Time to read: 9 min.
This article covers the following topics:
- Cap general settings
- Cap additional settings
- Default Goal Overcap overview
- The timezone of cap working
- Conversion status for cap count
- Cap bars on Admin panel
- Caps on Affiliate panel
- FAQ
Cap general settings
Cap is an indicator that characterizes the conversions’ limit. It is located in Offers -> a certain offer -> Caps tab.
It has several parameters:
1. Timeframe is a time cap’s parameter. It indicates a period of time the cap option is enabled. It may be:
- hour - it correlates with the click/conversion creation time. It's calculated for an hour according to the timezone you've set up for caps. Its reset happens at 00:00, 01:00, 02:00, etc. If you set up cap rule at 15:45, it will be turned back to zero at 16:00, however the cap counts all clicks/conversions come from 15:00 till 16:00 (for the whole hour). If you don't have the timezone for caps, then the general timezone set up in Settings is used.
- daily - it correlates with the click/conversion creation date. It’s calculated for 24 hours according to timezone you've set up for caps, and its reset occurs at midnight. If you don't have the timezone for caps, then the general timezone set up in Settings is used.
- month - it’s calculated for a calendar month. Even if the cap is set up on 15.11, the calculation will be made from 01.11 till 30.11, and it’ll be reset again on 01.12;
- all - total cap, it’s calculated for the entire time, when the offer receives the traffic.
Hour timeframe is available for additional charge. Please contact your account manager to learn more information.
2. Type is a parameter that denotes the value the cap is limited by. It may be:
- conversions - the number of conversions limits the cap;
- payouts- the cap is limited by the sum of conversions’ payouts. It means if there’s a currency of EUR in the payout offer settings, the cap calculation is carried out in EUR.
- click - the number of clicks limits the cap;
3. Value is the actual limit’s measure.
4. Goal is a parameter, that is used for determining when the cap’s limit is reached. It may be:
- all - totally for all goals;
- each - for each offer’s goal;
- select - for a specific chosen goal value.
If there is Goal value only, it will be depicted in the dropdown list. If there are both Goal value and Goal title, only Goal title will be depicted. If there is a personal payout where the specific goal is set up, it will be depicted where the specific Affiliate is chosen.
5. Country is a country the cap is chosen for. It works for each type of cap. It may be:
- all - totally for all countries in the world
- each - for each country
- select - certain country (might be several ones)
If several countries are chosen, the limit is spread across all listed countries.
6. Affiliate is an affiliate the cap is chosen for. It may be:
- all - totally for all affiliates who have access to the offer;
- each - for each affiliate enabled to the offer:
a) if an offer’s privacy level is “public” - for each affiliate that has “Active” status;
b) if an affiliate isn’t disabled from the offer or the advertiser.
- select - for a specifically chosen affiliate by pib id.
Cap additional settings
Overcap allows managing traffic flow when the cap is reached.
If the cap is reached - the incoming traffic will be redirected to the local Trafficback URL (at the offer’s level). If there’s no local Trafficback URL, but there’s Preview URL and/or Global Trafficback URL, and besides the box 'Use by other reasons' is ticked - the incoming traffic will be redirected to the Global Trafficback URL.
If the box 'Use by other reasons' isn’t ticked - the incoming traffic will be redirected to the Preview URL of the offer. We recommend you to read our guide on Trafficback feature.
Overcap works based on the principle of traffic redirection to the Trafficback URL only if the chosen goal is 'all' (Goal=All). The case, when the goal equals Goal=Each/Select, and Overcap is ticked, is described below.
When Overcap is ticked with the chosen Goal=Each/Select, clicks won’t be redirected to the Trafficback URL when the cap is reached. The offer will still accept the incoming traffic, but the conversions on the clicks, accepted over the limit, will be automatically declined with the comment [Cap is reached]. The reason is that the Goal value can’t be determined at the incoming click level. The goal could be determined only at the advertiser’s postback level and recorded for conversion in Affise.
It is not possible to save the offer if the Overcap flag is ON, but there are no cap rules at all.
Default goal Overcap
Default goal Overcap allows managing traffic flow when the desired goal is reached.
If the cap for the chosen goal is reached, it allows us to block the traffic or send it to the Trafficback immediately without waiting for other caps to be reached, even if there're other Cap rules for Goal=Select. The logic of sending to the Trafficback is the same as with Overcap function: the incoming traffic will be redirected to the local Trafficback URL (at the offer’s level). If there’s no local Trafficback URL, but there’s Preview URL and/or Global Trafficback URL, and besides the box “Use by other reasons” is ticked - the incoming traffic will be redirected to the Global Trafficback URL.
