Today we will discuss streams and filters in Keitaro Tracker campaigns.
Content
What Do We Need Streams for?
Streams help to manage traffic. You can send definite visitors to definite websites, landing pages, and offers, or prevent visitors from visiting some pages. Traffic can be split-tested with landing pages and offers based on some visitor’s attributes.
How Streams Work
In campaigns with “Without Rotation” settings, all streams are checked one by one. If clicks can’t get to the first stream because of filters, the click is sent to the next stream where filters are also checked. This happens until either the click is accepted to a stream, or it’s sent to a “Default” stream type. If the click is not accepted to any of the streams and there’s no “Default” stream in a campaign, a click is sent to a default action which is set up in a tracker Settings.
If “Split testing” is selected, first any of the Forced streams is checked, then the next “Forced”. After Forced streams, “Regular” streams are randomly checked. The “Default” stream is always the last one.
Also, when you use “Split testing”, there’s a “Bind visitors to streams” feature available. If this feature is enabled, the visitor will be redirected to the same stream as he had been visiting before.
How to Create a Stream
- Create a campaign. Campaigns > Create. Note that the campaign won’t work without streams.
- A campaign settings window will be opened.
- Click on «Create Stream».
Main Tab
- Fill in the name of a stream in this tab.
- Stream type:
2. Choose the stream type:
Regular is an ordinary stream that performs according to filters and settings inside.
Default is a stream that performs when none of the streams has been triggered. This stream gets all the remained traffic. We recommend always creating a default stream in order not to lose any traffic.
Forced is a stream that performs first. It will always work first disregarding its position in a campaign.
- Position:
the position of a stream in a list for activating. A forced stream will always be the first one, and the default will be the last one. Regular streams will be activated according to the number (position) they have.
- Collect clicks:
If this feature is disabled, all clicks from this stream won’t be saved in a database.
- Status:
Enable/disable a stream.
Schema Tab
- Landing pages & Offers
This scheme works if you use the «prelanding page > landing page» (or landing page – offers) scheme. You can add landing pages and offers there, and put their weight (% of clicks these landing pages and offers will get).
- Direct URL
The visitor will be sent to a URL with a selected redirect type:
- Action
Allows to perform an action with the link:
Filters
Filters are terms complying with which a visitor can get into the stream.
If there is more than one filter they can be added with «AND» or «OR» conditions.
AND/OR
If you choose «AND», a user can get to this stream only in case all filters are met. E.g. there are filters Operational System: iOS, country: the Czech Republic, language: English, and all these filters are connected with «AND», only users with ALL these conditions complied can get to the stream. That means, if the visitor uses an iOS device, from Czech but with a Russian language browser, he won’t get into this stream. Language filter won’t allow this visitor to a stream.
If you choose «OR», a visitor will get to a stream if at least one of the filters is compiled, e.g. an iOS device or a click from the Czech Republic, or English as a language:
IS/IS NOT
Filters also have «IS» and «IS NOT» attributes.
IS (allow) means that click should have this feature, e.g. if we set up an iOS filter, that means only clicks from iOS devices will get to this stream.
IS NOT (except) means only a click without this feature will get to a stream, e.g. we set up an iOS filter IS NOT, which means a click with any operational system EXCEPT iOS will get to a stream.
An example:
We have three filters. Language: English: IS; Country: Czech Republic: IS; Operational System: iOS: IS NOT. The condition between filters is «AND».
Visitor #1. Czech, Windows desktop, English as a browser language. Filters will allow this visitor to stream, as their click complies with all the filters.
Visitor #2. Czech, iPhone with iOS, English as a browser language. The visitor won’t get to a stream because of the Operational System filter.
Visitor #3. Czech, Windows desktop, and browser language are unknown. Despite the fact the click meets two of three filters, the visitor won’t get to a stream. There’s an «AND» condition between filters, and the click lacks browser language to get to a stream. In case, there were «OR» between filters, a visitor would have gotten to the stream.
Filters Description
- Date between allows to set up dates and time zones when the stream will be enabled or disabled («IS» – the stream is enabled on these dates, «IS NOT» – the stream is disabled).
- Timetable allows to creation of a timetable of streams work on days of the week, time, and time zones. («IS» – the stream works on this time, «IS NOT» – the stream doesn’t work).
- Limit clicks filter limits the stream’s job with a certain click number. The number of clicks can be limited per hour, per last 24 hours, or in total. When the limit of clicks is reached, the stream is switched off.
- Parameter filters clicks based on a received parameter. Masks, regular expressions, and @empty meta-word for empty parameters are supported. The filter works as a strict coincidence. If you need partial coincidence use masks or regular expressions («IS» accepts clicks WITH parameters to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks WITHOUT parameters).
- Referrer restricts clicks based on their referrer. Masks and regular expressions are supported. The filter works as a strict coincidence. If you need partial coincidence use masks or regular expressions. Example of a mask’s usage: *google.com* for http://google.com/search?q=123 referrer («IS» accepts clicks WITH referrers to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks WITHOUT, EXCEPT referrers).
- Site filters click based on a site from referrer or from source, utm_source parameters. Masks and regular expressions are supported («IS» accepts clicks FROM mentioned sites to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks NOT FROM mentioned sites).
- X-Requested-With restricts clicks based on their x-requested-with header. Regular expressions are available. Example: /value (a|b|c)/. («IS» accepts clicks WITH headers to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks WITHOUT, EXCEPT mentioned headers).
- Keyword filter clicks based on their keywords. Masks, regular expressions, and @empty meta-word for empty keywords are supported. The filter works as a strict coincidence. If you need partial coincidence use masks or regular expressions. («IS» accepts clicks WITH mentioned keywords to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks WITHOUT, EXCEPT mentioned keywords).
