Tracking using CPV Lab & POF (13)
Hey..
I'm a bit stuck with getting my campaigns up and running, and it's the tracking with CPV Lab that's holding me up.
Here's where I'm at.. I've created 10 ads for POF, got a landing page & found an offer. I've added the 'Step 2' code in CPV Lab onto my landing page, and am now trying to get my Campaign URL correct.
I've selected Plenty of Fish as the Predefined Source in CPV Lab, so this has added '&ad={creativeid:}' into the URL Append box. It's also added '&keyword=EDIT' to the URL Append Token box.
In CPV Lab, my Campaign URL is currently looking like this:
https://domain.com/base.php?c=5&key=e2018c7dd94b18e3687dc0516dcf742c& keyword=EDIT&ad={creativeid:}
The CPV Lab POF guide says I need to change the 'EDIT' part with something like 'Ad_1'. My question is.. do I need to do this, as the '&ad={creativeid:}' is already being added onto my URL?
I would prefer to see the POF campaign name over something like 'Ad_1' as it would mean more to me.
Should my URL look like this?:
https://domain.com/base.php?c=5&key=e2018c7dd94b18e3687dc0516dcf742c& ad={creativeid:}
My next question is about the postback URL / pixel. Once I've added this with into my network, is there a way to test that it's all been setup correctly, from start to finish, including the actual conversion?
Thanks in advance 
CPVLab will already track the campaign that clicks through this URL apply to, so you don't really need to add the campaign name. Having the "Ad_1" in there won't affect whether it tracks that or not.
The reason I suggest adding "Ad_1" there rather than just relying on the Creative ID is just that most people find the POF Creative IDs pretty hard to read and unfriendly compared to a more human-readable ad description. However, if you're happy with having ads referenced by ID there's no reason you can't use the Creative ID on its own.
Postback: yes, that's doable. With most affiliate networks, you can ask them to fire a test conversion. Alternatively, click through your link yourself, then go into CPVLab, note down the subid that your click was assigned, and fire the postback yourself, replacing the "subid" portion with your subid. That should show your click as having converted.
Does that make sense? Let me know if you need more info!
Hi Caurmen,
Thanks for your response.
I'm happy to keep both the Ad_1 and the ad={creativeid:} in there, thanks for clearing that up.
About the testing.. I've run into a problem testing the offer. It's a Neverblue offer (so using Cake), I've setup my lander, added the code to the lander and added my postback URL into neverblue's system 'https://domain.com/adclick.php?subid=#s2#'. I've then added my live link into the 'Test Link' box, turned the offer onto test mode, and gone through the whole process (click on campaign link > lander > offer > signup (3 pages) and made it to the stage where the offer converts.
The problem I'm having is that CPV Lab is not picking up the conversion, even though in my Neverblue reports, the conversion has registered. My account manager has advised me to contact CPV Lab support, which I have now done.. Hopefully they can shed some light on this.
Could it be the offer not firing the postback? When I manually fire the post back by going to 'https://domain.com/adclick.php' the conversion registers in CPV Lab.
I'm completely stumped.. I'm quite a technical guy, but this is the first time I've tried to setup a postback, and I don't have much experience with CPV Lab.
Do you know of any step-by-step guides for testing offers using Cake & CPV Lab? I'm really surprised that I've not been able to find anything, as this process is not exactly intuitive for a first-timer!
Can you confirm CPV Labs unique click ID is being passed to the network? Make sure it appears in the click reports in the s2 column.
Your postback at Neverblue looks correct.
This guide should do what you're looking for - follow the attached postback guide too.
http://stmforum.com/forum/showthread...Campaign-Setup
Note that Neverblue have moved to Cake since the postback guide was written, so you'll want to follow the Cake guide not the Neverblue section
Thanks for the response. The subid is not being shown in my aff network, but I have the 'Append SubId to Offer' checkbox checked in CPV Lab.
My affiliate link is showing like this in my CPV Lab - http://dzxcq.com/?a=123456&c=123456&m=26&s1=SD_Ad1&s2=
Should this be as follows? - http://dzxcq.com/?a=123456&c=123456&m=26&s1=SD_Ad1&subid=
@ Caurmen - Yes, I've set it up as per the Cake guidelines.
I've just checked the STM URL Guide, and can see that the 1st version of my URL is correct for Cake - http://dzxcq.com/?a=123456&c=123456&m=26&s1=SD_Ad1&s2=
Yes, the first version is correct. At your affiliate network (Cake-based I presume) you need to go to click report to see s2-s5.
Yes, I've checked the click report, and it is displaying the subid's from the tests:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cxgphcrc71wkavw/Sub_Ids.jpg
So the only problem is that my CPV Lab is not registering the conversion, unless I fire the postback URL manually.
Update: I've done another test signup for the offer, and the conversion is not showing on their end (Neverblue), or in my CPV Lab.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7q8wb6i6va...onversions.png
This is soooooo frustrating.. I can't even get out of the gates!
Well, you certainly need the conversion to show in Neverblue as a prerequisite!
Try changing your postback to http not https.
I would then run some more traffic and see what the conversions do. If you can manually upload subids then you can troubleshoot the postback issues while your campaign runs, since you lose automation but not the actual data.
Much sympathy for this. I had similar problems when I first started up with AM, and it was terribly frustrating.
This is perfectly normal. Tracking is tricky to figure out. You'll get there!
Originally Posted by zeno
Do you know if the 'Test Offer' mode should be used to test conversions on Cake? Someone recently mentioned that conversions don't track when the offers are in test mode.
I'm testing this offer through a VPN by connecting to the US / UK, then doing a sign-up.. could it be because I'm on a vpn that the offer is disregarding my traffic / signup?
I'm really not keen to run traffic without knowing my tracking is setup and working correctly.
Unfortunately, my neverblue affiliate manager is not responding on skype or email, and hasn't been for the last 2 days.. I'm thinking of just going with another network if I can't get this sorted out soon.
I don't use the test offer function at all... I have no idea how it works and don't care - I'd rather test it by emulating a real user.
It is highly likely that your VPN is not going to work well if it is public and used by many - it may be blacklisted, has already converted many times so the IP is ignored, etc. This is unfortunate but often occurs! There are other VPN services you can try.
Your AM could be helpful here by confirming if others are running the offer and have tracking working correctly.
In the end, as I said before, the postback not firing correctly to your CPV Lab install is a minor issue if the offer is still converting as expected. Manual subid uploading should not be a roadblock to trying a campaign.
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