GMP use case of traffic measurement from 3rd parties in CMP360

For:

Marketers

Last update: March 28, 2023 14:07

At a glance: Buy traffic from third-party media sources and measure mobile app conversions originating from this source in CM360.

Google Marketing Platform CM360 & non-DV360 third-party media source for click and impression measurement

Google Marketing Platform (GMP) brings together your advertising and analytics to help you make quality customer connections, surface deeper insights, and drive better marketing results.

In the context of AppsFlyer, you can use AppsFlyer attribution links in DV360 to measure clicks and impressions. This requires the following:

Integrate GMP in AppsFlyer.
Retrieve the CM360 measurement link. This integration scenario requires standard CM360 tags as described here. Other types of tags are unsupported.
Retrieve the AppsFlyer measurement link, in the integrated partner media source link. (3) Per Google’s no-redirect policy, third-party links including OneLink are unsupported. Deep linking requires implementing relevant platform methods for iOS and Android.
Append AppsFlyer link to CM360 link.
Use the combined link in the media source.

Considerations for agency attribution

For CM360: For AppsFlyer to attribute an install to an agency, AppsFlyer must know the name of the agency. The name of the agency should be passed to AppsFlyer with the af_prt parameter found in the attribution link or via the referrer as part of the URL.

Attribution link

Because GMP is an SRN external attribution links aren't used by the campaigns they run. However, attribution links do play a role in the integration of GMP as detailed in the following scenario:

Attribution links for CM360 & media source

To run campaigns with CM360 and a media source, two attribution links are required:

A CM360 measurement link.
The AppsFlyer attribution link for a given media source (integrated partner or custom media source).

See setting attribution links for CM360.

Attribution links for DV360

AppsFlyer attribution links can be used in combination with DV360 for impression and click recording.

These links aren't used for attribution.
Additional information contained within them is not parsed or used for any other purpose.

If you want to measure the number of clicks generated by DV360 in AppsFlyer, add an AppsFlyer attribution URL to your DV360 dashboard. When doing so, the campaign name in the attribution URL must be identical to that of the Placement ID on GMP (if possible) so that AppsFlyer can retrieve and append the click data to the correct campaigns.

Using Attribution Links for GMP DV360 (DBM) is not mandatory.

To count clicks in AppsFlyer, use the link that follows.

https://app.appsflyer.com/ADD-APP-ID?pid=doubleclick_int&af_siteid=${UNIVERSAL_SITE_ID}
&af_ad_id=${CREATIVE_ID}&c=${PLACEMENT_ID}&af_c_id=${PLACEMENT_ID}

To count impressions, use the link that follows.

https://impression.appsflyer.com/ADD-APP-ID?pid=doubleclick_int&af_siteid=%24{UNIVERSAL_SITE_ID}
&af_ad_id=${CREATIVE_ID}&c=${PLACEMENT_ID}&af_c_id=${PLACEMENT_ID}

Working with GMP

CM360 and media sources

Setting an attribution link for GMP campaign manager

When setting up campaign management using CM360 and an AppsFlyer integrated partner, first complete the GMP Integration Guide and the partner's integration guide, before continuing with the instructions in this section.
If you are managing a DV360 campaign through CM360, ignore the instructions in this section. Switch back to the integration tab and follow the instructions there.
AppsFlyer does NOT recommend using the CM360 + media source scenario to report on SRN traffic, if the relevant SRN partner integration is also enabled. This is in order to avoid conflicts when reporting conversions from the same partner via two different integrations. For example, if the Meta ads SRN integration is enabled in AppsFlyer, but CM360 is also utilized to report on Meta ads traffic (facebook_int) using the method described in this article in parallel, conversions might alternatively be reported by Meta ads and CM360, with CM360 capturing some of the conversions that would have been claimed by the main Meta ads integration.

Setting an attribution link for GMP campaign manager

To run and measure campaigns in CM360, you need an AppsFlyer attribution link. For data to be posted back to GMP and correctly logged in AppsFlyer, such data needs to be appended on the AppsFlyer link and not the CM360 link.

Create a CM360 link.
You must make sure you have a placeholder for the Device ID, the parameter dc_rdid, because AppsFlyer only receives mobile app conversion claims from the GMP integration, based on the correct presence of this parameter.
Create an attribution link.
- The attribution link should contain the actual media source that you intend to report on, which should be a third-party media source, not GMP. For example, if the third-party media source is Rocketfuel, use pid=rocketfuel_int and not pid=doubleclick_int. Learn more.
Attribution link example:
Android iOS
```
https://app.appsflyer.com/com.example?pid=rocketfuel_int&c=campaign_name
&advertising_id=13******-****-****-****-54**********
```
```
https://app.appsflyer.com/com.example?pid=rocketfuel_int&c=campaign_name
&idfa=13******-****-****-****-54**********
```

Append the AppsFlyer attribution link to the CM360 link:

https://ad.doubleclick.net/ddm/trackclk/N736113.127733/B202683.204586115;
dc_trk_aid=404426918;dc_trk_cid=92566356;dc_lat=;dc_rdid=13******-****-****-****-54**********
?https://app.appsflyer.com/com.example?pid=rocketfuel_int
&c=campaign_name&advertising_id=13******-****-****-****-54**********

https://ad.doubleclick.net/ddm/trackclk/N736113.127733/B202683.204586115;
dc_trk_aid=404426918;dc_trk_cid=92566356;dc_lat=;dc_rdid=13******-****-****-****-54**********
?https://app.appsflyer.com/com.example?pid=rocketfuel_int
&c=campaign_name&idfa=13******-****-****-****-54**********

Using the attribution link

Once you have the attribution link, make sure it is used while running ads on your intended media source. When an install occurs, AppsFlyer attributes the install to the selected media source. AppsFlyer then lets CM360 know about the install via the postback mechanism, using floodlight parameters used when configuring the integration.

The end result is an install that is attributed to the media source, and an install that is registered in DCM360.

Limitations

Due to the Google no-redirect policy, third-party solutions such as OneLink cannot be relied on in the CM360 + media source scenario.Make sure to follow the Integration Guide before continuing with the instructions in this section.