The Bing Conversions API Program for Offline Conversions
The Bing Conversions API Program for Offline Conversions enables advertisers to send offline conversion data to Microsoft Advertising (formerly known as Bing Ads). Bing performs attribution analysis on the impact of that advertiser’s Microsoft Advertising search campaigns on offline conversions. This allows customers to understand how Microsoft campaigns drive offline conversions and to find additional data to better optimize ad spend or customer experience.
The Bing Conversions API Program for Offline Conversions is a Microsoft-paid program, so there is no cost for brands and advertisers.
Note
Bing must approve all program participants. Contact your LiveRamp or Bing rep to find out about getting approved for the Bing Conversions API Program for Offline Conversions.
The Bing Conversions API Program for Offline Conversions was formerly known as "the The Bing Store Sales Attribution Program".
The following steps need to be performed to enable the attribution analysis in Bing Search:
You create conversion goals for your offline conversions in the Bing UI.
You send offline (in-store) conversion data from the last 90 days with PII to LiveRamp.
LiveRamp matches the PII to RampIDs.
LiveRamp delivers matched data to Bing.
Bing matches RampIDs to Bing cookies.
Bing generates offline conversion reports for the advertiser’s Microsoft Advertising campaigns.
See the appropriate sections below for more information on performing these steps.
Before integrating with Store Sales, work with your Bing representative to create conversion goals for your offline conversions. Conversion goals are a way for you to categorize your transactions in a way that makes sense for your situation.
Instructions on creating conversion goals can be found here.
Your conversion data files should include all of your transactions (including non-PII/cash transactions). Do not include online conversion data. Simply leave the PII columns empty for non PII/cash transactions. We will not be able to match against these transactions, but they are required to calculate accurate conversion metrics.
Caution
Most platforms require that at least 1,000 unique transaction events be uploaded over a 28-day period.
Each conversion data record must include at least one PII identifier (name and postal address, email, or phone) and the required conversion data:
Transaction category
Transaction timestamp
Transaction amount
Order ID
Other optional conversion data (such as product group/channel or product ID) can be included as well. See the “Format the File” section below for more information.
Do not include any other conversion data (such as quantity).
Make sure to also follow these additional guidelines:
Avoid sending duplicate transactions (transactions already sent to LiveRamp). If you send weekly or monthly files, only send transactions that occurred since the previous file was sent.
Do not include transactions that occurred more than 90 days ago. Bing can only match transactions to clicks that occurred in the last 90 days.
Do not include conversions with a conversion date in the future.
Before sending your conversion data to LiveRamp, make sure to strictly follow the guidelines listed below:
Note
If any guidelines listed here conflict with the guidelines in our general file formatting instructions, follow these guidelines.
If you're using multiple programs, you can often use one universal file for most or all of those programs. For more information and a universal file template, see "Using a Universal File for Multiple Conversions API Programs".
Caution
If an uploaded file does not meet these requirements, you will need to reformat the file until it is formatted correctly.
Headers must be included in the exact order as listed below.
This program uses our Measurement Enablement workflow. Make sure to follow our recommended file limits for Measurement Enablement workflow files (such as a maximum of 500,000,000 rows per file and a maximum uncompressed file size of 50 GB).
Your conversion data file must use one of our allowed delimiters (commas, tabs, or pipes), and be one of our allowed file types (.csv, .tsv, .psv, or .txt).
Include all of the required columns listed below.
Fields must not have leading or trailing white space.
Unless values are required for a field, fields can be left blank if there is no data for the given row (do not include “N/A” or “null”).
The file must be rectangular. That is every row must have the same number of delimiters and columns of data.
Once the file has been formatted correctly, upload the file to LiveRamp. See the “Upload the File” section below for more information.
Note
Once you set up the file format for an existing conversions program feed, try to keep the file format (such as the column headers or the column order) the same for all subsequent files. If you change the file format for an existing feed, create a support case before uploading the new file to ensure your existing feeds are not impacted. For more information, see "Changing the Format of an Existing File".
List of All File Columns
See the table below for a list of columns and formatting instructions:
Field Name | Column Required? | Values Required? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
first_name | Yes | Yes (if name and postal address (NAP) is used as an identifier) | |
last_name | Yes | Yes (if NAP is used as an identifier) | |
address_1 | Yes | Yes (if NAP is used as an identifier) | |
address_2 | Yes | No |
|
city | Yes | Yes (if NAP is used as an identifier) | |
state | Yes | Yes (if NAP is used as an identifier) |
|
zip | Yes | Yes (if NAP is used as an identifier) |
|
email_1 | Yes | Yes (if email address is used as an identifier) |
|
email_2 | Yes | No |
|
email_3 | Yes | No |
|
email_4 | Yes | No |
|
phone_1 | Yes | Yes (if phone number is used as an identifier) |
|
phone_2 | Yes | No |
|
transaction_category | Yes | Yes |
|
transaction_timestamp | Yes | Yes |
|
transaction_amount | Yes | Yes |
|
order_id | Yes | Yes |
|
Header Row Example
The headers shown below are all required.
first_name|last_name|address_1|address_2|city|state|zip|email_1|email_2|email_3|email_4|phone_1|phone_2| transaction_category|transaction_timestamp|transaction_amount|order_id
Conversion Data Examples
Alex|Chen|44 Main Street|#12|San Francisco|CA|94100|alex@gmail.com|ac@ymail.com|||||In-store|2014-03-31|99.99|1234567890
Julian|Riediger|55 Mission Street||San Francisco|CA|94500|julian@gmail.com||||||Phone Sales|2014-03-30|55.55|2223334444
Upload conversion data files using LiveRamp’s SFTP server or your SFTP server.
You can also have us pull files from an AWS S3 bucket or GCS bucket. See “Getting Your Data Into LiveRamp” for more information.
Caution
Files for this program cannot be uploaded via Connect.
To upload files using LiveRamp's SFTP: Use the credentials provided by your technical contact once the agreement has been signed and follow the instructions in “Upload a File via LiveRamp's SFTP”.
To upload files using your SFTP: Follow the instructions in “Upload a File via Your SFTP”.
After uploading the first file, email your LiveRamp technical account email alias to confirm that you have uploaded conversion data.
Note
For future uploads, you do not have to email LiveRamp to confirm that you have uploaded data assuming headers have not changed or additional columns have not been added.
Once the file is uploaded, information on file processing status can be viewed in Connect.
Most customers automate this process to send files on a regular cadence. Contact LiveRamp (bingstoresales@liveramp.com) if you have any questions.
LiveRamp can receive conversion data files for this program on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, but we highly suggest automated daily delivery as it gives LiveRamp the greatest ability to match. If you prefer not to send daily files, the next best option is weekly delivery as this enables data to be reported within the same month.
Include all traceable offline transactions in your delivery. Bing allows an up to 90-day lookback window, which is customizable in their UI. Do not include online transaction data.
Avoid sending duplicate transactions (transactions already sent to LiveRamp). If you send daily files, only include transactions that occurred on that day. If you send weekly or monthly files, only send transactions that occurred since the previous file was sent.
Do not include transactions with a transaction date in the future.
It usually takes 3-5 days after you upload the data before it’s available.