faqs - Mintegral

Frequently asked questions

Creating Campaigns
Campaign Launching
Creative Issues
Financial Issues

What do Click URL and Impression URL mean exactly when testing tracking links?: Click URL stands for click-through attribution, and Impression URL stands for view-through attribution. Generally, we suggest that advertisers fill in both URLs to increase CVR, thus improving the algorithm’s strengths and giving the offer more display opportunities (impressions). If the offer is set up as CPM or CPC, then the tracking link will not be necessary. The offer will be ready to go live as long as it has been set up correctly.

Why does the UUID not allow special characters?: Only underscores, numbers, and standard alphabet letters are allowed while setting up the UUID which is unique and cannot be modified once set up. The offer name can be manually modified once the offer has been successfully saved. Special characters can be added at this stage, but please make sure to add the following string to your tracking link:
&campaign_name={@encodeURIComponent(info.campaign.offer_name)@}

Why does the “campaign status” button not work after changing its status from “pending” to “running”?

Check if "promote time" was set up to run at a future date and time - if that is the case, change it to "now".
If the offer is set up as CPI, its status cannot be changed to “running” until the tracking links have been successfully tested.
Check if the account balance is 0.
Check if the uploaded creatives have been approved, only when the creatives are approved then the campaign can start running normally.

What does "Retargeting Device" mean?: This means that a custom device list is needed. IDFA is needed for iOS, IMEI is needed for Android in China, GAID is needed for Android outside China. Please note that the file needs to be uploaded in .txt format and only one device ID per line is allowed.

What is the recommended account structure? What is the relationship between campaign and offer?: One product (differentiated based on the store id) relates to one campaign, under which different offers are set according to targeting options like country, device, and more. If there are no specific targeting requirements for multiple countries, we recommend combining them into a single offer, which should help you scale up and improve your optimization efficiency.

How do I set up tracking links for an offer?

Please configure the tracking links on the “Edit Offer – Set Tracking Link” page, where you can add, change, or remove parameters. For more details, please refer to this page: https://adv-new.mintegral.com/doc/en/integration/quickStart/trackingUrl .
After you complete the tracking link configuration, the default status will be set to “Test failed” - please refresh the page after completing the tracking link test to update the test result. Once the test result changes to “Test passed” your offer will be able to start serving ads. For CPI/CPA offers, the condition for passing the test is to get a conversion post-back; for CPC/CPM offers, the tracking link will pass the test by default after the configuration has been completed.
If “Click URL” cannot reach the target page, you need to select the “Is Async” option and clicks will be reported automatically on the Mintegral server; when the user clicks on the ad, they will be redirected to the application download page or landing page - this is the Preview URL that you set in your campaign.
If you need to use S2S integration, please refer to this page: https://adv-new.mintegral.com/doc/en/integration/quickStart/postback

How do I fill in the copy for an offer?

If the offer was created without any copy, the offer will use the default text from the corresponding ad campaign.
If you need to add or update the offer copy, you can go to the “Edit Offer – Upload Creatives” page and click the “Add and update text asset” button to add new copy or modify the existing copy in the content column. The page also provides an automatic translation tool to quickly translate your text into different languages and apply them to offers for different countries.

What does “cross-promotion” mean?: Cross-promotion is used to promote your other products within your existing campaigns. If your company has collaborated with Mintegral on both UA and monetization, you need to confirm whether you would like to use cross-promotion. We would suggest you use this strategy because it will help increase your volume and your eCPM. If you do not wish to use cross-promotion, please inform your Account Manager in advance.

How does Mintegral guarantee the quality of traffic?

Mintegral regularly conducts a strict set of reviews to ensure the authenticity of the developers’ information. Also, if a developer is found to be cheating or abusing the system, they will be removed immediately.
Mintegral has created an in-house anti-fraud logic to monitor traffic and detect anomalies in real-time.

Why does the advertising spend exceed the budget limit?

