How to blacklist sites and zones in ExoClick

A zone is one ad placement on a publisher site; a site is the whole publisher. ExoClick runs pop-under, push and display inventory, and a pop-under fires on page load or tab open with no click at all. With no gesture in the format, a low-quality publisher can drive automated page loads at scale, and the only place to tell real exposure from scripted volume is your landing page.

That is where ValidVisit works. It judges every paid visit Valid or Invalid, with its evidence, and pins the verdict to the zone and site that sent it. It reports; the blocking happens in ExoClick, and you do it.

Add these to your campaign’s tracking URL:

• {zone_id} as vv_placement_id: the ad zone where the ad was displayed.
• {site_id} as vv_publisher_id: the site the zone belongs to.
• {conversions_tracking} as vv_click_id: required. ExoClick’s per-click string, the one returned through your postback.
• {campaign_id} as vv_campaign_id: required.
• {variation_id} as vv_creative_id: the banner or landing-page variation.
• {keyword} as vv_keyword: the matched keyword, on keyword-targeted campaigns.

For pop, {site_id} and {zone_id} explain nearly all sub-source variation. Every macro is on the ExoClick tracking tokens page.

Rank zones worst first in ValidVisit, then group them by site (how ExoClick traffic breaks down):

• One bad zone on a sound site. A zone whose invalid share runs well above your baseline while the same site’s other zones look valid is a zone block. You keep the rest of the publisher.
• A site that is bad throughout. A few sites taking a disproportionate share of clicks with negligible on-site engagement is the clearest sign of inflated inventory. Legitimate pop traffic spreads across many sites; automated volume clusters on the ones easiest to inflate. Block all zones on the site.
• Push zones. Look for high click volume with near-zero engagement depth and timing that is unnaturally uniform.

ExoClick’s blocking lives in campaign creation Step 5, Zones (Sites & Zones):

1. Open Step 5, Zones, and switch Target Mode to Block.
2. Click Bulk Select Zones.
3. Paste the bad Zone IDs as a comma-separated list with no spaces.
4. For each entry, choose whether to block just that zone or all zones on its site.
5. Save the campaign.

ValidVisit’s Cut-list exports the flagged zone IDs as a paste-ready CSV; join them with commas and no spaces before pasting. For publishers that are bad on every campaign, ExoClick also lets you blacklist sites at account level, so one entry covers all your campaigns.

Beyond zones and sites, ExoClick supports IP exclusion and targeting by OS and OS version, browser (not browser version), language, device and connection type. Those narrow delivery; they don’t replace a zone list. Countries and data-center connections are a different kind of cut: ValidVisit’s traffic rules tag those visits on arrival and can send them to another page, or give you a firewall rule that blocks the listed countries at your own firewall. That protects the site, not the budget; to stop paying for a country, take it out of the campaign’s targeting.

When the list grows, order it by invalid visits (share times volume). Put structurally bad sites on the account-level blacklist first, since one entry protects every campaign; then block individual zones per campaign. Leave zones with a single spike and thin volume on watch until more visits are judged.

Be clear-eyed here. ExoClick’s terms offer no invalid-traffic credit mechanism. Charges are based solely on ExoClick’s ad-server measurements, and the terms state that nothing in them obligates ExoClick to give credit to any party. The only refund is of your balance: within 6 months of your last payment, if you’re dissatisfied and compliant; after a second deposit, only balances over $20, minus a 10% fee. Terminated buyers get no refund.

So on ExoClick the value of the evidence is in the cut itself: every blocked zone stops future spend on it. The refunds-by-network comparison shows which networks do offer a route.

Keep the script on and compare the campaign over equal windows before and after. The invalid share should fall and site concentration should ease. New zones can pick up your volume after a cut, so rerun the ranking regularly and block the newcomers judged invalid. The same loop for other networks is in blocking bad sources by network; zone, site and the other terms here are in the glossary.