Places that Pay
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Introduction
The CityGrid Places API is available to any developer to create mobile applications or websites that display CityGrid place pages. As a CityGrid partner, however, you can publish CityGrid place pages and get paid when your users engage with the content of certain places. The program that monetizes the display of, and iteraction with, CityGrid places is called Places that Pay.
To use Places that Pay, make arrangements with our Partner Account Management team. Then simply use the Places API and a small amount of tracking code (described below) to display place pages. Everything else is handled by CityGrid.
Contents
Audience
Places that Pay is is intended for developers of Web and mobile applications who want to share advertising revenue for impressions and referrals.
Tracking
To share advertising revenue, simply notify CityGrid of impressions and referrals. Notification of impressions is done through JavaScript code (or, when JavaScript is not available, a tracking pixel) placed on a page, while notification of referrals is done by appending parameters to a URL.
Impression Tracking
In order for CityGrid to know that an element (such as a business profile, map, or review page) was displayed on your site, include the following JavaScript fragment on each page where you display our content, replacing the starred content with the relevant page-specific information described in the table that follows.
<script type="text/javascript">
var _csv = {};
_csv['action_target'] = '***';
_csv['listing_id'] = '***';
_csv['publisher'] = '***';
_csv['reference_id'] = '***';
_csv['placement'] = '***';
_csv['mobile_type'] = '***';
_csv['muid'] = '***';
_csv['ua'] = '***';
_csv['i']='***';
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://api.citygridmedia.com/ads/tracker/assets/api/scripts/tracker.js"></script>
<noscript>
<img src='https://api.citygridmedia.com/ads/tracker/imp?action_target=***&listing_id=***&publisher=***&reference_id=***&placement=***&mobile_type=***&muid=***&ua=***&i=***' width='1' height='1' alt='' />
</noscript>
Do not mask or obscure the true and complete user agent, referring URL, server URL, IP address, session id, browser data, unique cookie or URL tag of an end user, or any other anonymous end user identification ascribed by you.
A detailed example follows:
<script type="text/javascript">
var _csv = {};
_csv['action_target'] = 'listing_profile';
_csv['listing_id'] = '33230';
_csv['publisher'] = 'acme';
_csv['reference_id'] = '2';
_csv['placement'] = 'sem_google';
_csv['mobile_type'] = 'iphonev20';
_csv['muid'] = '3203601234';
_csv['ua'] = 'Mozilla/5.0%20(Windows;%20U;%20Windows%20NT%205.1;%20en-US;%20rv:1.9.0.10)%20Gecko/2009042316%20Firefox/3.0.10%20(.NET%20CLR%203.5.30729)';
_csv['i'] = '0009000000c865034f231946f99d42656bf969b54c';
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://api.citygridmedia.com/ads/tracker/assets/api/scripts/tracker.js"></script>
<noscript>
<img src='https://api.citygridmedia.com/ads/tracker/imp?action_target=listing_profile&listing_id=33230&publisher=acme&reference_id=2&
placement=sem_google&mobile_type=iphonev20&muid= 3203601234&ua=Mozilla/5.0%20(Windows;%20U;%20Windows%20NT%205.1;%20en-US;%20rv:1.9.0.10)%20Gecko/2009042316%20Firefox/3.0.10%20(.NET%20CLR%203.5.30729)&i=0009000000c865034f231946f99d42656bf969b54c' width='1' height='1' alt='' />
</noscript>
Another example to demonstrate to use of the historyReferer2 parameter:
<script type="text/javascript">
var _csv = {};
_csv['action_target'] = 'listing_profile';
_csv['listing_id'] = '70973';
_csv['publisher'] = 'citysearch';
_csv['reference_id'] = '11';
_csv['placement'] = 'profile_page';
_csv['historyReferer2'] = 'http://www.citysearch.com/search?what=pizza&listingId=&where=Los+Angeles%2C+CA+Metro&geoId=';
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://api.citygridmedia.com/ads/tracker/assets/api/scripts/tracker.js"></script>
<noscript>
<img src='https://api.citygridmedia.com/ads/tracker/imp?action_target=listing_profile&listing_id=70973&publisher=citysearch&reference_id=11&
placement=profile_page&historyReferer2=http%3A//www.citysearch.com/search%3Fwhat%3Dpizza%26listingId%3D%26where%3DLos+Angeles%252C+CA+Metro%26geoId%3D' width='1' height='1' alt='' />
</noscript>
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The impression tracker should be called only once per page. Each time the tracker is called, it drops cookies which must be stored on the client and returned in the header for subsequent tracker calls.