Check if the bid is too high.
Check whether the budget was changed recently.
Based on the attribution window, there will be some tail-end traffic still coming in. If you need to meet certain fixed budget limits, we recommend you lower the budget.
If after checking the above solutions you are still having problems, please contact your Account Manager for further help.

Why are there only a few displays (impressions) when scaling up?

The scaling up stage is very important for our algorithms to accumulate data, please keep the following suggestions in mind:

Make sure you have uploaded the creatives with a full set of dimensions, especially the video creatives.
The bid is supposed to be set a little higher than usual at the starting stage. After scaling up, the bid can then be lowered to match your budget.
Reduce the targeting options to a minimum during the scale-up phase.
Providing software trademark qualifications would be helpful to get high-quality volume on more channels.
If there is a ready-made playable ad creative, please adjust it and use it in your campaign. Please test your playable ad creative here: https://www.mindworks-creative.com/review/doc/

Why are volumes poor in the beginning?: Generally, it will take 2-3 days for the algorithm to scale up and we recommend monitoring the volume for a few more days after that. A slightly higher bid is recommended early on, which will be helpful to speed up the scale-up phase. The bid can be lowered to match your budget after scaling up, which will help maintain a stable user acquisition volume.

Some sources are of poor quality, can I blacklist them?: If the quality of some sources does not meet expectations, it is recommended to adjust the source bidding (mtgid) according to the cost-recovering situation. We suggest that you do not “blacklist” sources directly, as that will impact your volume.

How often do I update the creatives?: We suggest that you upload no more than 4 sets of creatives for each offer and then refresh the creatives every 2-3 weeks. Every time you refresh the creatives, please ensure to upload them in all the dimensions required for your campaign.

Why is there still data coming in after the offer has already been stopped?: In a normal attribution window, the impressions or clicks generated before the offer is stopped will usually have a latency of attribution data. Please note that Mintegral will settle the cost within 48 hours of the offer end date.

Why am I only seeing click data but no conversion data?

Check if the tracking URL has passed the testing phase.
In case only a few clicks were captured, it is possible that no actual installation has happened yet.
If the offer was set up as a CPC/CPM campaign, the tracking link test will automatically pass; if the tracking link is not set, it is expected that no conversions will occur.
If after checking the above solutions you are still having problems please, contact your Account Manager for further help.

What is a Rewarded Video?: A “rewarded video” is a type of video ad. Users can get rewards such as extra lives and virtual currency after watching a video advertisement in the game, but users have to decide whether to download the app after interacting with this ad.

In which regions does Mintegral have the strongest traffic coverage?: Our traffic coverage is strongest in China, the U.S., Japan, Northern Europe, India, Southeast Asia, and South America. At the same time, Mintegral has high-quality ad traffic in most countries and regions around the world.

How can I integrate Mintegral via API?: The Mintegral API is divided into 2 main parts: Launch API and Reporting API. Please check the documentation below for more details on API integration:https://adv-new.mintegral.com/doc/en/introduction/quickStart.

Why are there only a few impressions when scaling up?

The scaling up stage is very important for our algorithms to accumulate data, please keep the following suggestions in mind:

Make sure you have uploaded the creatives with a full set of dimensions, especially the video creatives.
The bid is supposed to be set 2-3 times higher than usual at the starting stage. After scaling up, the bid can then be adjusted accordingly.
When scaling up, we recommended setting a budget limit that can generate at least 200 conversions for each country. This is to ensure that the campaign accumulates enough data samples for more precise audience targeting.
Reduce the targeting options to a minimum during the scale-up phase.
If you run ads in China, providing software trademark qualifications would be helpful to get access to more high-quality traffic channels.
We recommend using playable creatives at this stage. If a ready-made playable creative is available, please ensure it is compatible with Mintegral specifications, then you can upload it to your offers; the creative will start running once it’s approved by our internal team. Mintegral’s in-house creative studio Mindworks can also provide playable creative services, learn more at https://adv-new.mintegral.com/doc/en/introduction/quickStart.

