Outbrain tracking tokens & macros
On Outbrain, your campaign runs as native recommendations spread across a wide network of publisher sites, so the same campaign can pull clicks from many very different sections at once. Adding these macros to your campaign's tracking code lets ValidVisit attribute every visit back to its exact publisher / section AND judge it Valid or Invalid, with the evidence in your dashboard. That turns a single blended Outbrain report into a per-source view of where your good and bad traffic actually comes from.
Cross-check any macro against the network’s official documentation. Outbrain official docs →
Outbrain populates each macro at click time, so the moment a reader taps a recommendation your URL carries the {{campaign_id}} and the publisher behind it via {{publisher_id}}. Add {{section_id}} as well: it identifies the section, the category page within that publisher's site, which is the unit Outbrain recommends excluding first. The unique {{ob_click_id}} stamps each individual click so ValidVisit can line up every visit one-to-one with no double counting, and {{ad_id}} lets you split quality down to the specific ad. Note that Outbrain's macros use the double-curly-brace {{...}} format, so keep them exactly as written; the network swaps in the real IDs automatically once the click fires.
Per-publisher granularity matters because Outbrain blends every section into one campaign line, which hides the handful of publishers quietly sending bots and invalid traffic. Once each click is tied to its publisher / section through {{publisher_id}} and {{section_id}}, ValidVisit attributes the IVT to a specific publisher / section and reports its invalid share — then you act: exclude the worst offenders in the campaign's By Publisher or By Section view, or in the "Exclude Publishers and Sections" box in the campaign settings. ValidVisit judges each visit after it arrives and never writes to your Outbrain account, so excluding a publisher or section stays a manual decision you make in your own Outbrain dashboard.
Outbrain macro → ValidVisit param
| Token | Outbrain macro | ValidVisit param | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campaign ID *campaign | {{campaign_id}} | vv_campaign_id | 00abc |
| Ad IDad | {{ad_id}} | vv_ad_id | 00def |
| Publisher IDpublisher | {{publisher_id}} | vv_publisher_id | PUB1 |
| Click ID *click | {{ob_click_id}} | vv_click_id | ck_ob_123 |
| Section IDplacement | {{section_id}} | vv_placement_id | 00a1b2 |
- Outbrain macro
{{campaign_id}}- ValidVisit param
vv_campaign_id- Example
- 00abc
- Outbrain macro
{{ad_id}}- ValidVisit param
vv_ad_id- Example
- 00def
- Outbrain macro
{{publisher_id}}- ValidVisit param
vv_publisher_id- Example
- PUB1
- Outbrain macro
{{ob_click_id}}- ValidVisit param
vv_click_id- Example
- ck_ob_123
- Outbrain macro
{{section_id}}- ValidVisit param
vv_placement_id- Example
- 00a1b2
* required for Outbrain attribution.
Ready-to-use Outbrain tracking parameters
utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=native&vv_campaign_id={{campaign_id}}&vv_ad_id={{ad_id}}&vv_publisher_id={{publisher_id}}&vv_click_id={{ob_click_id}}&vv_placement_id={{section_id}}In Outbrain, paste these into the Tracking section of the campaign’s settings, and keep the ad’s own URL as your plain landing page. Outbrain adds them to every click and fills the macros, so every visit arrives attributed and ready to judge.
See which Outbrain sources send bots.
- Every visit judged Valid or Invalid, worst source first.
- Attributed through the Outbrain tokens above, down to the placement.
- Works beside your tracker, with nothing added to the click path.
What Outbrain tokens let you break bots down by
- Publisher ID
- Section ID — The section inside a publisher; Outbrain advises excluding sections before whole publishers.
Carries a per-click id, stored with each visit so a verdict traces back to the click.
- IP exclusionnot offered
- Device targetingdocumented
- OS targetingdocumented
- Browser targetingdocumented
- Connection typedocumented
- Languagedocumented
Tokens last verified against Outbrain’s docs on 2026-10-02.
The buyer checks the bad publishers/sections in the campaign’s By Publisher/By Section report and applies Actions → Exclude (temporary for 7, 14, 21 or 30 days or a custom length, or permanent), or bulk-uploads a CSV of section IDs via the Import → Excludes option (CSV exclusions are permanent). Outbrain allows up to 30 blocked publishers and 100 blocked sections per campaign.
Outbrain tracking token FAQs
Which token tells me the publisher a bad click came from?+
{{publisher_id}} identifies the publisher that served the recommendation and {{section_id}} the section within it; those are the two units you exclude on Outbrain. {{ob_click_id}} is the per-click identifier ValidVisit uses to match each visit one-to-one, and {{campaign_id}} groups everything under the right campaign.
Do I need a funnel hop or tracking link to use these?+
No. These are ordinary URL parameters. You add them in the Tracking section of the campaign settings, Outbrain appends them to every ad in the campaign, and it fills in the values like {{publisher_id}} and {{ob_click_id}} automatically at click time. There is no extra hop and no extra link service required.
What do I actually do once ValidVisit flags a publisher?+
ValidVisit never edits your campaign — it points out the publisher / section sending invalid traffic. You then exclude it yourself in the campaign's By Publisher or By Section view, temporarily or permanently, or enter it in the "Exclude Publishers and Sections" box in the campaign settings. The exclusion is always a manual step you take inside your own Outbrain account.
Tracking tokens for other native networks
Judge every Outbrain visit — and find the fake ones.
See which Outbrain publishers and placements send real buyers vs. bots.
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