How Adobe track paid traffic?

[gig77]

Hi, I have a question.

 Does adobe analytics understand automatically where the paid traffic come from? I mean if I dont add any parameter in the URL, does it understand automatically if the paid traffic come from Google, Bing and so on?

[brian_au · Accepted solution]

Adobe Analytics detects paid from natural search via search detection configuration parameters. If the configuration is not done and/or there are no means to distinguish then Adobe Analytics by default will not differentiate. Reference link information below:

https://marketing.adobe.com/resources/help/en_US/reference/paid_search_detection.html

Paid Search Detection

Paid Search Detection differentiates paid from natural searches in the Search Engines and Search Keywords reports. You can specify the search engines where you use paid ads, and specify a character string found in the URL of a visit from a paid ad.

https://marketing.adobe.com/resources/help/en_US/reference/t_paid_search_detection.html

Configure paid search detection

Steps that describe how to configure Paid Search Detection.

1. Click Analytics > Admin > Report Suites to open the Report Suite Manager.
2. Select a report suite.
3. Click Edit Settings > General > Paid Search Detection.
4. On the Paid Search Detection page, configure the fields described in Paid Search Detection - Descriptions.
5. Click Add.

The Current Paid Search Detection Rules list displays current paid search detection rules.

[gig77]

Hi, thank you for your answer. In the guide Adobe specifies about the query string that is include in the filter section that:

"This value should be the query string parameter, omitting the ? and =" 

What if my filter contains the equals "=" ? So what if it is setup like "par=" instead of "par". Could be the use of "=" misrepresent the traffic?

Thanks.

[brian_au]

It should be set up with a ? and =, the Adobe reference point simply means it will be omitted from the end value in reporting. Further info via an Adam Greco blog post:

http://blogs.adobe.com/digitalmarketing/analytics/campaign-tracking-inside-omniture-sitecatalyst/

How Do Campaigns Work in Omniture SiteCatalyst?
To use the Campaign feature of SiteCatalyst, the first step is to be sure your SiteCatalyst implementation is set-up to capture campaign tracking codes when visitors arrive to your site.  This is normally done by using a JavaScript plug-in that Omniture provides to capture a URL parameter and place it in the campaign variable (s.campaigns).  For example, if you buy the keyword “books” on Yahoo, when the user clicks on that Paid Search link, they might come to your site with the URL of “www.mysite.com?id=12345.”  In this case, the code “12345” would be placed in the SiteCatalyst campaigns variable for tracking purposes. 

Best,

Brian