Split tests

Split tests allow you to analyze the success of creatives and sites, filter traffic, automate the selection of the optimal bundle, and work with lead limits. All work is done in the "Split tests" subsection of the "Traffic" section for both webmaster and agency.

In the "Split tests" section, there is a table with their list, indicating the name, the linked main offer, links and buttons for statistics, cloning, settings and deleting a split. The main split statistics are opened by clicking on its name.

How to create a split test?

To add a new test, specify its name, select the main offer and click "Create". The main offer is used solely for convenience - a split is attached to it, it is used by default when adding flows or sites. At the same time, the main offer does not limit you in anything - you can add other offer flows to the split without any problems.

After creation, a page with test settings will open. The following options are available on it:

Name. Used solely for the convenience of finding the test.
Link of test and link type. Use it to send traffic. It is stable and does not change when changing the settings of the test and its composition. Link type settings are discussed futher.
The composition of the test. Variants that are used and compared in the testing process and their conversion rates for the day.
Algorithm. Specifies smart traffic analysis techniques that allow you to show the end visitor a better option.
Rotation. Enables or disables binding the selected option to the visitor. The binding lasts for an hour.
Parked domain and domain binding. Allows you change the domain of split test URL and glue split to the domain.
Traffic filters. Allows you to specify a URL or site where to send visitors who did not match any one of the test options.
Tracking tags. SubID, UTM tags, agency macros.

Life hack: from the split settings page it is easy to go to the statistics page and back. To do this, just click on the name of the split test in the navigation bar on the top right.

Adding variants

A split test consists of several variants, between which the choice and distribution of visitors is made. Each of the variants is a flow that you should create and prepare in advance, specifying the required landing and prelanding. The same flow can be used in any number of splits.

To add a new variant, click on "Add variant to split". A form will open in which you need to specify the name of the variant, select the offer and the flow attached to it. If necessary, a new flow can be created right at the moment of adding a variant to the test. For agencies, the offer site is selected instead of the flow.

You don't have to select a flow or site if you want. In this case, a direct link to a third-party resource is set. It is not recommended to use this option because it will not count clicks and collect statistics. Direct link working methods are described below.

Variant settings

By default, traffic is distributed evenly among all variants added to the split test. You can change the settings of this distribution by adding different filters.

Probability. Allows you to increase or decrease the probability of the selected option being triggered. If one test has a probability, the remaining probability is divided evenly between the others. If the sum of the probability is greater than 100%, then tests without the probability set will not receive traffic.
Countries. List of countries that will see the selected test variant. Conveniently combined with the country exclusion list to set specific options for the desired variant and direct the rest to a common site for everyone.
Exclude countries. These countries will not be able to see the selected test variant.
Manual and automatic filtering settings. Allows you to catch bots and prevent them from viewing the selected variant. Described below.
Lead limit. Allows you to limit the number of leads of the selected status for the specified period that are received by this variant. Small overflows are possible - the limit is recalculated once a minute to reduce the load.
Activity checkbox. If you remove it, this split test variant gets disabled and stops receiving traffic.

Lifehack with probability: if you set parts of the variants with a total probability greater than 100% and leave one variant without specifying probabilities and filters, it will be used as trafficback if the rest of the variants did not fit. But classic traffic filter is better.

Traffic filtering in variants

You can filter visits from bots or suspicious hosts using built-in traffic filtering mechanisms. You have two options for implementing filters, depending on the characteristics of the network you are working with.

Important: In most cases, you will not need filtering within the options themselves. It is better to use a global traffic filtering setting for the entire split test. Use filters in options only if you need to configure exactly one option from a test, and not the entire test globally.

Connect to filtering campaigns

Some networks allow their webmasters access to built-in traffic filtering tools. They are available on the "Traffic Filter" page of the "Traffic" section. There you can create and configure full-featured traffic filtering campaigns and apply them both via the API and inside split tests.

To link a split variant to a campaign, select the campaign and specify the desired action: allow visits if the filter allows or denies it. This will allow you to link the variant as a target site or as a dummy site.

Manual filter settings

Use manual settings only if you did not choose to link to a filtering campaign from the previous paragraph.

