Introduction

Advertisers have several options for tracking orders and reporting the transactions to Rakuten Advertising. These tracking methods are indicated as either real-time or batch.

As a publisher, it is beneficial for you to understand which tracking method your partners use so that you can estimate when you might see the transactions in your reports, identify when there might be an issue, and understand what commissions have been earned versus what events have occurred that may result in subsequent commissionable orders.

Batch Method

With a batch method, transactions are collected and sent over to Rakuten Advertising on a scheduled basis. The frequency of batches will vary from program to program, but they are often scheduled for delivery once a day and may include all orders placed or only the items that have been shipped.

Real-Time Method

The real-time method transmits transactions to Rakuten Advertising as soon as the transaction is completed on the advertiser’s website.

Real-time transactions further break down into two groups:

1. Media optimization events, which do not result in commissions being paid. These occur when an advertiser has enabled a real-time pixel to report transaction events as they occur and then deploy further filtering and processing before reporting commissionable orders via a batch method later.
2. Actual orders which, if commissionable, result in commissions being paid.

Track Media Optimization Events

You can keep track of media optimization events using the following tools:

• The Media Optimization Report. This report is available provided the advertiser is enabled for media optimization reporting and has granted you access. Contact the advertiser directly to request access to the report. You can find their contact information in the About tab of their details page.
• The Events API. The API reports both transactions and events via the is_event parameter. Media optimization events are reflected with a value of is_event=Y.

Advertiser Tracking Information

Access the Features and Services tab of an advertiser’s details page to view:

• Their tracking method.
• The most recent date and time that we processed transactions for that advertiser.
• Whether they are enabled for media optimization reporting.

We also maintain a list of advertisers using batch or real-time transaction tracking.