Destination Macros Defined

Last update: April 4, 2021

Describes the macros you can add to a destination URL.

When creating a URL destination, you can insert the following macros into the URL string. Check with your data/destination partner about proper macro placement within the destination URL.

NOTE
Macros are optional unless indicated otherwise. Italics indicates a variable placeholder.
MacroExplanation
%alias%

Required.

Defines the location of the mapped segment value in a destination URL. Usually this is the Segment ID, but could also be the integration code.

%did%Inserts the user's Audience Manager ID into the destination URL.
%dpid_data source id%

The data source id corresponds to the identifier for a data source passed in to the macro.

Let's look at how this works in a simple example. In this case, we have an Audience Manager partner with the following IDs and conditions:

  • Data source ID: 1
  • An internal customer ID: CustomerABC
  • Declared ID: The partner wants to pass in these values as the declared ID 1:CustomerABC.

To do this with the %dpid_data source id%, the Audience Manager partner would format the macro like this:

  • %dpid_1%

The macro will replace 1 with CustomerABC.

${GDPR}Indicates whether GDPR regulations apply to the visitor or not. Use this macro to include consent in segments sent to URL destinations integrated with IAB. See Audience Manager Plug-in for IAB TCF for details.
${GDPR_CONSENT_XXXX}The consent string (including the IAB vendor ID) collected when visitors provide or deny consent on your site. Use this macro to include the consent string in segments sent to URL destinations integrated with IAB. Replace XXXX with the destination partner ID. See Audience Manager Plug-in for IAB TCF for details.
%http_proto%

Detects the protocol used in the parent webpage and inserts it into the destination URL. For example:

  • if the webpage is https://aam_client.com, this macro will be replaced with https://url-destination.com
  • if the webpage is http://aam_client.com, this macro will be replaced with http://url-destination.com
%mcid%Inserts the Experience Cloud ID into the destination URL.
%region%Inserts the Data Collection Server (DCS) region into the destination URL. In order to minimize latency, when the visitor makes an HTTP call to Audience Manager, they are being redirected to the closest DCS datacenter. This is achieved through DNS, which is able to detect the visitor's location and direct them to the appropriate datacenter.
%rnd%Performs a cache busting function by inserting a random number into the destination URL. This prevents browsers from serving cached content.
%timestamp%Inserts a UNIX timestamp into the destination URL to prevent browsers from serving cached content.

Cache Busting with Destination Macros

The %rnd% and %timestamp% macros insert unique values into a URL string to prevent browser caching.

Cache Busting with %rnd% and %timestamp%

Browsers cache (save) frequently requested content in memory. When a page loads, saved content serves from the cache rather than from a remote server. This process helps maintain efficient download times because data serves locally rather than from another location. However, because caching does not require a server call, it can skew reporting by artificially lowering the number of unique requests.

Cache busting prevents browsers from saving and reusing content. This technique uses code that inserts a random number or time stamp into a URL string, which makes it look unique to the browser. As a result, each HTTP call is counted as a separate request to the server. Forcing a new server call for each request helps maintain reporting accuracy and reduce discrepancies. Audience Manager provides two macros for cache busting:

  • %rnd%: Inserts a random number into a URL.
  • %timestamp%: Inserts the Unix date/time into a URL.

Comparing %rnd% and %timestamp%

Both macros prevent caching, but %rnd% may be more efficient. For example, with %timestamp%, if several users view a page simultaneously they’ll get the same date/time value. As a result, the URL is not unique and multiple calls are counted only once. However, %rnd% generates a unique numeric value for each call (even when users see the same page simultaneously). This means the URL string contains different values and is counted as unique.

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