Case: passing sub-IDs through the offer unlocked optimization on a 'black-box' campaign

Case: passing sub-IDs through the offer unlocked optimization on a 'black-box' campaign

The blind spot: a buyer ran one campaign for weeks at a flat 0.8 ROI and couldn't move it. The traffic source's placement/site IDs existed but never reached the tracker's reports — every placement looked identical.

The wiring we fixed:
1. Mapped the source's placement ID into a tracker sub-ID slot (sub2) and the creative ID into another (sub3)
2. Passed both through the redirect so they attached to every click and survived to the conversion
3. Confirmed with one test click that both values appeared in the conversion record
4. Let it run 4 days to gather a sample, then pivoted the report by sub2

What the placement breakdown showed:
— 8 placements out of 60 carried 70% of the spend and converted at 0.3 ROI
— 15 placements quietly ran at 2.1+ ROI, drowned out in the blended average

Actions:
— Blacklisted the 8 worst placements at the source
— Raised bids on the 15 best

Outcome: campaign ROI moved from 0.8 to 1.6 in a week — same offer, same lander, just visibility into where the money went.

A campaign you can't segment is a campaign you can't optimize. Pass every available sub-ID through to the conversion.

Save this SOP. Run this before every launch.