Introduction
AdColony, one of AppsFlyer's integrated partners, is a premium video advertising network, providing advertisers and brands with an engaged and responsive audience and offers monetization solutions to publishers and developers.
In addition to click-based mobile attribution, AdColony also offers cost, ad revenue and view-through attribution, which you can record with AppsFlyer.
To configure your campaigns with AdColony, follow the steps below.
Setting up AdColony
Go to the dashboard of your app and click on Integrated Partners on the left bar.
Enter "AdColony" in the search field and click on its logo to open AdColony's configuration window.
AdColony's configuration window includes 5 tabs: Integration, Attribution link, Cost, Ad Revenue and Permissions. Click on the items below to read about the tabs setup.
For a detailed description of the Partner Configuration Window Header, click here.
Tip
- The General Settings step in the Integration tab is mandatory for all partners
- All the rest of the steps are either descriptive or optional
Integration tab
Activate partners
On the first visit here, you will need to toggle ON the Activate Partner button to enable setup of the integration tab's parameters. The toggle MUST be ON for as long as you work with the partner.
For more details about partner activation please click here.
Enable View-Through attribution
Toggle this to ON if you want to attribute view-through installs from AdColony. The view-through lookback slider is available on the attribution link tab (described below).
Default postbacks
AppsFlyer can send automatic postbacks to AdColony following user installs and re-engagements. Use this section to define the source of the users that allow sending these postbacks.
Select Only events attributed to this partner for events coming only from users attributed to AdColony.
Select Events attributed to any partner or organic to have your entire user base available to be reported to AdColony.
In-app events settings
In this section you can map your AppsFlyer events with AdColony via postbacks.
Note
As part of its integration with AppsFlyer, this network receives notifications about every app launch. Therefore, the af_app_opened event is not enabled, and not required, for this network.
- Toggle In-App Event Postbacks to ON
- Select the Sending Option for all SDK defined events.
- Only events attributed to this partner for events coming only from users attributed to this partner
- Events attributed to any partner or organic to have your entire user base available to be reported to the partner - Click Add Event to add an SDK Event to the list
- Complete the following parameters:
| Parameter Name | Description |
|---|---|
| SDK Event Name | The name of the event, as received by AppsFlyer either from the SDK integrated in your app, or from server to server events. Tip - If you don't see the event you want in the list, make sure to activate the event on a device with a non-organic installation and recheck. |
| Partner Event Identifier | The unique name or ID of each event as defined on AdColony's side. Obtain the corresponding Event ID from AdColony and set in the text field. |
| Send Revenue | When unchecked - AppsFlyer sends all the parameters of the rich in-app event to the partner, except for the revenue parameter, which is contained in the af_revenue parameter. When checked - AppsFlyer sends all the parameters including the revenue value (if it exists in the event). |
Attribution link tab
This tab is divided into different sections:
Attribution link parameters
In this section, select which parameters you want to add to the attribution link.
Adding parameters to the attribution link here enables you to later perform thorough drill-down analyses. Parameters that are already defined on the attribution link can be edited by adding them and their new values here.
- Campaign - add it to compare different campaigns running with AdColony.
Attribution link parameter: c - Adset - set ad set names to compare different ad sets within specific AdColony campaigns.
Attribution link parameter: af_adset - Ad Name - set ad set names to compare different creatives within specific ad sets within specific campaigns AdColony.
Attribution link parameter: af_ad - Site ID and Sub Site ID - set Site ID parameter to attribute installs to specific publishers. If many publishers exist, we advise on limiting the number of used site IDs and using the sub site ID parameter, to avoid exceeding the site ID limitations.
Attribution link parameters: af_siteid and af_sub_siteid - Subscriber Parameters - use any of the 5 subscriber parameters to insert useful values. Note that these parameters get parsed and appear in the raw data report, which makes them very handy for performing data aggregation or filtering.
Attribution link parameters: af_sub1, af_sub2, af_sub3, af_sub4, af_sub5
Add any other parameter to the attribution link simply by typing it in a new parameter box. For more information about AppsFlyer's Attribution Link Structure and Parameters.
Click-through attribution
This slider allows you to set the maximum time from click to install. Only installs (first launches) that take place within the lookback window may be attributed to AdColony.
Attribution link parameter: af_click_lookback
More details about the click lookback window here.
Click attribution link
This is the attribution link that contains all the setup information you have set for it. Send it to AdColony to be activated when leads click on a corresponding ad.
