Adobe Advertising IDs Used by Analytics

Advertisers with an Adobe Advertising-Adobe Analytics Integration Only

Applicable to Advertising DSP and Advertising Search, Social, & Commerce

Adobe Advertising uses two IDs for on-site performance tracking: the EF ID and the AMO ID.

When an ad impression occurs, Adobe Advertising creates the AMO ID and EF ID values and stores them. When a visitor who has seen an ad enters the site without clicking an ad, Analytics calls these values from Adobe Advertising through the Analytics for Advertising JavaScript code. For view-through traffic, Analytics generates a supplemental ID (SDID), which is used to stitch the EF ID and AMO ID into Analytics. For click-through traffic, these IDs are included in the landing page URL using the s_kwcid and ef_id query string parameters.

Adobe Advertising distinguishes between a click-through or view-through entry to the website using the following criteria:

• A view-through entry is captured when a user visits the site after viewing an ad but not clicking it. Analytics records a view-through if two conditions are met:
  • The visitor has no click-throughs for a DSP or Search, Social, & Commerce ad during the click lookback window.
  • The visitor has seen at least one DSP ad during the impression lookback window. The last impression is passed as the view-through.
• A click-through entry is captured when a site visitor clicks an ad before entering the site. Analytics captures a click-through when either of the following conditions occurs:
  • The URL includes an EF ID and AMO ID as added to the landing page URL by Adobe Advertising.
  • The URL contains no tracking codes, but the Adobe Advertising JavaScript code detects a click within the last two minutes.

Figure 1: Adobe Advertising view-based Analytics integration

Figure 2: Adobe Advertising click URL-based Analytics integration

Adobe Advertising EF IDs

The EF ID is a unique token that Adobe Advertising uses to associate activity with an online click or ad exposure. The EF ID is stored in an Analytics eVar or rVar (reserved eVar) dimension (Adobe Advertising EF ID) and tracks each ad click or exposure at the individual browser or device level. EF IDs act primarily as keys for sending Analytics data to Adobe Advertising for reporting and bid optimization within Adobe Advertising.

EF ID Format

Google Ads search ads

{gclid}:G:s

where:

• gclid is the Google Click ID (GCLID).
• s is the network type (“s” for search).

Microsoft Advertising search ads

{msclkid}:G:s

where:

• msclkid is the Microsoft Click ID (MSCLKID).
• s is the network type (“s” for search).

Display ads and search ads on other search engines

<Adobe Advertising visitor ID>:<timestamp>:<channel type>

where:

• <Adobe Advertising visitor ID> is a unique ID per visitor (such as UhKVaAAABCkJ0mDt). Also called the surfer ID.

• <timestamp> is the time in the format YYYYMMDDHHMMSS (such as 20190821192533 for Year 2019, Month 08, Day 21, Time 19:25:33).

• <channel type> is the channel type responsible for the click or exposure:

  • d for a click on a DSP display ad (display click-through)
  • i for an impression of a DSP display ad (display view-through)
  • s for a click on a Search ad (search click-through).

Example EF ID: WcmibgAAAHJK1RyY:1551968087687:d

The EF ID Dimension in Analytics

In Analytics reports, you can find EF ID data by searching for the EF ID dimension and using the EF ID Instance metric.

EF IDs are subject to the 500k unique identifier limit in Analysis Workspace. Once the 500k value is reached, all new tracking codes are reported under the one-line-item title “Low Traffic.” Because of the possibility of missing reporting fidelity, the EF IDs are not classified, and you should not use them for segments or reporting in Analytics.

Adobe Advertising AMO IDs

The AMO ID tracks each unique ad combination at a less granular level and is used for Analytics data classification and ingestion of advertising metrics (such as impressions, clicks, and cost) from Adobe Advertising. The AMO ID is stored in an Analytics eVar or rVar dimension (AMO ID) and is used exclusively for reporting in Analytics.

The AMO ID is also called the s_kwcid, which is sometimes pronounced as “the squid.”

AMO ID Format for DSP

<Channel ID>!<Ad ID>!<Placement ID>

where:

• <Channel ID> may be:

  • AC = Advertising DSP
  • AL for Advertising Search, Social, & Commerce

• <Ad ID> is used an Adobe Advertising-generated unique identifier for an ad. It serves as a key for translating Adobe Advertising entity metadata into readable Analytics dimensions.

• <Placement ID> is an Adobe Advertising-generated unique identifier for an placement. It serves as a key for translating Adobe Advertising entity metadata into readable Analytics dimensions.

Example AMO ID: AC!iIMvXqlOa6Nia2lDvtgw!GrVv6o2oV2qQLjQiXLC7

AMO ID Format for Search, Social, & Commerce

AMO IDs for Search, Social, & Commerce follow a distinct format for each search engine. The format for all search engines begins with the following:

AL!{userid}!{sid}

where:

• AL is the channel ID for the ad network.
• {userid} is the unique numeric user ID that Adobe Advertising assigns to the advertiser.
• {sid} is the numeric ID that Adobe Advertising uses for the specified ad network, such as 3 for Google Ads or 10 for Microsoft Advertising.

The following are the full AMO ID formats for a couple of ad networks. For AMO ID formats for other ad networks, contact your Adobe Account Team.

AMO ID Format for Google Ads:

AL!{userid}!{sid}!{creative}!{matchtype}!{placement}!{network}!{product_partition_id}!{keyword}!{campaignid}!{adgroupid}

where:

• {creative} is the Google Ads unique numeric ID for the creative.
• {matchtype} is the matchtype of the keyword that triggered the ad: e for exact, p for phrase, or b for broad.
• {placement} is the domain name of the website on which the ad was clicked. A value is available for ads in placement-targeted campaigns and for ads in keyword-targeted campaigns that are displayed on content sites.
• {network} indicates the network from which the click occurred: g for Google search (for keyword-targeted ads only), s for a search partner (for keyword-targeted ads only), or d for the Display Network (for either keyword-targeted or placement-targeted ads).
• {keyword} is either the specific keyword that triggered your ad (on search sites) or the best-matching keyword (on content sites).

AMO ID Format for Microsoft Advertising:

AL!{userid}!{sid}!{AdId}!{OrderItemId}

where:

• {AdId} is the Microsoft Advertising unique numeric ID for the creative.
• {OrderItemId} is the Microsoft Advertising numeric ID for the keyword.

AMO ID Dimension in Analytics

In Analytics reports, you can find AMO ID data by searching for the AMO ID dimension and using the AMO ID Instance metric. The AMO ID dimension houses all AMO ID values captured, whereas the AMO ID Instance metric indicates how often an AMO ID value was captured by the site. For example, if the same search ad was clicked four times but Analytics tracked seven site entries, then AMO ID Instance would be seven (7) and Clicks would be four (4).

For any reporting or auditing within Analytics, the best practice is to use the AMO ID along with its corresponding instance. For more information, see “Data Validation for Analytics for Advertising” in “Expected Data Variances Between Analytics and Adobe Advertising.”

About Analytics Classifications

In Analytics, a classification is a piece of metadata for a given tracking code, such as Account, Campaign, or Ad. Adobe Advertising categorizes raw Adobe Advertising data using classifications so that you can display the data in different ways (such as by Ad Type or Campaign) when you generate reports. Classifications form the basis of Adobe Advertising reporting in Analytics and can be used with the AMO metrics, such as AMO Cost, AMO Impressions, and AMO Clicks, as well as with custom and standard on-site events like Visits, Leads, Orders, and Revenue.

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