How PPCmate Tracks Traffic KPIs in Google Analytics

Tracking traffic quality is one of the most important parts of programmatic advertising. To optimize campaigns properly, advertisers must understand where their traffic comes from, how users behave after the click, and which placements deliver real value. Generic UTM parameters cannot provide this level of visibility. They mix all traffic together and hide placement level behavior inside Google Analytics.

At PPCmate, I designed a simple and highly effective method that uses real supply identifiers inside your UTM structure. By replacing the default utm_medium with SITE_ID (or REFERRER_DOMAIN) you can track detailed placement performance directly in Google Analytics Explore. This allows you to measure time on site, bounce rate, engagement patterns, and click to session discrepancy with precision.

SITE_ID gives you the most accurate snapshot of traffic quality. It includes the domain, the exact placement, the zone, the inventory type, and the final delivery path inside the supply chain. One domain can have many SITE_IDs because each zone behaves differently. Some zones generate real engagement while others may produce fast exits or low value clicks. By using SITE_ID as utm_medium you can identify these patterns instantly.

The method is simple. You update your landing page URL with the recommended UTM structure, run your campaigns, allow Google Analytics to refresh for up to 24 hours or more, and then open GA Explore to view all placements grouped with their engagement metrics. Once you identify the best SITE_IDs, you duplicate your PPCmate campaign, whitelist these placements, increase your bids, and scale high-quality traffic. At the same time, you keep the original campaign running at low bids to discover new profitable placements.

SITE_ID provides:

• Domain or App
• Placement
• Zone

All in a single value.

This guide explains the entire process step by step. You will learn how to implement SITE_ID tracking in PPCmate, how to analyze placements in Google Analytics, how long to collect data for reliable results, and how to run a dual campaign strategy that improves performance every day. This system gives you full transparency and allows you to optimize your programmatic campaigns with confidence.

After testing more than 50 landing pages, we can confidently say that the results are unique to each page. What works on one website/landing page, will not work on another campaign. Make sure you optimize each landing page separately.

Below are three step-by-step guides to help you optimize KPIs and achieve your ad goals:

1. Step by Step (1/3): How to Add Custom UTMs in PPCmate
2. Step by Step (2/3): How to Analyze Data in Google Analytics
3. Step by Step (3/3): How to Target SIDE_IDs in PPCmate

With a small adjustment in your UTM structure, you can transform your reporting and optimize your campaigns with confidence.

Top 5 Reasons Why This
Optimization Method Is Useful

1. Real placement level transparency

By using SITE_ID as utm_medium you see exactly which placement or zone delivered each session. This removes all guesswork and shows the true quality of every traffic source. You can instantly identify strong placements and isolate weak ones.

2. Accurate engagement insights

Google Analytics displays clear time on site, bounce rate, and activity metrics for each SITE_ID. This helps you understand how users behave after the click. You can compare placements and quickly find the ones that generate real interest.

3. Better discrepancy detection

Clicks and sessions often differ. With placement level tracking you can see where discrepancies appear and why. This allows you to detect low quality placements, early closes, blocked scripts, or fast user drop offs.

4. Faster and smarter optimization

When you know which placements perform well you can adjust your bidding strategy, remove underperforming sources, and focus your budget on high engagement traffic. This leads to better results and higher ROI without increasing spend.

5. Works automatically across all PPCmate channels

Once set, the UTM structure works for Popunder, Push, Display, Native, and Video. You only set it once and it instantly improves your reporting for every campaign. There is no additional maintenance and no technical complexity.

Step by Step (1/3)

How to Add Custom UTMs
in PPCmate

Step 1: Go to your Campaign

Open your PPCmate account and select the campaign where you want to apply custom tracking.

Step 2: Go to the Creative Section

Select your creative or add a new one.

Step 3: Locate the Landing URL Field

Every creative has a field where you paste your destination landing link.

