Yandex.Direct as a Traffic Source

Yandex.Direct is a part of the Yandex family of Apps. It allows you to advertize your products in Yandex search engine result page as well as in Yandex Advertising Network. The following guide describes how to set up tracking of visitors coming from Yandex with Voluum.

You can use the direct and redirect methods of tracking. However, because the domain name provided in a campaign URL will be visible in the ad, we recommend selecting either the direct method of tracking or using a custom domain that has a user-friendly name.

Yandex.Direct supports dynamic tracking tokens, which are already configured in the Voluum traffic source template.

When it comes to tracking conversions, Yandex.Direct does not support receiving and displaying information about conversions. It uses the Yandex.Metrica app for reporting purposes instead. The way it works without Voluum is as follows:

1. Yandex.Direct assigns each visitor a unique yclid value.
2. This value is passed in a tracking parameter in a destination URL to your destination page.
3. A special JavaScript code that you implement on your web page intercepts this yclid value and saves it in a cookie.
4. The second JavaScript code detects this yclid value and sends it to your server when a defined action on your "Thank You" page is completed.
5. You record this value and create a CSV file according to the specifications.
6. In Yandex.Metrica, you create a goal.
7. You upload the CSV file to Yandex.Metrica.

This flow requires you to have your own server configured for receiving yclid values and to be able to edit your offer web pages to implement JavaScript code blocks. Voluum simplifies the whole flow with built-in features dedicated to conversion tracking. If you want, you can still pass conversions to Yandex.Metrica from Voluum by generating a CSV file containing intercepted yclid values and uploading it.

Make sure you have the following things ready before digging into this guide:

• An active Yandex.Direct account.
• And active Voluum account.
• An offer, and, optionally, a lander.

Once you have everything ready, you can proceed with the rest of this guide.

First, you need to create a campaign in Voluum. This will provide you with a campaign URL that you will submit as a destination URL in Yandex.Direct. In order to do so, perform the following steps:

1. Create an offer element. Read the Add an Offer to Voluum article to learn how to do that.
2. (Optionally) Create a lander element. Read the Add a Lander Element article to learn more.

3. Create a traffic source element. Voluum provides you with the Yandex traffic source template, so you can use it and skip most of the manual setup. In order to use this template, perform the following steps:

   1. In Voluum, go to Traffic sources.

   2. Click the Create button and select the Traffic source option from the drop-down menu.

      

   3. Select the Yandex template.
   4. Click the Next button.

   5. You can change or adjust any option in the New traffic source form. Once you have done so, click the Save button.

      

4. Create a campaign. 

   In Voluum, go to Campaigns, click the Create button and select the Campaign Simple or Campaign Advanced option from the drop-down menu.

   

   1. In the New campaign form, select the Yandex traffic source that you have just created from the Traffic source drop-down menu.
   2. Provide a name for the campaign in the Campaign name text field.
   3. Select the cost model from the Cost model drop-down menu and provide a cost value in the Cost value text field.
   4. Select the Private Workspace that you want this campaign to be assigned to from the Workspace drop-down menu.
   5. (Optionally) Select a lander you have previously created from the Landers drop-down menu.
   6. Select the offer that you have just created from the Offers drop-down menu.

   7. Click the Save button.

      

   8. Click the Copy button next to the campaign URL to copy it to the clipboard and paste it to any text editing tool.

      

   9. Click the Done button.

For the second step, you need to create a campaign in Yandex.Direct. In order to do so, perform the following steps:

1. In Yandex.Direct, click the Get started button.

   

2. Provide a name for a campaign in the Campaign name text field.
3. Configure a display region.

4. Make sure that the Tag links for Yandex.Metrica box is not ticked. Enabling this option adds the uclickd={yclid} parameter at the end of the destination URL and this parameter has been already added to the campaign URL by Voluum.

   

5. Set other options according to your needs and click the Next button.

   

6. In the Ad group section, select the type of ad and provide it with a title and description.
7. Paste the campaign URL that you have copied from Voluum in the Link to site text field and remove the protocol name (HTTP:// or HTTPS://), as it is added automatically by Yandex.Direct.

8. Upload your creative.

   

9. Configure your keyword targeting.

10. Set other options according to your needs and click the Save button.

    

If you want, you can generate a CSV file in Volum with information about conversions that, after modifications, can be upload to Yandex.Metrica. This section provides general instruction on how to do that. Note that you will need:

• External software with spreadsheet-editing capabilities, such as Microsoft Excel, to modify your CSV file.
• Conversion tracking set in Voluum
• A tag and goal created in Yandex.Metrica

1. Download a CSV file from Voluum

First, you need to download a CSV file containing yclid values connected with recorded conversions:

1. In Voluum, create a specific report for your Yandex.Direct campaign.
2. Go to the Conversions tab.

3. Configure the column display to show only the following columns:

   • Postback timestamp
   • External ID

4. Click the Export button and select the Download to CSV option from the drop-down menu.

   

5. Save the file on your hard drive.

2. Modify the CSV file

You now have the CSV file saed that contains yclid values with corresponding conversion date and time information. You need to modify it according to the Yandex.Metrica specifications. You need to modify the following values:

• Change date and time format to the Unix timestamp using the following Excel formula =(A1-DATE(1970,1,1))*86400
• Add the target name to each row.

3. Upload the modified CSV file to Yandex.Metrica

Once you have prepared the CSV, you are ready to upload it to Yandex.Metrica:

1. In your tag details, go to Settings.
2. Go to the Upload data tab.

3. Click the Upload data button.

   

4. Select the yclid option as a binding type.
5. Select the modified CSV file.

6. Click the Upload data button.

   

Your file with conversion info has been uploaded.

Token	Description
{yclid}	Click ID
{campaign_name}	Campaign name
{campaign_type}	Campaign type
{ad_id}	Ad ID
{creative_id}	Creative ID
{keyword}	keyword
{source}	source
{source_type}	Source type
{match_type}	Match type
{position}	Position