How can I view data on my playable creatives?

To view data on your playable creatives, go to the “Reports – Creative Monitor” page and select the “end-card ID” checkbox.
You can also view your playable creative data by requesting the end-card dimension via the Reporting API.

How can I get the API Key?: You can find the API Key by going to the "Account - User Management" page.

What sizes should creatives have and what are the recommended sizes?: Video creatives must have the following sizes (in pixels): 1280x720, 720x1280, 1920x1080, or 1080x1920. Static image creatives sizes must be set to 1200x627 pixels. In order to reach more traffic, it is recommended to cover other static image sizes including 720x1280, 1024x768, 768x1024, 320x50, and 728x90.

How long does it take for creatives to be approved?: Creatives are usually approved within 24 hours, regardless of whether it is a normal workday, weekend or public holiday.

What are the common reasons for creatives might be rejected?

Creatives may be rejected if they contain:

Elements that are promoting illegal content such as pornography, gambling, violence, etc.
Deceptive information such as false information and forged products.
Negative cultural content or derogatory words.
Unauthorized use of other people’s or brands’ trademarks, works, and other materials.
Absolute terms, exaggerations, and other baseless terms such as first, most XX, etc.
Propaganda that contains hot issues of social concern, such as natural disasters and epidemic situations. Politically sensitive words are also not allowed.

What if I don’t have all the creative dimensions required?: If your existing creatives don’t have any specific requirements and you don’t mind them being cut automatically into other sizes, you can upload the ones you have available and our system will generate the missing sizes. If, however, you prefer not to have your creatives automatically resized, you will need to upload your creatives in all the sizes required. Video creatives must have the following sizes (in pixels): 1280x720, 720x1280, 1920x1080, or 1080x1920. Static image creatives must have the following sizes (in pixels): 1200x627, 720x1280, 1024x768, 768x1024, 320x50, and 728x90.

Some creatives could not be added, why is that?: Please check if the name of the creative you are adding already exists, as creatives with the same names will not be added. We recommend adding creatives one page at a time to prevent this from happening.

Why is a static 1200x627 image still needed when videos are going to be the only creative launched?: This image is required because the Mintegral video ad placement will show an end-card after the video is broadcast, and the end-card requires a 1200x627 image to be uploaded.

How can I manage my offer creatives to achieve best results?

After scaling up to a certain level, creatives with significantly lower conversion rate can be removed to optimize the offer’s overall performance.
For creatives that are already being served, it is recommended to periodically clean up the creatives with poor performance; For new creatives, we recommend adjusting the quantity of creatives active at any given time, because the algorithm will allocate random traffic to the new creatives, making it difficult for them to scale up quickly.

How can I upload playable creatives?: Playable creatives can be uploaded by going to "User Acquisition - Manage Creative - Playable Ads" or by going to "Edit Offer – Upload Creatives”. Before uploading, you should test your playable creative first to make sure it matches the Mintegral playable creative coding specifications. For more details, please refer to this page: https://www.mindworks-creative.com/review/doc/ .

How can I check the approval status of my creatives?: The approval status for your creatives can be found in the creatives list of your offer. If any creatives have been rejected, you can find the reasons for rejection in the “Status” column.

How can I manage creatives in batch?: To manage creatives in batches, you can go to "User Acquisition - Manage Creative". There, you can manage your creatives across different offers and permanently delete any existing creatives.

What are the optimal creatives sizes I should use on Mintegral?

Static image creatives sizes must be set to 512x512 or 1200x627 pixels.
Video creatives must have the following sizes (in pixels): 1280x720 / 1920x1080 or 720x1280 / 1080x1920.

Please check the creative requirements on the “Upload Creatives” page for other creative sizes.

Can I use GIF as an end-card format? If so, what are the recommended sizes for this format?: Yes, you can use the GIF format for your end-cards. The recommended sizes are 1280x720 or 720x1280, and they will be automatically applied to your end-card once the offer is launched.