When data is accessed using a standard browser, the browser should properly handle the cookies and no additional programming is likely needed. However, for native applications, please consult your platform SDK documentation to verify that cookies are being handled appropriately by your application. Proper cookie handling is required for your elements to be properly tracked.
Tracking Properties
The tracking properties to include in the JavaScript code are:
Parameter | Description | Required | Examples | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
action_target | The type of the object you are displaying | Yes | listing_profile | See #Action Targets below |
listing_id | The unique CityGrid identifier of the business or event associated with this impression | Yes | 33230 | Â |
reference_id | The tracking identifier for the business that you obtained from a previous webservice call | Yes | 2 | Â |
publisher | The publisher code that identifies you so that you get credit | Yes | acme | Â |
i | The impression_id that you receive from a previous API Call | Yes | f39cc83915414da5b1ab513d298e6f39 | Â |
placement | An optional property for storing additional information you would like CityGrid Media to log on your behalf | No | sem_google | An example: if you run a search engine marketing campaign for Google and Yahoo!, you can set the placement property to "sem_google" or "sem_yahoo". Alternatively, if you publish CityGrid listings in different locations in your own site, you can set the placement property to values such as "home_page" or "search" — choose the values based on your needs. CityGrid will organize reports for you by placement |
mobile_type | This field designates your device type name or designates the usage of our content on your Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) site | Yes for mobile publisher | wap | For a WAP site, set the value to "wap" |
muid | The hash of user phone number and/or device ID as provided by the carrier | Yes for mobile publisher | device ID | Maximum of 32 characters |
sourcePhone | The source phone for the click to call implementation on mobile phones | No | 8878323451 | Include the 10 digits for the phone number without any dashes. |
dialPhone | The dialed phone for the click to call implementation on mobile phones | Yes for mobile | 3124567892 | Include the 10 digits for the phone number without any dashes. |
ua | The client side user agent | Yes | Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.0.10) Gecko/2009042316 Firefox/3.0.10 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729) | Must be properly HTML encoded |
| historyReferer2 | This is the url of the page that the user browses before reaching the page that fires the tracker script | No | http://www.citysearch.com/search?what=pizza&listingId=&where=Los+Angeles%2C+CA+Metro&geoId= | If this parameter is not passed, we will use document.referrer as the default historyReferer2 |
Action Targets
The following table lists the complete set of action targets currently available. If you have an element (page type or action) which you believe does not correspond to any of the actions described below, please contact Partner Support. Please note that it is beneficial to use non-billable actions (if applicable) for tracking, as they may become billable in the future.
Action_Target | Usage | Tracking Purpose | Billable |
|---|---|---|---|
listing_profile | Embed on the profile page of both advertisers and non advertisers | Profile page views | Yes |
click_to_call | Embed where user clicks to call provided phone number | Phone Calls | Yes |
listing_profile_print | Embed on confirmation page of user printing a profile page | Profile page print | No |
listing_website | Click to External Listing Website | View merchant website | Yes |
listing_review | Embed anywhere reviews are shown | Review page views | Yes |
write_review | Embed on confirmation page of user writing a review | Review creation | No |
listing_map | Embed where a map is shown with advertiser's location | Map views | Yes |
listing_driving_direction | Embed on page where directions are provided to merchant location | Views of driving directions | Yes |
listing_map_print | Embed on confirmation page of user printing map of merchant location | Map printing | Yes |
listing_profile_print | Embed on confirmation page of user printing merchant profile | Profile page printing | No |
send_listing_email | Embed on confirmation page of user sending merchant information via email | Merchant info has been emailed | Yes |
send_listing_phone | Embed on confirmation page of user sending merchant information via SMS | Merchant info has been messaged | Yes |
send_listing_gps | Embed on confirmation page of user sending merchant information to GPS | Merchant info sent to GPS | No |
offer | Embed on page where advertiser offer is displayed | Offer views | Yes |
offer_print | Embed on confirmation page of user printing an offer | Offer printing | No |
listing_request_offer | Embed on request a offer from merchant page | Offer requests | No |