Traffic. Allows only certain devices to be allowed to the variant: desktop, mobile phones or iOS/Android separately. Useful when working with apps to separate iOS, Android, and desktop devices and send them to their respective landing pages.
Exclude bots by User-Agent. Checks the user's browser for popular search engine bot IDs.
Exclude bots without ad click ID. Checks for click IDs of popular search networks, such as fbclid for Facebook or gclid for Google.
Exclude bots by browser language. Analyzes if the browser language matches the list of allowed countries and blocks traffic if a user with an unsupported language arrives.
Exclude bots by filtering blacklists. Checks the main IP address of the visitor for the presence of proxies and spam in the system blacklists.
URL whitelist. Allows traffic only if the URL contains at least one whitelisted word. For example, the word adclid will allow you to get visitors who clicked on ads in the teaser network and exclude the rest.
URL blacklist. Bans traffic if the link contains at least one word from the list. Often used to protect against spy services that send special UTM tags.

Customize the link appearance

You can customize the appearance of the link that the system will generate. In this case, any link format will work, regardless of the settings in the split test.

Normal link. Contains a shortened link with a numeric test ID. Only UTM tags are specified in the parameters. Does not change when test parameters are changed. Uses a redirect to the target site.
Encrypted link. A short link that uses the test's internal code instead of a numeric test ID. Also uses redirect.
Direct link. Uses an encrypted link, but opens the target site without a redirect, directly from the specified link. For external offers, it works like a regular encrypted link.

You can change the domain in the link by selecting it in the corresponding field. If the network provides several tracking domains, there will already be a ready-made list. If the network works with one tracking domain, you can park your domains yourself.

When working with parked domains, you can take full advantage of direct links. To do this, park the domain to the system, select it in the flow and click the "Glue domain" button. In a few minutes the split test will open directly on the main page of the selected domain without redirects. With this option, it is recommended to turn off the rotation.

One domain can only be associated with one flow or split test. If someone has parked the same domain as yours and has already linked it to the flow - contact your personal manager to eliminate these inconveniences.

Optimization algorithm

When working with A/B testing, the default is to evenly distribute options across users. You can enable automatic optimization and show users the best option based on conversion, EPC, or earnings. To do this, in the split test settings in the "Algorithm" field, select any option you are interested in instead of a uniform distribution.

Uniform distribution: does not take into account any conversion data, distributes evenly.
Priority of conversion: takes into account the conversion of clicks into valid leads, not taking into account leads in the "Trash" status.
Priority of conversion to approve: uses the conversion of clicks to approved leads, regardless of leads of other statuses.
Priority of EPC: takes into account the ratio of earnings to the number of clicks.
Priority of approve: uses the conversion of all received leads into approved ones.
Priority of profit: focuses on the total amount of earnings by option.

Variants that lose according to the selected parameters are not excluded from the rotation for good. They still get a certain number of visits to be able to redeem themselves. Indicators are recalculated every 10 minutes and use data for a day. Current rates are shown in the split test variants list.

Direct link working methods

You can use several methods to display the direct link:

Redirect to link (301). The system will redirect the visitor to the selected link as standard. 302 Found header is used - temporary redirect.
Redirect and glue the domain (302). The system will redirect using the 301 Moved Permanently header - a permanent redirect. According to rumors, this allows you to glue the source domain with the target one.
Redirect via separate page. So called meta redirect. Before the redirect, the user will see an intermediate browser check page and will be redirected after three seconds. This is rumored to be safer than a simple redirect.
Show link in iframe. The trafficback URL will be opened inside a full page iframe. Important! The target site must not disable frames using headers!
Show contents by the URL. The server will load the page content and add the correct base href tag. This will load all scripts, styles, and pictures, and leave all links working. The best option.
Show contents by the URL without processing. The server will load the content of the page from the specified link and display it unchanged. Important! If the resources (styles, scripts, images, links) of the landing page use relative paths, they won't work!
Show blank page. The server will return code 200 and show a page with no content. Please enter any text in the link.
Show error page. The server will return the specified error code and display the corresponding page. In the link, indicate the desired error number or zero for random.