Most adult sites that test a second buyer already run ExoClick or TrafficStars. The fear is always the same: if the new buyer says no to a visitor, does the slot stay empty? With a passback set up properly, it does not. The visitor goes to your usual network exactly as before, and you only add a buyer in front of it.
Our general guide explains what a passback tag is. This one is practical: which code to copy from ExoClick or TrafficStars, where to paste it, and how to check in the numbers that you lost nothing. We use Lana Network as the buyer in front, because that is the setup we see every day; the logic is the same with any buyer that accepts a passback.
Which order: new buyer first, or your network first?
There are two ways to chain two buyers on one slot.
New buyer first, your network as passback. The new buyer sees each visitor first. It takes the visitors it values at or above your floor and hands back the rest at once. This is the order we recommend for a narrow buyer, because it refuses most visitors quickly and your network fills them as before.
Your network first, new buyer as fallback. ExoClick can run an alternative tag when its floor is not met: its zone documentation describes a floor CPM and an "alternative HTML tag" for banner zones. This order makes sense when your network should keep priority and the second buyer only gets what it refuses below the floor.
Both work. The rest of this guide uses the first order. For floors and the order of more than two buyers, see how to run two adult ad networks on one site.
Step 1: pick one placement
Start with one slot, not your whole site. A banner is the simplest: for example the 300x250 under your video player. Write down three numbers for that slot over the last 7 days: impressions, revenue, and page views of the pages where it shows.
Step 2: copy ONE spot from your current network
This is where most setups go wrong. You need the code of a single ad spot with the same size as the slot, not the site-wide script.
From ExoClick. Open the zone that serves that slot today and copy its code. A banner zone is usually a script that loads ExoClick's ad provider, an ins element carrying the zone id, and one line that asks it to serve. Copy all three parts together.
From TrafficStars. Copy the code TrafficStars shows for one banner spot of the same size, from the list of your ad spots. It may be an iframe, a script or a direct link depending on the spot type. Use it as given.
Never paste a whole-page tag: a OneTag-style script, or anything that opens popunders, interstitials or sliders by itself. It would run even on visits the first buyer sold, and the visitor would get both. Our developers page shows both examples next to each other.
Step 3: create the zone and paste the passback
Create a zone of the same format and size at the new buyer. On Lana Network you set the zone's net floor and paste the passback in the same form. Set the floor at or just above what your current network pays you per 1,000 impressions on that slot, so the visits the new buyer takes earn at least what they earn today.
Google's documentation on passback tags makes a useful general point: a passback should be isolated so it does not inherit page-level settings from other ad code. On our side the passback is injected in place of the ad, in the zone's own slot.
Step 4: replace the code on the page
Remove the old spot's code from the page and put the new zone's tag in its place. The old code now lives inside the passback. If you leave it on the page as well, your old network loads twice on refused visits and your numbers double count.
Popunders: one network per page
Popunders do not sit in a slot; they fire on the visitor's tap. Two popunder scripts on one page can open two tabs on one tap. Run one popunder network per page, or test the new buyer's popunder on a different page type, and use banners for the second network. The details of each format are on our formats page.
Step 5: check that no visit was lost
After a few days, compare with the 7 days before:
- Impressions at the new buyer: the visits it bought.
- Impressions at your old network for that spot: they should drop by about the new buyer's impressions, not more.
- Total revenue for the slot, both networks added together, per 1,000 page views.
If your old network's impressions drop much more than the new buyer's take, something is broken: an empty passback, the wrong size, or a passback script that fails inside the slot. Open the page in a private window as a visitor the new buyer does not want (on a desktop browser, for example) and check that your old network's ad appears.
Common mistakes
- A passback of the wrong size, which breaks the layout.
- The old code left on the page, which double counts.
- A whole-page script in the passback, which runs extra formats.
- A floor far above what the slot earns, so the new buyer never fills and you test nothing.
- Three or more buyers in a chain, which slows the ad down.
If you are comparing buyers before you start, our Lana Network vs ExoClick comparison says plainly where each one is stronger.
Frequently asked questions
Will I lose ExoClick or TrafficStars revenue with a passback?
Not if the passback is the code of one spot of the right size and the old code is removed from the page. Every visitor the first buyer refuses goes to your usual network as before.
Can I put ExoClick in front and the other buyer behind?
Yes. ExoClick banner zones can run an alternative HTML tag when the floor is not met, so the second buyer's tag can sit there instead.
Does a passback slow down the page?
A little, because the second buyer starts after the first one has declined. Keep the chain to two buyers and use asynchronous tags.