Multi-step offers: which steps pay
Each step in an offer’s goals carries what it pays you, in effectivePayoutUsd. You earn a step’s payout when the advertiser’s tracking confirms it and we match it to your user’s tap. Every step on the list sends its own postback when it completes, including steps that pay you $0, so you can keep crediting the player.
See also: Offer API
On this page
The Offers page names each offer’s shape in its How it pays column, using the same words:
| On the Offers page | What pays you | What the other steps do |
|---|---|---|
| Paid once, on the install | The install step, once | Post back with payout=0 and the player’s reward |
| Paid once, after install + one action | One step that asks for the install and one more thing, such as a first cash-out | Post back with payout=0 and the player’s reward |
| Paid once, on one action | One step, such as a sign-up or a free trial | Usually none |
| Paid on each of N events | Each listed event, at its own amount | Steps listed at $0, such as the install, still post back |
For the last kind, the row shows Up to the total and the first step that pays you (first event).
Harbor Blocks, paid at install:
| Step | Pays Pebble Rewards | Player’s reward |
|---|---|---|
| Install | $4.20 | $1.50 |
| Finish the tutorial | $0.00 | $0.50 |
| Reach level 10 | $0.00 | $1.50 |
| Reach level 40 | $0.00 | $6.00 |
Tidewater Putt, paid per event:
| Step | Pays Pebble Rewards | Player’s reward |
|---|---|---|
| Install | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Finish chapter 1 | $0.60 | $0.30 |
| Reach level 25 | $1.50 | $0.75 |
| Buy starter pack | $4.00 | $2.00 |
Example. Listings, steps and amounts are made up; every player reward here was set by the advertiser.
Pebble Rewards earns $4.20 from Harbor Blocks the moment the install is confirmed, and nothing after. From Tidewater Putt it earns each step’s amount as each one is confirmed, $6.10 in all if the player gets as far as the starter pack.
- When it’s confirmed. The advertiser’s tracking reports the step, we match it to the tap and the postback goes out. A later step can arrive days or weeks after the tap.
- Within the step’s time limit.
maximumCompletionTimeDaysis how long the user has to finish that step, counted from the click or the install. A step finished after it may never be reported.nullmeans no limit was given. - One postback per step. Each carries its own
action_id, the step’sgoal_idandconversion_name, andis_offer_complete=trueon the final step. - Streaks. A step with
streakDaysneeds that many days of play in a row.
userRewardUsd is the player’s reward for a step, and the postback carries it as user_payout. Credit that number; don’t work it out again.
userRewardIsAdvertiserSet: true: the reward is fixed for that step. Show and credit it as is, even when it is0.userRewardIsAdvertiserSet: false: it’s our suggestion, a share of what the step pays you. Change the share under My Profile, API user reward. Install steps stay at $0 in the suggestion: what an install pays you is yours.
If your account is set up to be paid per step instead of at install, the offer list already shows it: the install step reads $0.00, every later step carries your payout and each step’s player reward equals what it pays you. The Offers page then has no Install only switch and no Sort: Install payout.
- A step can be taken back. A reversal repeats the step’s
action_idwithstatus=reversed. Dedupe onaction_idandstatustogether. - Steps can arrive after an offer leaves the list. Players who already started keep going, and their steps still post back. Store
offer_name,conversion_nameandgoal_idfrom each postback: the offer may no longer be in the feed to look up. - A step can be removed from an offer after some players passed it. It can still post back for them, and it won’t be in
goalsany more. - Event postback rules match on
name. If you send later steps to their own postback URL, the rule’s event name must equal the step’snameexactly, not itslabel. Keep a postback for conversions too, or installs stop reaching you.