03.11.07

MSN Adcenter tracking with Query String

Posted in New to PPC at 5:07 pm by PPC Guy

MSN Adcenter provides some very useful tools for pay per click tracking. The tools that I’m referring to are called Query String parameters. Query String parameters are a way for advertisers to capture real time information from MSN. Some of the information you can track with query string parameters are match types, search terms, adgroups and which keywords clicks originated from.

The parameters that MSN Adcenter offers are

• {MatchType}
• {QueryString}
• {OrderItemOd}
• {AdId}

The first query string parameter is preceded by a question mark (?). Additional parameters are separated by an ampersand (&). For example, you could have:

http://www.cheapazhotels.com/?mt={MatchType}&searchterm={QueryString}&orderid={OrderItemOd}&addid={AdId}

Match Type
The parameter {MatchType} can be appended to a URL string to provide insight into which type of query match was responsible for the ensuing click. The value that will be embedded in the URL string will be either an “e” for exact match, a “p” for phrase match, or a “b” for broad match.

Example:
Keyword: Hotels
Search Query: Cheap Hotels
Match Type: Broad

adCenter Destination
URL: http://www.cheapazhotels.com/?mt={MatchType}
Resulting URL:
http://www.cheapazhotels.com/?mt=b

Query String
On any match other than exact the actual query entered by the searcher has up until this point been inaccessible. With the use of the {QueryString} parameter you will now be able to see this value as it is passed back as part of the destination URL. This information can be useful in a number of ways including the development of new keyword variations as well as the development of negative keyword lists.

Example:
Keyword: Hotels
Match Type: Phrase

adCenter Destination URL:
http://www.cheapazhotels.com/?qry={QueryString}
Resulting URL:
http://www.cheapazhotels.com/?qry=Hotels

Order Item Id
An order item id, is a unique number that is given to a keyword. This number can also be appended to the URL string for tracking purposes.

Example:
Keyword: Hotels
adCenter Order Item Id: 12345

adCenter Destination URL: http://www.cheapazhotels.com/?oid={OrderItemOd}
Resulting URL: http://www.cheapazhotels.com/?oid=12345

Ad Id
An ad id is a unique number that is given to each ad in adCenter. Appending the ad id to your destination URL can provide a great deal of insight into backend performance differences between ads. Two ads may have a similar CTR and thus be scheduled by adCenter roughly the same number of impressions in a given time period. However, effective use of the {AdId} parameter might reveal a significant difference in conversion rate between the ads prompting optimization opportunities that may have otherwise gone unnoticed.

Example:
adCenter Destination URL: http://www.cheapazhotels.com/?adid={AdId}

Resulting URL: http://www.cheapazhotels.com/?adid=98765

Using query string parameters is a great way to maximize your paid advertising. If you don’t already have a program capture this information, I recommend you use Google Analytics to track your results. Here’s how you set up Google Analytics to track 3rd party advertisers.

adCenter Google Analytics maximize your paid advertising MSN Adcenter negative keyword lists optimization opportunities pay per click tracking Query String parameters URL string

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