Skip to main content

​
Overview

Sub-Source Payouts give you granular control over how much individual sub-sources are paid within a marketing partner’s traffic. Rather than applying a single payout rate to an entire marketing partner, you can configure distinct payout amounts for each publisher ID (PID) that the partner sends traffic from. Navigate to a Marketing Partner source within a campaign and open the Sub-Source Payouts tab to access these settings.

​
What Are Sub-Sources?

A marketing partner typically aggregates traffic from multiple publishers, each identified by a unique Publisher ID (PID). These PIDs are referred to as sub-sources within Pingtree. For example, a single marketing partner may send traffic from dozens of individual publishers. Sub-source payouts allow you to reward high-performing publishers with a higher payout, or reduce payouts for lower-quality traffic — all without changing the global payout settings for the marketing partner as a whole.

​
Payout Field Selection

Before setting individual sub-source payouts, you must select which field is used to identify sub-sources. The available payout field options are:
FieldDescription
Sub IDs (sub1–sub5)Standard sub-ID parameters passed with each lead or click
BuyersOverride payouts at the buyer level rather than the sub-source level
Once a payout field is selected, all configured sub-source values are matched against that field on incoming traffic.
Note: When Buyers is selected as the payout field, you cannot add custom field values — payout overrides are applied directly to each buyer configured in the campaign.

​
Configuring Sub-Source Payout Amounts

For each sub-source value (PID), you can set a payout override per media type:

​
Media Types

Media TypeDescription
ClickPayout applied when the sub-source generates a click event
Lead (Form)Payout applied when the sub-source generates a form lead submission
CallPayout applied when the sub-source generates a call event

​
Payout Structure Options

Each sub-source payout can use one of two payout models:
ModelDescription
Fixed CostPay the sub-source a fixed dollar amount per event
Revenue SharePay the sub-source a percentage of the revenue received for the event
These settings override the global payout configured at the marketing partner level for any sub-source that has an explicit override defined.

​
Adding Sub-Source Values

To add a new sub-source PID for payout configuration:
  1. Navigate to the Sub-Source Payouts tab for the marketing partner source.
  2. Select the Payout Field (e.g., sub1, sub2) to use for matching.
  3. Click Add Field Value and enter the PID or sub-source identifier.
  4. Set the payout amount and model for each applicable media type.
  5. Save the configuration.
Each added field value must exist in the selected payout field’s list. Duplicates are automatically de-duplicated.

​
Scrub Settings

Sub-source payouts also include Scrub Settings, which allow you to automatically stop paying a sub-source after it reaches a defined threshold — either by number of leads (unit-based) or by total payout amount (revenue-based).

​
Enabling Scrub Settings

  1. Toggle Enable Scrub on for the sub-source.
  2. Select the scrub basis:
    • Unit-Based: Stop paying after a set number of leads (must be greater than 1).
    • Revenue-Based: Stop paying after a set revenue amount is reached (must be greater than $1).
  3. Configure the threshold separately for Click and Form media types.
You cannot enable both unit-based and revenue-based scrub simultaneously for the same media type.

​
Use Cases

  • Reward high-quality sub-sources: Set a higher fixed payout or revenue share for publisher IDs that consistently deliver high-converting leads.
  • Penalize low-quality traffic: Reduce or zero out the payout for sub-sources with high rejection rates or low conversion quality.
  • Scrub unprofitable sub-sources: Use scrub settings to automatically cap payouts once a sub-source has been paid a certain amount, regardless of volume.
  • Buyer-level payout overrides: Use the Buyers payout field to adjust what each buyer is credited per sub-source-driven lead.

​
Audit Trail

All sub-source payout changes are automatically recorded in the platform’s Audit Logs (Settings Logs) under the payout log type. Each change captures the old and new payout values, the affected source, and the user who made the change.