Traffic source

How it works

In paid acquisition, "traffic source" usually means the platform you buy visits from, such as an ad network. Each source has its own formats, audiences, pricing and quality controls, and the same offer can perform very differently across them. Buyers therefore track results per source, and inside each source per placement, so they can compare cost per result on equal terms.

The term is also used one level down. A publisher may receive its own visitors from several channels, and an ad network may let publishers label placements with a source ID so buyers can tell them apart.

Example

Source A delivers 2,000 clicks for $40 and 20 sales. Source B delivers 5,000 clicks for $50 and 10 sales. A is more expensive per click ($0.02 against $0.01) but cheaper per sale ($2.00 against $5.00), which is the number that matters.

On UluMob

For an advertiser, UluMob is one traffic source covering nine formats. Inside it, each placement is identified by {zone_id} and {publisher_id}, and publishers can label their own traffic with {subid} and up to ten free-form sub-IDs, {sid1} to {sid10}. Pass these macros to your tracker to compare placements, then narrow delivery with the domains and subids targeting dimensions or exclude zones with blacklist_zones. The traffic volume page shows available inventory by country and format.