Signal Hold

Quality in, quality out. Campaign optimization is only as good as the signals it learns from. Signal Hold briefly holds each conversion postback and filters out canceled conversions, sending only the confirmed ones to the ad channel.

Note

Signal Hold is currently available only for Meta Ads.

An ad channel’s campaign optimization algorithm uses the conversion events sent via postback to target users similar to those who converted. Postbacks are sent in real time, so conversion events that are later canceled are also sent to the ad channel. As a result, the algorithm also learns from users who canceled their purchase or subscription.

With Signal Hold, you can set a hold window to see whether a conversion gets canceled and send only the conversions that are not canceled to the ad channel. Because only confirmed conversions are delivered, the algorithm learns from the users who actually purchased or stayed subscribed, making your campaign optimization more effective.

Signal Hold is applied per ad channel and works on an event pair: a conversion event and its cancellation event. Every conversion event goes through the following steps:

1. A conversion event occurs.

2. The conversion event is held instead of being sent via postback right away.

3. If a cancellation event with the same transaction ID occurs within the hold window, the held conversion event is not sent via postback. The cancellation event is not sent either.

4. If no cancellation event occurs before the hold window ends, the conversion event is sent to the ad channel via postback.

Note

Signal Hold does not guarantee improved campaign performance, and the results vary by service and campaign environment. Campaign optimization is ultimately run by the ad channel's algorithm; Signal Hold improves the quality of the signals the algorithm learns from.

Check the requirements for Signal Hold and set it up in the Airbridge dashboard.

• Signal Hold can be viewed and set up only by Airbridge Owner and In-house Marketer accounts.

• Signal Hold helps your campaigns only when all of the following requirements are met. Airbridge checks them during setup.

Note

The maximum hold window is 24 hours. Signal Hold is not a good fit for services where cancellations occur days after the conversion event.

To set up Signal Hold, go to [Integrations]>[Signal Studio]>[Signal Hold] in the Airbridge dashboard.

1. Turn on the [Signal Hold] toggle. The setup steps appear.

2. In the [Set up event pair] step, select the [Conversion event] and the [Cancellation event], and click Check transaction ID matching. Once the two events are confirmed to share the same transaction ID, you can move on to the next step.

   Note

   The following events cannot be selected as the conversion event:

   • Events whose transaction ID isn't collected

   • Events collected with a transaction ID fewer than 20 times in the last 24 hours

   • Cancellation events

   The following events cannot be selected as the cancellation event:

   • Events whose transaction ID isn't collected

3. In the [Check postback settings] step, check whether the conversion event is sent to Meta Ads via postback. If the postback isn't configured, click Go to postback settings and configure it.

4. In the [Set hold window] step, set the [Hold window]. You can set it from 10 to 60 minutes in 10-minute increments, or from 1 to 24 hours in 1-hour increments.

   Set the hold window based on your service's cancellation pattern

   For example, if 70% of change-of-mind cancellations occur within 30 minutes of purchase, try setting the hold window to 30 minutes.

5. To apply Signal Hold to specific campaigns only, enable the [Campaign filter] and select a campaign. Only campaigns with 20 or more attributed conversion events per day can be selected.

   Select a campaign with enough attributed events

   When the attributed event volume is low, growing the total number of events helps your campaigns more than filtering them with Signal Hold.

6. Click Save. Signal Hold is enabled, and new conversion postbacks are held during the hold window.

The performance analysis report summarizes your metrics from the 8 weeks before and the 8 weeks after Signal Hold was enabled. View it in the Airbridge dashboard under [Integrations]>[Signal Studio]>[Signal Hold].

1. In [Conversions excluded from postbacks], check the number of excluded conversion events and the excluded percentage.

2. In [Performance analysis report], compare your performance from before and after. The changes and change rates per metric are shown in a chart and a table. Use the legend below the chart to choose which metrics to show; the axis may change accordingly.

3. For more detailed data, click View in Actuals. The Actuals report opens with your selected metrics and the channel and campaign conditions applied.

Depending on how much time has passed since Signal Hold was enabled, the available information and the way to evaluate the results differ.

• The chart in the performance analysis report reflects your service's characteristics. An app whose numbers dip on weekends shows the same dips in the chart, and a service with few quick cancellations may show only a gradual change between before and after.

• Optimization speed depends on how often the event occurs: faster for frequent events like purchases, slower for infrequent ones like subscriptions.

Note the following when using Signal Hold:

• Signal Hold applies only to the postbacks sent to Meta Ads. Airbridge reports and raw data still show both conversion and cancellation events as collected.

• The conversion events excluded by Signal Hold are not sent to Meta Ads, so the numbers in Meta Ads Manager and Airbridge reports may differ.

• Each conversion event is matched with only 1 cancellation event. If multiple cancellation events with the same transaction ID occur within the hold window, all but the matched one are sent via postback.

• CPI appears only when Meta Ads cost data is integrated. Click Go to cost integration and set up [Cost Integration].