View-through attribution lookback window
This slider allows you to set the maximum time from impression to install. Only installs (first launches) that take place within this lookback window, following an ad impression, are attributed to AdColony, providing there was no other relevant ad click.
You can customize this value to 1-23 hours or 1-7 days.
Attribution link parameter: af_viewthrough_lookback
More details about the view-through attribution here.
Impressions attribution link
The impression attribution link contains similar attribution data to the click recording link (besides the different lookback window). Send it to AdColony to be activated when a corresponding ad is watched, usually for 1 second or more.
Cost tab
This tab allows you to enrich your AdColony attribution data with the relevant cost data.
Before you enable cost data integration with AdColony, make sure to get your AdColony API Key.
Enabling and testing AdColony cost integration
- Go to the Cost tab.
- Enter your AdColony API Key
- Click on Test Connection
- If the API Key is valid, you should see the message API Key Verified
- If the API Key is invalid, you should see the message Invalid Credentials - make sure that you are using the correct API Key
- If the cost endpoint is down or there is some network issue, you should see the message "Something went wrong, please try again later"
- If the API Key is valid, Click Save Cost.
Cost data sync status
The cost tab shows the status of your cost integration and the last time AppsFlyer managed to pull matching cost data.
The table below describes five different status messages, and what to do if you see them in the cost tab.
| Status Message | Description | What to Do |
|---|---|---|
|
Active
|
Partner API is responding and returning data. |
Nothing |
|
Active
With sync message: Cost Data was never successfully pulled
|
One of the following is possible:
|
|
|
No Matching Data
|
AppsFlyer queries this app's active campaigns with the Partner API, but the partner API isn't returning any data for these campaigns. |
This might happen if you change the campaign ID while it is still running.
If you rely on cost data, do not change the IDs of campaigns while they are still active and running.
Also, make sure you entered the API credentials for the correct app, and that the network is passing the correct campaign IDs on the attribution link. |
|
Partner API is not responding |
The ad network cost data API is either down or experiencing issues. |
Wait for the network API to become responsive. |
|
Invalid Credentials
|
Cost API credentials are incorrect. AppsFlyer in unable to pull cost data. |
Make sure that the cost API key is correct. |
Last successful data pull
The cost tab shows the last time cost data has been pulled yet. If cost data has never been pulled, the sync message shows Cost Data was never successfully pulled.
Examples
Examples
Scenario 1: Stopped campaigns
AppsFlyer pulls cost for several campaigns that you run with ad network A. You look in the cost tab and you see the message Last successful sync 2 hours ago. The same day you stop running campaigns with ad network A. Two weeks later, you look in the cost tab of ad network A. You then see the message Last successful sync 14 days ago.
Scenario 2: Ad network API issues
AppsFlyer pulls cost for several campaigns that you run with ad network B. You look in the cost tab and you see the message Last successful sync 2 hours ago. Ad network B then experiences issues with their API. It takes them a few hours to fix it. When you look in the cost tab you see the message Last successful sync 8 hours ago.
For the full list of partners supporting cost data, click here.
Warning
Once you set AdColony's cost do not change the name of any running campaign, ad set or single ad as it may cause serious discrepancies or missing cost data.
Ad revenue tab
This section is relevant only if you are acting as a publisher, displaying ads of the partner to your users. As such, you would certainly like to measure the engagement of your users acquired from different sources, to find the most profitable sources for you.
Set the Get Ad Revenue Data toggle to display the partner's required setup for revenue data. Follow the specific instructions on the partner's ad revenue section. For example, in the capture below the partner requires a simple login to its system.
To learn more about ad revenue (AKA Ad monetization) tracking go here.
Permissions tab
In this tab, you can select the permissions to grant AdColony, whether the partner acts as an ad network, agency or even both. Note that even if attribution is disabled for AdColony, the permissions tab is active and you can grant control to AdColony.
Use these toggles to give the ad network permissions to handle its own configuration for your app:
Ad network permissions
- Allow to configure integration - permit the partner to setup the integration tab (except in-app event postbacks)
- Allow to configure in-app event postbacks - permit the partner to setup in-app event postbacks mapping to itself on the integration tab
- Allow access to your retention report - only to the partner's own retention data
- Allow access to your aggregate loyal user data - only to the partner's own loyal user data
- Allow access to your aggregate in-app events data - only to the partner's own in-app events data
- Allow access to your aggregate revenue data - only to the revenue data attributed to the partner
- Allow access to your Protect360 dashboard - only to the partner's own Protect360 data, and providing the feature is enabled for the advertiser
Learn more about granting ad network permissions.