Using Dimensions in Destination URLs

Dimension tags can be used to insert specific values into your URLs, for example you can set dimensions for the campaign, and then URL Builder parameters, will insert that value in the URL before sending to the publisher.

How To Insert Dimensions Into URL builder 

  1. First set up the Dimension. For more information on creating dimensions please see this help article.
  2. Next, tag your objects with a value for this new dimension at the campaign, group, keyword, or ad level. For example, tag your category dimension with the value 'Skiing' for campaigns.
  3. Add the name of the dimension in brackets, for example [Category] anywhere in the URL builder.

    Consult the URL Builder article for additional details on how to set up the URL Builder.
     

How To Update Dimensions Within URLs (Without Redirects) 

If you change the dimension value that is tagged and want this value to update for existing URLs, this will not update automatically. To update the URLs to contain the new dimension value, you have two options:

  1. Run a report of those objects (make sure to include the Destination URL column), strip off all tracking parameters, and reload this file back into Marin. The URL Builder will then add back the tracking with the new dimension value.
  2. Run a report of these objects (make sure to include the Destination URL column) and update the dimension value in the URL to the dimension name with brackets. For example, replace 'Skiing' with [Category]. Then reload this file back into Marin. URL Builder will then update the dimension name with the new dimension value.

How To Update Dimensions Within Destination URLs (Using Redirects) 

If you are using redirects and using a dimension within those redirected URLs, it is possible for Marin to update the dimension value in the URLs. Marin will update dimension values in URLs when a dimension is edited at the keyword level using a single edit or a bulk upload.

For example, a typical setup using URL redirects might have the URL Builder set up as follows:

tracker.example.com/rd?cid=[tracker_id]&mkwid=[distribution][uniq_id]&pcrid=[creative_id]&pkw=[keyword_text]&pmt=[matchtype]&lp=[ClickCommand][click_through_url]

This redirect is for Google Ads 360, where the Click Command is being populated by a dimension named [ClickCommand]. Imagine that this dimension is at the account level, but that new Click Commands have to become campaign-specific. Marin can update dimensions through the process below:

  1. Tag the campaigns with the new [ClickCommand] dimension or any other necessary dimension value. We recommend that you do this via a multi-edit or a bulk upload.
  2. Download all of your keywords with the following columns selected in the Column SelectorAccount, Campaign, Group, Keyword, Match Type, and Click Through URL. Also, apply a filter on all but deleted.
  3. Download the file containing your keywords, then upload to Marin in Held status.
  4. Review your URLs to ensure that the relevant change has been made.

Important note: If you update a dimension value that is not part of a redirected URL, it will not be updated within the relevant destination URLs.

How To Insert A Dimension Unencoded 

When using dimension values in the URL builder, the default behavior is to encode characters in the URL. This replaces 'unsafe' ASCII characters with a % followed by two hexadecimal digits. There may be occasions when there is a character in your dimension that you don't want URL encoded. For example: { } ; :

In order to properly insert the dimension value into the URL without having it URL encoded, you must reference the dimension with the phrase unencoded_ before it. For example:

http://www.example.com/Skiing?utm_campaign=[unencoded_campaign]

In this case, if the campaign name is test;example, the resulting URL would appear as follows:

http://www.example.com/Skiing?utm_campaign=test;example

Without an unencoded dimension as above, the end of this URL would like this:

utm_campaign=test%3Bexample

which may not be preferable.

Information About Dimensions In URLs 

Dimensions have a parent-child relationship, whereby the child will inherit the parent's value if the child object is not explicitly tagged. For example, if a keyword does not have a dimension value, but a dimension is set at the group level, the keyword will inherit the group's value. This can be overwritten by tagging a dimension at either the group or keyword level.

If a keyword does not have a dimension value, and the dimension is set at the campaign level, the group and keyword will inherit the dimension at the campaign level when URLs are built. The hierarchy of dimensions is: Client Account - Campaign - Group - Keyword /Creatives with Client Accounts at the top.

Frequently Asked Questions About Dimensions In URLs 

 

My Destination URLs Are Not Being Updated With My Dimensions. What Is Wrong? 

The most common reason for URLs not having a dimension value included is that no objects in the hierarchy have been tagged in the dimension. This can be solved by tagging those objects.

Another possible reason for why dimensions may not be updating is because new keywords/creatives were created before being tagged with a dimension. If a dimension is tagged after the URLs are created, then the URLs will not be updated with the dimension value. To fix this, please refer to the How to Update Dimensions Within Destination URLs section of this article.

A final reason why dimensions may not be updating is that the dimensions might be assigned at a lower level, such as at the keyword level. When Marin is building URLs with dimensions via the URL Builder, it will look at the lowest level. For example, if a dimension is assigned at the group level and at the keyword level, the keyword will take on the keyword-level dimension.

To use a dimension in a URL at a higher level, you can either:

  1. Clear out the dimension at the group and keyword level and then upload your Click Through URLs again.
    or
  2. Upload a new dimension at the keyword URL level with the Click Through URL column.

If this does not help please get in touch with our Customer Support team.

Written by Marketing @ Marin Software

Last published at: January 18th, 2024