- Search Engines filter clicks based on search engines. Masks and regular expressions are supported («IS» accepts clicks FROM mentioned search engines to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks NOT FROM mentioned search engines).
- Ad Campaign ID filters campaigns based on their advertising campaign IDs. Masks and regular expressions are supported («IS» accepts clicks FROM mentioned advertising campaigns to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks NOT FROM mentioned advertising campaigns).
- Creative ID filter. Masks and regular expressions are supported («IS» accepts clicks FROM mentioned creative IDs to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks NOT FROM mentioned creative IDs).
- Empty referrer filter. («IS» accepts clicks WITH empty referrer to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks WITHOUT, EXCEPT empty referrers).
- Proxy detected filter. Proxy servers usually add their headers which allow them to define the usage of the proxy. («IS» accepts clicks WITH proxy headers to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks WITHOUT, EXCEPT proxy headers).
- City. Cities are written in English. You can either choose a city from a list or enter the city’s name manually. There are only cities with more than 500k people on the list. («IS» accepts clicks FROM mentioned cities to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks NOT FROM mentioned cities).
- States/Regions. Selection from the listing is available. State/regional codes differ in every Geo database. So if you change a database, you need to set up regional filters once again. («IS» accepts clicks FROM mentioned regions to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks NOT FROM, EXCEPT mentioned regions).
- Country. Selection from the listing is available. For a quick input make a list of countries’ codes with a space, e.g. «RU US KZ». («IS» accepts clicks FROM mentioned countries to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks NOT FROM, EXCEPT mentioned countries).
- IP — IP addresses filter. Masks, intervals, and CIDR are supported, e.g. 22.33.1-44.*, 22.33.44.10-22.33.44.20, 22.33.1.0/24 («IS» accepts clicks WITH mentioned IPs to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks WITHOUT, EXCEPT mentioned IPs).
- IPv6 — next-generation IP addresses filter. («IS» accepts clicks WITH IPv6 to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks WITHOUT, EXCEPT IPv6).
- Mobile operator can be chosen only from the list of available operators. («IS» accepts clicks FROM mentioned operators to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks NOT FROM, EXCEPT mentioned operators).
- ISP. Internet services provider. Works only with the IP2Location database. Работает при наличии базы IP2Location («IS» accepts clicks FROM mentioned providers to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks NOT FROM, EXCEPT mentioned providers).
- Uniqueness checks the visitor’s uniqueness. A visitor can be unique: a) for a stream – a visitor is unique in the current stream; b) for a campaign – a visitor is unique for a whole campaign; c) for all the campaigns in a tracker. A click becomes unique again after a period set in a campaign’s settings. The period is calculated since the very first visit («IS» accepts unique clicks, «IS NOT» accepts NOT unique clicks).
- Bot is a filter based on our database of bots. («IS» accepts bots to the stream, «IS NOT» accepts NOT bots to the stream).
- Connection Type filter is available if there’s a database integrated. Supported types – Dialup, cable/DSL, corporate and mobile network. If there’s no database, only Cellular and WiFi are available. («IS» accepts clicks WITH mentioned connection type to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks WITHOUT, EXCEPT mentioned connection type).
- Browsers. You can either choose a browser from a list or enter the browser’s name manually. Masks and regular expressions are supported. («IS» accepts clicks FROM mentioned browsers to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks NOT FROM mentioned browsers).
- Browser Version. You can add a browser version here. («IS» accepts clicks FROM mentioned browser versions to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks NOT FROM mentioned browser versions).
- Device Model filter. You can either choose a device model from a list or enter the device model manually. Masks and regular expressions are supported. The filter is not strict, which means you can enter «iPhone» for iPhone 5, 6, 6 Plus, and others («IS» accepts clicks FROM mentioned devices to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks NOT FROM mentioned devices).
- Device Type. Supported types – desktop computer, mobile phone, tablet, gaming console, TV, car browser, smart display, camera, portable media player, and unknown. («IS» accepts clicks FROM mentioned devices to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks NOT FROM mentioned devices).
- Operational System filter. You can either choose a device model from a list or enter the device model manually. Masks and regular expressions are supported («IS» accepts clicks made WITH devices with the mentioned OS to the stream, and “IS NOT” accepts clicks made NOT WITH devices with the mentioned OS).
- OS Version filter. («IS» accepts clicks made WITH devices with the mentioned OS version to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks made NOT WITH devices with the mentioned OS version).
- UserAgent — Masks and regular expressions are supported. The filter works as a strict coincidence. If you need partial coincidence use masks or regular expressions. («IS» accepts clicks WITH mentioned user agents to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks WITHOUT, EXCEPT mentioned user agents).
- Languages filter on browser languages. («IS» accepts clicks WITH mentioned languages to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks WITHOUT, EXCEPT mentioned languages).
- Sub ID 1…15 are filters on received parameters sub_id_1..15. If there’s a Source in a campaign, the name of the source parameter will be added to a filter’s name. («IS» accepts clicks WITH mentioned sub_ids to the stream, “IS NOT” accepts clicks WITHOUT, EXCEPT mentioned sub_ids).
Monitoring Tab
Monitoring allows for running tasks. Tasks are run by cron, thus the minimal interval between tasks is one minute.
Notes
You can add and save any notes in this tab.
Saving Stream Settings
Click on «Apply» and save changes.
Additional Info
Keitaro YouTube Channel
Keitaro Knowledge Database