Step 4: Insert the Recommended URL

Paste this link into the Destination URL field:

https://example.com?utm_source=ppcmate-x&utm_medium={SITE_ID}&utm_campaign={CAMPAIGN}&utm_id={BANNER}

Alternative for domain-level tracking only:

https://example.com?utm_source=ppcmate-x&utm_medium={REFERRER_DOMAIN}&utm_campaign={CAMPAIGN}&utm_id={BANNER}

Step 5: Save the Creative

Your campaign now sends complete UTM data to Google Analytics.

Step by Step (2/3)

How to Analyze the Data
in Google Analytics

Step 1: Log in to Google Analytics

Use the account that receives your PPCmate traffic.

Step 2: Go to Explore

Explore allows you to create custom reports with grouped UTMs.

Step 3: Create a New Exploration

Choose a Free Form exploration.

Step 4: Add Dimensions

Add the following:

1. Session source
2. Session medium
3. Session campaign

These correspond to your UTM tags.

Step 5: Add Metrics

Add the metrics that matter most for quality:

1. Sessions
2. Views
3. Events per session
4. Average session duration
5. Engagement ratge
6. Bounce rate
7. Total Users
8. Views per session

Step 6: Drag Session Medium into Rows

This will show your SITE_ID or REFERRER_DOMAIN values.

Step 7: Compare Performance

You can now clearly see:

• Which placements send real users
• Which placements bounce fast
• Which placements generate discrepancies
• True engagement time per placement
• Activity on every source

This turns Google Analytics into a full traffic quality dashboard. It is recommended to track the history of your traffic for at least the last seven days. For optimal results, it’s recommended to use it for 10-14 days. This gives the most accurate picture of placement performance because it captures:

• Weekend traffic
• Weekday traffic
• Multiple behavior cycles
• True quality patterns
• Consistent bounce and engagement trends

This is the best range for making confident decisions.

Step by Step (3/3)

How to Target Campaigns with SIDE_IDs in PPCmate

Once you identify your highest performing SITE_IDs inside Google Analytics Explore, the last step is to add them directly into your PPCmate campaign targeting. This ensures that you only buy traffic from the placements that deliver strong engagement, low bounce rate, and real sessions.

Follow these steps to apply your SITE_ID whitelist:

Step 1: Duplicate your PPCmate campaign

Create a new campaign that will focus only on high quality SITE_IDs. Keep your original campaign running at low bids for discovery.

Step 2: Open the new campaign settings

Go to your PPCmate dashboard and open the duplicated campaign.

Step 3: Navigate to Inventory

Inside the campaign settings, you will find the Inventory section and go to SITE IDs.

Step 4: Input the SITE_IDs identified in Google Analytics

You can do this in two ways:

• Copy and paste the SITE_IDs directly into the field
• Upload a CSV file if you have a large list

Both options work the same and instantly apply placement-level targeting.

Add IDs with a comma-separated list, without any spaces.

Step 5: Save your settings and set a higher bid

Because these SITE_IDs are proven to perform well, you can safely increase your bid to capture more high-quality volume.

Step 6: Run both campaigns together

Your optimized campaign focuses on the best placements.
Your original discovery campaign continues to find new SITE_IDs at low bids.

This creates a healthy and scalable optimization cycle.

Why This Method Works

By replacing utm_medium with SITE_ID (or REFERRER_DOMAIN), you unlock exact user behavior insights that generic UTMs cannot provide. You gain placement-level transparency, accurate discrepancy detection, and clearer engagement.

This simple upgrade makes every advertising decision stronger.

Final Thoughts

At PPCmate I focus on giving advertisers clean visibility and real performance data. This custom UTM method is an easy and effective way to understand the true quality of your traffic. Once set up, it works automatically on every session and becomes a powerful optimization tool.

We hope you found this helpful article. For any questions or support, our team is always ready to support you.

FAQ

https://example.com?utm_source=ppcmate-x&utm_medium={SITE_ID}&utm_campaign={CAMPAIGN}&utm_id={BANNER}

Special Thanks: Joel Hajaree and Kyle Lee from Site Impact (LinkedIn)

Author: Michael Manelidis, PPCmate CEO (LinkedIn)