Universal Action Tags

I know these aren't anything new, but I recently had a chance to use them for the first time so I thought I'd write about it. The Universal Action Tag (UAT) is a javascript tracking pixel offered by Atlas, Doubleclick and some other ad servers. The beauty of them is that you can piggyback other network pixels on top of them without changing the code on the site. For example, say you have some networks running leadback (or retargeting) for you so that they can retarget people who have already visited the site. In order to do this, they need to place their retargeting pixel on the site. Without a UAT, you would have to have each pixel from your networks hardcoded into the site html by the site admin and then have them remove it once the campaign is over. With a UAT, you just have one pixel coded in and then if you want to add network pixels, you can do it within the ad server console. This isn't just for leadback pixels either - you can use it for optimization pixels as well. This means that theoritically the site needs to get pixels coded into it only once and then they never have to be touched again.

Another benefit of UATs is de-duplication when running CPA campaigns. If you have one or more networks doing CPA, a consumer could potentially view the CPA network ad, and then click on an ad run by a different network and convert. Without the UAT, you would have two networks claiming credit for the conversion. If you use a UAT for counting the conversions, it will ensure that only the last click/view before the conversion is credited.

For more info, you can check out this (and this) literature from Atlas.