How to exclude sources (targets) in Zeropark

A source is a large traffic source containing multiple targets. A target is the actual sub-placement of your ad within that source. Zeropark gives you three places to act:

• A campaign’s Sources tab, to pause whole sources.
• A campaign’s Targets tab, to pause individual targets.
• My Account → Blocked list, to block targets across every campaign.

Pop has no click gesture: anything that can open a URL can produce a billable visit, so the format tells you nothing about intent. ValidVisit judges every paid visit Valid or Invalid on your landing page and attributes it to the source and target. It reports; you make the cut in Zeropark.

Pass these in the Zeropark click URL:

• {cid} as vv_click_id: Zeropark’s click ID, mandatory for tracking visits.
• {source} as vv_publisher_id: the source.
• {target} as vv_placement_id: the target inside it.
• {campaign_id} as vv_campaign_id, and {campaign_name} as vv_campaign_name.
• {creative_number} as vv_creative_id.
• {keyword} as vv_keyword, on keyword campaigns.

Domain-parked and pop-under units both pass {source} and {target}, so the breakdown works the same across Zeropark’s inventory. The full list is on the Zeropark tracking tokens page.

In ValidVisit, rank sources worst first by invalid visits (Zeropark’s usual patterns). Then open each doubtful source by target:

• A bad source. Strong volume at a competitive bid while landing-page engagement collapses: sessions of a few seconds, no scroll, no downstream events. If its targets are uniformly poor, pause the source.
• A bad target in a fair source. One target can route almost entirely through cloud-hosting or proxy ranges while its source looks acceptable in aggregate. Pause the target and keep the source.
• Keyword campaigns. Compare invalid shares on branded and generic keywords. Branded targets with a materially higher invalid share may point to automated triggering of your pop inventory.

In Zeropark:

1. Open the campaign details and go to the Sources tab, or the Targets tab for individual targets.
2. Tick the bad IDs, or paste the list from ValidVisit’s Cut-list CSV into the Search box to pull them up together.
3. Choose Bulk actions → Pause.

Pausing stops the campaign buying from those IDs. Because Zeropark campaigns are organised around sources, it’s quick to repeat as new verdicts come in.

A pause is per campaign. For a target that is bad on every offer you run, paste its ID into My Account → Blocked list and it’s blocked across all your campaigns.

That reach is why the list deserves care. A target judged invalid in one campaign might warrant a global block; a target with a modest invalid share might only need watching. Put a target on the account list when it carries a high invalid share on real volume, ideally in more than one campaign; pause it in one campaign when the evidence comes from that campaign alone. Work worst first, ranked by invalid visits (share times volume).

Zeropark also supports IP exclusion and targeting by OS and OS version, browser (not browser version), device and connection type. Language targeting isn’t among its documented controls.

Zeropark has the strongest written policy in our refunds-by-network comparison:

• It doesn’t charge for visits its internal filter deems invalid, and it refunds invalid purchases on an ongoing basis as account deposit, not cash.
• Advertisers can also claim refunds for invalid visits; Zeropark may ask for additional evidence that the purchases were invalid.
• For suspected bot traffic, contact your Onboarding or Account Manager. Payment questions go to support@zeropark.com or payments@zeropark.com within 30 days of receiving the invoice. No deadline is stated for invalid-visit claims.

Two cautions. The amount due is determined by Zeropark’s reports, and its FAQ says it suspends accounts of users who request refunds; ask your account manager how that applies before you file anything. Source- and target-level evidence (IDs, dates, visit counts, invalid share) is what to bring.

Compare the campaign over equal windows before and after pausing. The invalid share should fall. If it doesn’t, check whether new targets inside the sources you kept have picked up the volume. The same judge, rank and cut loop for other networks is in blocking bad sources by network, and source, target and the other terms here are in the glossary.