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Publisher Groups

How to create publisher groups on an offer - assign a group ID, mix traffic from one or more publishers, split ratios, generate sub IDs, and set KPI-based rotation.

Updated this week

Publisher Groups let you assign a group ID to one or more publishers on an offer. The advertiser sees the group ID instead of individual publisher IDs - useful for presenting blended traffic, managing publisher attribution, or generating a clean consistent ID for a single publisher without exposing their actual ID.

Where to find Publisher Groups

Publisher Groups are available on the Offer detail page → Publisher Groups tab and on the Advertiser detail page → Publisher Groups tab.

ℹ️ Publisher Groups created at the Advertiser level apply to all offers under that advertiser. They are only visible on the Advertiser detail page - not on individual offer pages.

How to create a Publisher Group

  1. Go to Offer → Publisher Groups tab

  2. Click + Create Publisher Group

  3. Enter a Name for the group

  4. Enter a Group ID - this is publisher id, which will be passed to the advertiser. If left blank, a 5-digit ID is generated automatically.

  5. Optional - Set a Rotation Period - after this period, the current Group ID is replaced with a newly generated one automatically

  6. Optional - Generate Sub IDs:

    • Enable Generate Sub IDs and set how many should be generated

    • Set a Rotation Period - after this period, the existing Sub IDs are replaced with a new set

    • Sub IDs are alphanumeric or numeric. See examples here.

  7. Optional - KPIs for Group ID rotation: Set thresholds to trigger Group ID rotation based on:

    • Clicks

    • Impressions

    • Paid Conversions

    • Rejections

      Check more about KPIs here.

  8. Add Publishers to the group:

    • Publishers must already be approved on the offer to send traffic in the group

    • Enable Use Approved Publishers Sending Traffic to automatically include all current and future approved publishers sending traffic

  9. Set the Ratio for traffic distribution (default 100%) for this publisher between the groups

    ℹ️ If the same publisher is in multiple groups on the same offer, you can split what percentage of their traffic goes to each group. For example, Publisher #2 sends 40% of their traffic to Group 1000 and 60% to Group 2000.

  10. Click Save

KPIs explained

KPI thresholds trigger a Group ID / Sub ID rotation when a condition is met. Each KPI is evaluated as greater than or equal to / less than or equal to a threshold over a set time period.

Example: If clicks reach 10,000+ in 1 day, the Group ID and Sub ID rotate.

You can also set a Tolerance - an acceptable variance from the threshold expressed as a percentage.

Example: With a threshold of 10,000 clicks and a tolerance of 10%, the rotation triggers anywhere between 9,000 and 11,000 clicks.

ℹ️ If multiple KPIs are configured for one group, they use OR logic - the Group ID rotates when at least one condition is met.

Viewing Publisher Group data in reports

To see the original Sub IDs and Group IDs in reporting:

  1. Go to Reports → Conversion Report / Custom Report / Explorer / Clicks

  2. Filter by your offer

  3. Add the following columns:

Column

What it shows

Pub. ID

The original publisher ID

Pub. Group ID

The publisher group ID (publisher id passed to the advertiser)

Pub. Sub ID

The generated Sub ID (if in a group);

or the original Sub ID (if not in a group)

Pub. Original Sub ID

The original Sub ID when the publisher is in a group

Blocking a generated Sub ID

If an advertiser asks you to block a generated Sub ID from a Publisher Group, use the Traffic Control tool - add the Sub ID and Offer ID just as you would for any standard Sub ID block.

See Traffic Control →

Sub ID format

Sub IDs generated by the system are a mix of numeric and alphanumeric values. Examples:

  • 40hyOdGcA76iyCcYeA1

  • W30ngGvngyzC10nsgM8k

  • 250448

  • 900208

Practical example

You have two publishers - Publisher 232 and Publisher 9 - both approved on Offer X. You'd like to blend their traffic.

Setup

  1. Go to Offer A → Publisher Groups tab → + Create Publisher Group

  2. Name: Blend 232+9, Group ID: 1000, Rotation Period: 48 hours

  3. Enable Generate Sub IDs - set 5 Sub IDs, Rotation Period: 72 hours

  4. Add Publisher A and Publisher B

  5. Leave Ratio at 100% for both

  6. Click Save

What happens

  • The advertiser sees traffic from both publishers reported under Group ID 1000

  • Sub IDs like eSRdrBoalfGQRRXkf4 and C1IpyU3IWY9VLQ80CQ8 are generated

  • After 48 hours, the Group ID 1000 is replaced with a newly generated ID - the original 1000 is no longer used

  • After 72 hours, the existing Sub IDs are replaced with a new set of generated Sub IDs

Checking in reports

  1. Go to Reports → Custom Report, filter by Offer X

  2. Add columns: Pub. Group ID, Pub. Sub ID, Pub. Original Sub ID, Pub. ID

  3. You'll see:

    • Pub. Group ID = 1000 - the blended group ID the advertiser sees

    • Pub. Sub ID = 40hyOdGcA76iyCcYeA1 - the generated Sub ID

    • Pub. Original Sub ID = the publisher's original Sub ID before grouping

    • Pub. ID = 232 or 9 - the actual publisher behind the traffic

Related articles

Related Articles
Offers page - reference
Publishers page - reference
Traffic Control: Allowing and Blocking Specific Values
Targeting in Swaarm
Reports: Explorer
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