In this article you will learn how to properly set up URL parameters for tracking a Realize campaign.

URL parameters are a means to track your Realize clicks and deliver that information to your analytics platform. Using your analytics platform, (e.g. Google Analytics or Adobe Omniture) you can track and verify the data, optimize to your goals, and understand how users behave once they have clicked on your Realize campaign items. 

URL parameters are pairs of a key and a value separated by an equals sign (=), and joined by an ampersand (&). These parameters appear in the URL following a question mark.
For example, http://yourlandingpage.com?utm_source=Taboola&utm_medium=referral

URL parameters can be added at the campaign level, or at the item level (see instructions below). 

Dynamic Values for Tracking Parameters

Taboola macros are dynamic parameters populating automatically upon ad serving. Real time data is populated according to your setup.

You can add Taboola macros to your URL parameters, so Realize will dynamically pass back the desired information. (Note: You can add these macros under any URL parameter you’d like.)

By adding these macros, you will have insight into performance by connecting the dots between multiple data points, allowing you to optimize towards best performing traffic.

Note: You can insert passback macros into your URL parameters at both the campaign and item level.

• {creative_name} - Custom creative name given by the advertiser (optional field)
• {custom_id} - Custom creative id given by the advertiser (optional field)

• {site} - The publisher site or application name.

• {site_id} -  A unique site ID, for the publisher site or app.

• {site_domain} -  The name of the website or URL.

• {thumbnail} - The image or video URL.

• {title} - The headline for your item .

• {timestamp} - The timestamp for when the item was served.

• {cachebuster} - Generates a unique and random numeric string per impression. This macro should be used for cache-busting.

• {platform} - The user platform on which your item was presented. This returns as "Desktop," "Mobile," or "Tablet".

• {campaign_id} - A unique Realize campaign ID. This campaign ID can also be found on the “Campaign Management” page in Backstage.

• {campaign_name} - The campaign name, as defined in the “Campaign Management” page in Backstage.

• {campaign_item_id} - A unique Realize item ID, as defined in the “Top Campaign Content” report in Backstage.

• {cpc} -The realtime CPC bid of each click. The CPC value is encrypted, to decrypt it you will need to be able to execute a decryption script. This implementation requires technical programming knowledge. If you are able to code, contact your Account Manager to receive the guide.

• ${GDPR} - Indicates if GDPR applies. 0 GDPR does not apply; 1 GDPR applies.

• ${GDPR_CONSENT_XXXXX} - Encodes the TC string, as obtained from the CMP JS API or OpenRTB where XXXXX XXXXX is numeric Vendor ID - the ID of the vendor on the GVL who is expecting this URL call. For example ${GDPR_CONSENT_123}

Adding URL Parameters at the Campaign Level

URL parameters can be added at the campaign level. This means the URL parameters added will be appended to every ad in that specific campaign.

Here is how to add URL parameters at the campaign level:

1. When creating a new campaign or editing an existing campaign, you can add URL parameters at the bottom of the New Campaign/Edit Campaign page, in the Tracking Code section.
2. Change your parameters as needed. Please note that when creating a new campaign, Taboola’s default URL parameter is “utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=referral”. You can edit this as needed.
   
   You should not add a question mark or an ampersand in the beginning of the tracking code (We add it in the backend).
   
3. Click Save to save your changes.
   
   

Adding URL Parameters at the Campaign Ad Level

When creating new ads to a new or existing campaign, you can add URL parameters to individual destination URLs.

1. Create your ads for a new or existing campaign
2. In the Landing Page URL section, add a question mark (“?”) at the end of the original URL. A question mark should always separate your destination URL and your URL parameters.
3. Then, add your URL parameter. For example, blog.taboola.com?utm_source=Taboola&utm_medium=referral
4. Save your ads to your campaign
5. Remember to remove the campaign level default tracking code if you are using the same parameters (“utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=referral”).

Additional Notes and Best Practices

1. Use each parameter only once, and only to apply them at either the campaign or ad level - not both.
   URL parameters cannot be added at both the individual URL level AND campaign level, it will cause the data to be incorrect in your analytics platform.
   (For example, you cannot have "utm_source=Taboola" added at the campaign level and "utm_source=cpc" appended to a URL in the campaign.)
   **Note that on the campaign level you have default values, remove them if needed (“utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=referral”)
2. If you are using Google Analytics, use utm_source=taboola.
   utm_source is the most important utm parameter for correct data collection.
3. Tracking parameters at the campaign level vs. ad level: Setting up tracking parameters at the campaign level means that you can edit them without sending your items back to our policy review again.
   If you choose to set it up on the item level and edit it after the item was approved, the item will go into our policy review process.

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