Frequently Asked Questions - Transactions
Transactions
This refers to the page a customer is redirected to after they have completed the desired action. For example, if the desired action is a credit card purchase of a camera, the confirmation page will be the page that comes after the purchase is complete. Usually, this page has a thank you or a confirmation message to let the customer know that the transaction was successful. Visitors can only reach this page by completing the action that the advertiser has designated.
When an advertiser creates a new offer in the Inuvo Platform, a pixel is automatically generated by the Platform. In order for transactions to be tracked, the advertiser has to place the pixel on their confirmation page. Anytime a publisher joins an offer and selects which creative they will use to promote an offer, they copy and paste a unique tracking link into the location they will be placing the creative. This tracking link basically says to the Inuvo pixel: “Hey! It’s me! Publisher #___ from Inuvo and I brought you this sale.”
The name we use for a pixel recognizing that a visitor reached the confirmation page by clicking on an Inuvo publisher’s tracking link is firing. A pixel will not fire if a visitor reaches the confirmation page with the Inuvo pixel on it but didn’t click on an Inuvo publisher’s tracking link. Therefore, advertisers can rest assured that no erroneous transactions will show up in the Inuvo Platform which didn’t originate from an Inuvo publisher. When a pixel fires, it sends back information on the transaction to the Inuvo Platform so the publisher can receive credit for that transaction. Some of the details include the publisher’s account number, date and time of the transaction, the IP address of the visitor and the amount of commission earned.
A piggyback pixel is a secondary pixel that is in essence piggybacking on top of the Inuvo pixel that the advertiser has placed to track transactions that come to them from the Inuvo Platform. This allows publishers to track their transactions in parallel with the Inuvo Platform. If you are a publisher and you have an additional tracking solution you use, or if you are running a network, piggyback pixels are quite beneficial to you. This will allow your network's publishers to also track their transactions in real-time.
If you are an advertiser looking to have your offers picked up by large publishers, and possibly networks of publishers, then you'll want to make sure you have this option available to them. Publishers like to see their statistics in real-time so as to make sure they aren't spending time and money on a campaign that isn't working. This is a must-have for any publisher who is running their own network.
The first step is to make sure you have a JavaScript pixel placed on your confirmation page from the Inuvo Platform. To do this, simply login into your Inuvo Platform advertiser account, navigate to your offer and click-through to the Offer Details page. Under "Step 1: Tracking Pixel" make sure the radio button next to JavaScript is selected. This will automatically generate a JavaScript pixel for you to copy and paste into your confirmation page. Once this is completed and you have worked with the Inuvo Platform Support Team to ensure everything is up and running smoothly, you are now ready to allow publishers to have their pixels piggyback on the Inuvo Platform pixel.
Once you receive a Piggyback Pixel request from one of your publishers, simply click on the Publishers section in your Inuvo Platform advertisers account and then click on their publisher number. You'll then see a page with their details including which offers they have joined. Click on the piggy icon on the corresponding offer, paste the pixel in the message box and click Add. Double check that the drop down is set to "Activate" and you have successfully placed and activated your first piggyback pixel! Make sure to email the Inuvo Platform Support Team so they can fire off a quick test and you are ready to roll!
Inuvo provides advertisers with a customizable, automated process to integrate into your ecommerce or lead management system. We’ll work with you to place a javascript or image pixel on your thank you/confirmation page. This tracking pixel works in tandem with the cookie, and is commonly used in the industry.
When a unique publisher link is clicked by the customer, a cookie is set on the customer’s computer, and an impression is then set. If the customer makes a purchase/transaction, the script makes a call to our servers, and then matches the cookie information with the customer information. If the information matches, the transaction report is sent back to the Inuvo Platform and tracks as a transaction. The Platform tracks the transaction to the specific hash encoded link used by our publishers that shows any information passed back through the javascript pixel. The pixel allows the system to track a unique order id, and /or revenue amount.
From your dashboard you can select "Transactions" from the top navigation, or view a snapshot of your pending transactions within the Pending Transactions area on your dashboard. This snapshot will probably not include all of your pending transactions, but you can click through on "View All" to be taken to the Transactions page.
Once at the Transactions page, you will first see your pending transactions across all of your offers. For each pending transaction, you will see the publisher ID, offer, date of the transaction, country the transaction originated from, revenue and commission earned from this transaction, and the status of the transaction, which of course is currently pending.
You can approve or deny transactions all at once, or one at a time. Once you have approved or denied a transaction, it will be removed from this list and placed on your Transaction list. In order to see another set on this overview page, you will need to hit the Refresh button. By selecting "View All", you can see the complete list of all pending transactions, and you can use the filter settings to narrow your results.
