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TIP OF THE MONTH | JULY 2009
Understanding Manual/Unassigned Links
Manual/Unassigned Link Types
If you have run a Link Type report in SynergyAnalytics or through the Reporting Controls, you might have noticed a link type category called “Manual/Unassigned” and wondered what that means. The simple explanation for this is that a publisher has used one of your links but has altered that link’s code, prohibiting the LinkShare system from being able to identify which specific link type was used. Therefore it is showing up in your reports as a Manual/Unassigned link.
Although we recommend that Publishers use the link codes exactly was we provide them in the Publisher Dashboard, many Publishers choose to alter the codes in a way that helps their pages to load faster. For example, many Publishers will cut off the last part of the link, called the impression tracking pixel, as it is not a necessary piece to track clicks or conversions through that link. Here is an example of a tracking pixel code:
When they leave off this piece of code their page will load faster, offering their visitors a better site experience; however, both you and the Publisher will lose the ability to track impressions on that link. That is why you will often see a click rate that is much higher than the impressions in your reporting.
Also included in the impression tracking pixel code is a link type number, which looks like this:
&type=4
This portion of the code sends the LinkShare system information about which link type is connected to which data, so that you can accurately track the success of your separate link types. When this small piece of code is left off, that will trigger that link to show up as a Manual/Unassigned link in your reporting. In the above example, the number “4” indicates that this is a banner link, but if this piece was removed it would show up as Manual/Unassigned in reports. Other popular link types can be classified as follows:
- Individual Product Links = 2
- Text Links = 3
- Banner Links = 4
- Search Box = 5
- LinkBuilder = 10
- Flex Links = 13
More about Link Type Reports
We recommend that you run Link Type Reports once a month to check how your different link types are performing. You can also click on the Creative Type to drill down and see how individual links are converting. This will allow you to see which campaigns have been successful and which have not, offering you guidance for rolling out future creative. For more information on Link Type Reports, please reference the article titled Using the Link Type Report, located in the Advertiser User Manual under the Reports section.
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