Capping is configured directly in Filters. You define a maximum number of events, whether that is a click, a lead, a sale or a custom conversion type, within a time window such as per hour or per day. Once the limit is reached, the system stops offering or processing further events according to the filter rules.
This gives you controlled delivery and keeps you inside agreed volumes, on links, embedded forms and the API alike.
Two places to cap
Capping follows the same split as every other filter:
- On the offer, the cap closes the whole offer for that period. Nothing more comes in.
- On a channel in the pingtree, the cap closes one advertiser and the lead continues to the others.
An advertiser who only wants 200 leads a day belongs on their channel. A budget you cannot exceed belongs on the offer.
What the customer sees
A capped offer still receives the traffic, it just stops accepting it. Decide what happens to those visitors before the cap is reached, rather than after.
- With a pingtree, a capped channel is skipped and another one takes the lead, so the customer notices nothing.
- With a capped offer and no alternative, the lead is refused. See Refuse leads and Process refused leads.
Which event to count
Capping clicks and capping leads solve different problems. Clicks limit how much traffic arrives, leads limit how much you buy, and sales limit what you owe the advertiser.
Capping sales is the closest to a real budget, but it is also the loosest control, because clicks and leads keep costing you effort until a sale finally hits the cap.