partner_menu | Trigger when a CityGrid menu is shown | Menu views | Yes |
partner_reservation | Trigger when a CityGrid reservation window is shown | Reservation view | Yes |
listing_photo | Embed on photos page | Photo view | No |
upload_listing_photo | Embed on confirmation page of user uploading photo | Photo uploads | No |
listing_blog | Embed on a merchant blog page | Blog page views | No |
listing_forums | Embed on forums/messageboards page | Forums/messageboard page view | No |
listing_newsletters | Embed on merchant newsletter page | Newletter page view | No |
listing_vote | Triggered when a user votes on / rates a business listing | User votes | No |
listing_correction | Embed on suggest a correction page | User suggests a listing correction | No |
listing_bookmark | Click to bookmark page | Profile page has been bookmarked | No |
book_appointment | External link to book an appointment | Lead Based Action | Yes |
| book_room | External link to book a room (e.g. at a hotel) | Lead Based Action | Yes |
| contact_us | External link to fill out a customized contact form (rather than generic email) | Lead Based Action | Yes |
| free_consultation | External link to sign up for a free consultation | Lead Based Action | Yes |
| free_estimate | External link to request a free estimate | Lead Based Action | Yes |
| online_order | External link to start an order | Lead Based Action | Yes |
| online_enrollment | External link to start online enrollment (e.g. in a school) | Lead Based Action | Yes |
| request_brochure | External link to request a brochure | Lead Based Action | Yes |
| request_information | External link to request more information | Lead Based Action | Yes |
| request_tour | External link to request a tour | Lead Based Action | Yes |
| request_quote | External link to request a quote | Lead Based Action | Yes |
| schedule_appt | External link to schedule an appointment | Lead Based Action | Yes |
| schedule_consult | External link to schedule a consultation | Lead Based Action | Yes |
| schedule_service | External link to schedule a service | Lead Based Action | Yes |
| view_brochure | External link to view a brochure | Lead Based Action | Yes |
| view_services | External link to view available services | Lead Based Action | Yes |
| view_inventory | External link to view inventory | Lead Based Action | Yes |
| virtual_tour | External link to take a virtual tour | Lead Based Action | Yes |
Referral Tracking
The place data that you obtain from a CityGrid API response contains several content links to videos, reservations, menus, maps, and other types of content. You may display these links in your own applications. External links are encoded and already contain your publisher code and the corresponding reference ID within the URL. To be credited for your users following other links, you must append your publisher code and the reference ID to the links' URLs. You may also wish to append your placement identifier.
URLs which are encoded and require no modifications include website_url, menu_url, reservation_url, custom_link_3 and custom_link_4.
For example, you may see something like the following in a API response:
<location>
<id>123456</id>
...
<urls>
<profile_url action_target="listing_profile">http://<hostname>/profile/123456/city_state/business_name.html</profile_url>
<reviews_url action_target="listing_review">http://<hostname>/review/123456/city_state/business_name.html</reviews_url>
<video_url action_target="video_billable">http://<hostname>/profile/video/123456/city_state/business_name.html?videoId=1834464708</video_url/>
<website_url action_target="listing_website">http://<hostname>/content/places/v2/click?q=ApwhFJsdfaWE</website_url>
<menu_url action_target="partner_menu">http://<hostname>/content/places/v2/click?q=ADSFJsdfaWE</menu_url>
<reservation_url action_target="partner_reservation">http://<hostname>/profile/reservation/123456/city_state/business_name.html</reservation_url>
<map_url action_target="listing_map">http://<hostname>/profile/map/123456/city_state/business_name.html</map_url>
<send_to_friend_url action_target="send_listing_email">http://<hostname>/profile/sendto/123456/city_state/business_name.html</send_to_friend_url>
</urls>
...
<reference_id>2</reference_id>
...
</location>
For URLs that are not encoded, you need to augment them with the given reference ID and your own information. This augmentation must be done on the on click event. In the above example, the reference ID is 2. If your publisher code is "acme" and you would like to use a placement of "home," then you would compose the following URLs for your application to navigate to the map and video URLs respectively:
http://<hostname>/profile/map/123456/city_state/business_name.html?reference_id=2&publisher=acme&placement=home http://<hostname>/profile/video/123456/city_state/business_name.html?videoId=1834464708&reference_id=2&publisher=acme&placement=home
Encoded URLs do not require publisher, placement or reference_id attached.