Microsoft Monetize - Create a segment pixel

  • Article

A segment pixel marks a user as belonging to a certain target audience based on the web pages they visit, the actions they take (such as making a purchase), or data such as gender or location.

Step 1: Get started

Navigate to the Segments screen (Advertisers > Segment Pixels).

Note

Segment pixels can be created at the advertiser level (that is, they're only viewable and targetable by the specific advertiser), or the member level (available for targeting to all advertisers). You can move a segment from advertiser level to member level by changing the advertiser_id to "null" via the Segment Service API.

Click the + New button. This opens the Create New Segment window.

Step 2: Enter the segment pixel details

  1. In the Details section, enter a name that communicates the purpose of the segment pixel.

  2. Click + Advanced Options: Code if you wish to enter a segment code. You may wish to refer to your segments by "codes" so they match your internal naming system. You can assign a code at the time of creation or afterwards. Codes are case sensitive, so if the code on the segment is lower case, then the code in your pixel querystring must also be lower case. Codes can include the following characters:

    • alphanumeric
    • underscores (_)
    • hyphens (-)

  3. Select a Type: "Pixel", "Query String", or "Query String Key Value". Consult Query String Targeting via Placement Tags and Segments for more information about the "Query String" and "Query String Key Value" parameters.

  4. In the Max Usersync Pixels field, enter the number of user sync pixels that are allowed on the pixel.

    User sync pixels are pixels that Microsoft Advertising fires on the back of the segment pixel to sync our user IDs with yours. This is done to improve reach and audience targeting, however, you may want to consider limiting them so as to not affect page load performance. User sync pixels make it possible for Microsoft Advertising to recognize users even when they're viewing pages that don't contain Microsoft Advertising ad tags. Why is this important? Buyers benefit from being able to target by segment and frequency, and sellers benefit by monetizing their inventory.

  5. Keep user in segment: select either 180 days (maximum amount of time allowed) or enter an amount of time in Minutes, Hours, or Days (maximum is 180 days) to keep a user in the segment.

Step 3: Add a piggyback pixel

Piggybacking allows you to chain one or more pixels to the new segment pixel. Whenever this pixel fires, the call will be propagated to any piggybacked pixels.

Note

Add piggyback pixels with the following in mind:

  1. If you are using the feature that adds users to segments when they view or click on a creative ("On click, add user to the following segments"), piggyback pixels for these segments will NOT fire.
  2. Image pixels can only piggyback off other image pixels, and JavaScript pixels can only piggyback off other JavaScript pixels.
  3. Image pixels can have only one piggyback pixel. If you need to piggyback multiple pixels, be sure to use a JavaScript pixel.
  4. There are no character limits to piggybacked pixel URLs in Monetize, but browser/server URL limits may apply.

On the Piggyback Pixels tab, you can input the URL of an image or JavaScript pixel to piggyback off the segment pixel.