Carrier targeting vs ISP targeting (7)
Hey guys
which is more accurate from your experience-Carrier targeting or ISP targeting. Also when creating rules is it better to target ISP's or carrier?Assuming I know how the carrier shows up in the reports
So for example we can create a rule targeting Airtel in India-carrier or the ISP- Bharti Airtel Limited
On which way will I get more 3G/4G traffic and will be more accurate?
From my experience I know ISP is more accurate but I need to settle an argument and get this right once and for all (:
Impossible to say what's more accurate in this case. Since sources and networks use different databases all the time, you'll always face discrepancies. A lot of 1click offers actually determine the users they want to target by IP ranges while labeling 'Carrier A' to their pubs.
Different trackers / systems use different databases.
Best solution to your initial question: get a token for ISP / Carrier sent from the source and check what converts. In the end, it doesn't matter if your source labels it as Airtel India or Bharti Airtel Limited, if it's the selection that converts, go with it. Whenever possible, I try to rather use data from network since what I identify, simply because nobody cares what I personally identify on the source end and in the end it's about making thins convert, not about being more accurate when detecting a carrier / ISP.
On which way will I get more 3G/4G traffic and will be more accurate?
If you're trying to get more 3G/4G/carrier traffic, then targeting by carrier would be better - because by targeting certain ISPs you'll get part/all wifi traffic.
An even BETTER targeting option, if you're wanting to target carrier traffic, would be to target by IP ranges. You really can't get any more granular than that, and you'd be able to cut non-converting IPs just like you would cut placements, to maximize profits.
Popads is a perfect example if you've used it - before it introduced IP targeting (1-2 weeks ago), there was no way to target certain carriers. Even if you chose "carrier/cellular" for "connection type" and "connection speed", and the ISP that included traffic from the specific carrier, you'd still get a bunch of "tag-along" wifi traffic. The only option was to set up rules in the tracker to reroute the wifi traffic to another offer or to a monetizer like afflow.
Franz above has given very good pointers: An option would be to get the traffic source to pass back the ISP token, then just cut what doesn't convert and keep what does. For popads, pass the tokens [ISPName] and [ISPID] and you'll see which ISP does or does not convert. You'll also be able to drill down to ISPName -> Mobile Carrier, to see which carrier(s) correspond to which ISP, and go from there. (As was mentioned above though - even if you know CarrierA traffic is included when you target ISPX, when you target ISPX you may get "tag-along" wifi traffic along with the CarrierA traffic. In that case, targeting by IP ranges would be your best bet.)
If you'd like more info on how to obtain IP ranges please let me know. I've been meaning to write a detailed post on this - will do so once I find some time.
Amy
Targeting carriers based on IP for sources that don't have carrier targeting. Never really thought much about that. Very awesome tip Amy.
Cheers,
Brad
Solid tips by Amy, as always 
I would love to add one thing : there is one more pretty important factor to consider, the DB used by the affiliate network or the advertiser, in case they have "out of targeting" redirects activated. You can target as precisely as you want, but if they don't have a good DB, they will redirect your traffic to fallback offers. Keep an eye on the stats, if you see a higher amount of redirects, ask them to deactivate redirects if possible. I've run into this problem a few times already.
Originally Posted by matuloo
I would love to add one thing : there is one more pretty important factor to consider, the DB used by the affiliate network or the advertiser, in case they have "out of targeting" redirects activated. You can target as precisely as you want, but if they don't have a good DB, they will redirect your traffic to fallback offers. Keep an eye on the stats, if you see a higher amount of redirects, ask them to deactivate redirects if possible. I've run into this problem a few times already.
So there are basically 3 hoops the "carrier traffic" will have to jump through to qualify as carrier traffic: The traffic source, the tracker (if you have carrier rules set up), and the advertiser will ALL have to agree that the visitor is connected through data from that specific carrier, in order for conversion to be possible.
Too bad not that many sources have IP targeting as an option. Actually, most of the ones that DO have IP targeting, also allow targeting by carrier name. But I've found that targeting by IP will often give me higher CR because I could cut IP ranges that don't convert for any reason.Amy
Thank you for your feedback here, really glad I posted this question. Gave me some insights I never really thought about.
I think this is a good sum up for the disccusion by Amy:
"So there are basically 3 hoops the "carrier traffic" will have to jump through to qualify as carrier traffic: The traffic source, the tracker (if you have carrier rules set up), and the advertiser will ALL have to agree that the visitor is connected through data from that specific carrier, in order for conversion to be possible."
Home > Paid Traffic Sources > Mobile