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Can I use custom parameters?

With Upgraded URLs, you can now add custom parameters to your tracking templates so that you can track what you want instead of being limited to using just the URL parameters that Microsoft Advertising provides. To learn more, see What are Upgraded URLs and how do I upgrade?

Custom parameters work exactly the same as URL parameters with respect to dynamic substitutions, except that you will define the parameter names and variables (also known as key and value pairs). To learn more, see What tracking or URL parameters can I use?

You can define custom parameters for one or more campaigns, ad groups, ads, keywords, or sitelink extension and then add them to the corresponding tracking template. We recommend that you create custom parameters at the campaign level and then add them to your account level tracking template. To learn more, see Create an account tracking template

Let's look at an example:

Let's say you have customers in 3 different locations and you want to report on the number of searches from each location.

First you define a custom parameter for each market:

Targeting market Custom parameters
New York, USA {_market}=ny-usa
Seattle, USA {_market}=sea-usa
Miami, USA {_market}=mia-usa
Targeting market Sample landing page URL
New York, USA http://contoso.com/?mkt=ny-usa&keyword={Keyword}
Seattle, USA http://contoso.com?mkt=sea-usa&keyword={Keyword}
Miami, USA http://contoso.com?mkt=mia-usa&keyword={Keyword}

Add or override custom parameters

Note

If you change the parameter of your ad, it will go through a Microsoft Advertising editorial review before it can run. This review process can take up to 24 hours. If you have problems after the review of your ad, please contact support.

  • Add custom parameters to a new ad or sitelink extension

    1. From the navigation menu on the left, hover over Campaigns and select Ads & extensions > Ads.
    2. Select Create ad or Create ad extension.
    3. Under Landing page URL, select Final URL and enter the URL of your website.
    4. Select Ad URL options or sitelink extension URL options.
    5. Under Custom parameters first box, enter the name of the parameter.
    6. Under Custom parameters second box, enter the variable of the parameter.
    7. Under Tracking template, add the name and variable to the tracking template.
    8. Select Save.

  • Add custom parameters to an existing campaign or ad group

    1. From the navigation menu on the left, hover over Campaigns, and then select either Campaigns or Ad groups.
    2. Select the name of the item you want to add a custom parameters to and then select Settings.
    3. Under Advanced settings, select Campaign URL options or Ad group URL options.
    4. Under Custom parameters first box, enter the name of the parameter.
    5. Under Custom parameters second box, enter the variable of the parameter.
    6. Under Tracking template, add the name and variable to the tracking template.
    7. Select Save.

  • Add custom parameters to an existing ad or sitelink extensions

    1. From the navigation menu on the left, hover over Campaigns and select Ads & extensions > Ads.
    2. Select the Edit icon next to the ad or select the sitelink extension, select Edit, and then Edit an extension.
    3. Under Landing page URL, select Final URL and enter the URL of your website.
    4. Select Ad URL options or Sitelink Extension URL options.
    5. Under Custom parameters first box, enter the name of the parameter.
    6. Under Custom parameters second box, enter the variable of the parameter.
    7. Under Tracking template, add the name and variable to the tracking template.
    8. Select Save.

  • Add custom parameters to keywords

    1. From the navigation menu on the left, hover over Campaigns and select Keywords > Keywords.
    2. Select the keywords you want and then select Edit and Change landing page URLs.
    3. Make sure the Action is set to Final URL and then enter the URL of your website in the Final URL box.
    4. Select Save.
    5. Make sure the keywords are still selected and then select Edit and Change URL options.
    6. Under Custom parameters first box, enter the name of the parameter.
    7. Under Custom parameters second box, enter the variable of the parameter.
    8. Under Tracking template, add the name and variable to the tracking template.
    9. Select Save.

  • Override a custom parameter

    Custom parameters can be set at the campaign, ad group, text ad, keyword and sitelink extension level. When applying the tracking template, Microsoft Advertising will use the tracking template defined at the lowest level.

    To learn how set up custom parameters at each level, see Can I use custom parameters?.

    Example:

    Overriding a campaign-level custom parameter at the keyword level

    Campaign: Sales has the following custom parameters:

    • {_promo} = april-sales
    • {_coupon} = 15OFF
    • {_market} = en-us

    If you want to change the coupon amount from 15% off to 25% off for specific keywords, you should define a keyword-level customer parameter {_coupon}=25OFF so that it will be substituted at the time of impression instead of 15OFF.

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