Publisher changes meaning by context. Keep this split clear when you set tokens and read reports in CPV tracker (CPV Lab or CPV One).
On the affiliate network side
- Publisher = affiliate / media buyer.
- This is you. You pick offers, drive traffic, and get paid per action or sale.
- Your status, caps, and compliance sit under your publisher account in the network.
- Networks talk to you as “publisher,” while the brand is called the advertiser.
On the ad network (traffic source) side
- Publisher = the site or app that shows ads.
- Examples: CNN.com in native, a mobile game in in-app, a push app in push.
- They own placements/zones/widgets where your ads appear.
- You are not the publisher here. You are the advertiser (the buyer of traffic).
Why this matters in CPV tracker (CPV Lab or CPV One)
- On the traffic source side, tokens like
{publisher},{site},{zoneid},{placement}refer to the website/app showing your ad. - On the affiliate network side, “publisher” means you, the affiliate.
- Mixing these up leads to wrong blacklists, broken postbacks, and bad optimization.
How to set it up in CPV tracker (CPV Lab or CPV One)
- Map traffic-side publisher/zone tokens to a field you recognize.
Example: C1 = Zone (Site/Publisher). - Always pass the Click ID from CPV tracker (CPV Lab or CPV One) to the affiliate network in the Offer URL.
- Track publisher/zone performance in reports. Cut zones with spend and no conversions.
Example
You run native ads. Your Campaign URL includes zoneid={zoneid}.
CPV tracker (CPV Lab or CPV One) logs zone 12345 and zone 67890.
Reports show:
- Zone 12345 → profitable.
- Zone 67890 → zero conversions.
Action: blacklist zone 67890 in the traffic source. Do not touch your affiliate network “publisher” account (that’s you).
Best practices
- Use plain labels: “Publisher/Zone (traffic side)” vs “Publisher (you, network side).”
- In CPV tracker (CPV Lab or CPV One), segment by zone/publisher and device/geo for faster wins.
- Watch for fraud: high clicks, zero conversions, odd geos. Remove those publishers/zones.
- If supported, send traffic-source postbacks from CPV tracker (CPV Lab or CPV One) so the ad network’s algorithm learns which publishers/zones convert.
See also: Advertiser, Traffic Source, Tokens, Custom Variables (C1–C10), Traffic Source Postbacks, Optimization Reports
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