If to check such a case with the tracking link the following response could be depicted:
The goals in the dropdown menu are depicted according to goal values and goal titles set up in the general payments:
Thus if you see like in the screenshot above "1" and not the naming, it means there's no goal title in the payment:
Default goal Overcap is relevant for both Conversions and Payouts type.
Timezone
Timezone is a time zone the cap is selected for.
Conversion status for caps count
The option allows us to set up conversions' statuses for caps. It works for all cap periods and types (conversions or payouts).
It's necessary to mention that the option also presents in Settings -> General -> Trafficback:
Settings set up in the offer have priority over the settings in the section Settings -> General ->Trafficback.
Cap bars on Admin panel
Caps on the Dashboard:
In the section "Caps Top" on the Dashboard, there'll be depicted offers where the cap of any of types (clicks, conversions, payouts) is set up for Goal=All, Countries=All and Affiliate=All only. Only active offers are taken into account.
Caps in the offer list ('Offers' section):
Where:
- Cap - indicates if an offer has a conversion limit (Yes/No).
- Daily limit - the first daily cap of the offer that has Goal=All, Countries=All, Affiliate=All (dash "-" or "0" value indicates that there is no such a cap rule). The progress bar is updated in real time.
- Total limit - the first total cap of the offer that has Goal=All, Countries=All, Affiliate=All (dash "-" or "0" value indicates that there is no such a cap rule). The progress bar is updated in real time.
Caps on the offer preview page:
The offer preview page shows absolutely all cap rules existent in the offer.
If one cap rule contains several affiliates like here:
Then there are two possible ways of its depiction as a cap bar:
1) If both affiliates send traffic -> The average value for both affiliates will be depicted.
2) If only one affiliate sends traffic -> Only his results (amount of conversions/payouts/clicks) will be depicted.
Caps on Affiliate panel
Affiliate sees the cap section on the offer view page on Affiliate panel like this:
If there’s a personal cap (Affiliate=Select), it’s shown as a progress bar in the affiliate’s panel. Other cap parameters (period, type, value, goals, countries) don't matter.
The progress bar is shown even if there are no conversions yet.
There's a box for hiding caps in the affiliate’s panel.
You also can tick this flag on a platform level here: Settins -> Affiliate dashboard design -> General.
FAQ
Q1) I have an overflow on the cap. Why?
A.: Please, mind the click’s time: conversions, recorded for clicks received before the time cap was reached, will be accepted as a server postback but declined as a conversion with the comment [Cap is reached]. The server postback from the advert will be accepted properly, with the status '1', but the conversion itself will be rejected, as the postback is accepted later than the cap was reached.
To figure out if the conversion is accepted within the necessary timeframe, please, mind the below date stands for the click date, and the above date stands for the conversion date.
Q2) I have an overflow on the cap. The traffic doesn’t go to Overcap immediately. Why?
A.: It’s normal for the Overcap system to be enabled within 3 minutes. It’s acceptable to receive clicks at the time of 3 minutes when the cap limit is reached, and Overcap is about to be enabled.
Q3) If I have several caps, how to define what Cap is reached earlier?
A.: The cap of the highest priority is the total cap, i.e., the cap that has Affiliate=All and Goal=All set up like all. So, when the cap set up as Goal=All and Affiliate=All is reached, it automatically stops the other caps’ work. Further priorities are allocated according to the table, where 1 is the highest priority, and 9 is the lowest.
|
Goal |
||||
|
Affiliate |
All |
Select |
Each |
|
|
All |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
|
Select |
4 |
5 |
6 |
|
|
Each |
7 |
8 |
9 |
|
Caps' types of Conversions and Payouts have the same priority.
Cap saturation takes into account all periods of caps (hour, daily, month, all). As soon as the priority (see the table) is reached, we no longer consider the caps below the priority and determine it reached.
Q4) Why doesn’t my affiliate see the cap set up for him?
A.: Please, check if the box 'Hide caps' is ticked on the platform level in the section Settings - Affiliate dashboard design - General or on the offer level. See the section 'Caps on Affiliate panel'
Q5) If I have a cap rule for payouts (for instance, in USD) for several selected affiliates, how the payouts will be spread?
A.: If there is a cap rule for Goal=All and Affiliate=Select, where two or more affiliates are selected like here:
Then payouts will be spread in the following way: each of the selected affiliates should have conversions for 100 USD. Cap will be reached when affiliate #1 will have conversions for 100 USD and when affiliate #2 will have conversions for 100 USD as well.
The same logic works for conversion type of cap.
Q6) How are caps regulated via API?
You can find the example of caps creation in our guide here.
The following articles can be helpful:
- How to use Default Goal Overcap?
- How to use Affise Trafficback Feature
- Goal tracking
- How to set up a new Offer
- How to create a new offer with caps via API
Should you have any further questions, feel free to contact support@affise.com.
Updated by Lizaveta Talkachova
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