesn’t have an absolute URL, we use {domain}, {irpid}, {iradid}, and {ircid} as dynamic tokens to generate a tracking link, which populates with the program’s tracking domain, partner ID, ad ID, and program ID values.
Once clicked, the customer will be routed through impact.com and then forwarded to the landing page—in this case, https://www.example.com

Troubleshoot validation errors

You may see the following error messages when creating your content ad. Here's what you can do to solve them:

Validation error	Explanation
“No replaceable links present”	impact.com cannot detect any replaceable links in the Content field—all links provided should use `http` (not `https`). Your links will later be automatically converted to `https` tracking links.
“Ad name cannot be empty”	You must provide a name for your content ad. Input an appropriate name in the Name field.
"URL on anchor is not absolute"	The link you provided in the Content field isn't absolute. Absolute links use the entire path name, starting with `http://`. You may also want to check for syntax issues with the link you provided, such as spaces before or after the `href=` tag.

Create Article Asset

Dynamic content ad example

Troubleshoot validation errors

Related Articles