Automate Enforcement with Playbooks

playbooks are automated sequences that handle repetitive enforcement tasks for you, warning affiliates, following up, and reporting to google without manual work playbooks are the best way to reduce the amount of time spent enforcing affiliate policies and to automate affiliate communications what playbooks do a playbook automatically executes a series of steps on a schedule send warning emails send follow up emails report ads to google move tasks through your workflow assign team members to tasks the point save time no more manually chasing affiliates or forgetting to follow up where you can use playbooks affiliate hijacking warn and escalate hijackers brand bidding/infringements report trademark violations coupon and discount sites manage voucher site bidding how playbooks work playbooks are made of steps individual actions (send email, report to google, move task, assign users) templates email content with dynamic fields that auto populate with advertiser details timing delays between steps (e g , "3 days after previous step") important by default, playbooks pause automatically when a recipient replies to an email you can control this setting when creating your playbook getting started use default playbooks we've created ready to use playbooks for common scenarios brand bidding enforcement affiliate hijacking warnings to activate go to playbooks settings find the default playbook click "enable" it's now available in reports creating a custom playbook step 1 name your playbook enter a playbook name (e g , "hijacking warning 1") select the topic (hijacking, infringements, or voucher sites) enable the playbook enabled toggle step 2 configure email response behaviour the "pause playbook on email responses" toggle controls what happens when an affiliate replies enabled (default) playbook pauses automatically when you receive a reply, preventing further automated emails disabled playbook continues running even if the affiliate responds tip keep this enabled for most cases, as you'll want to stop automated emails once someone replies step 3 build your steps click the + button to add steps to your playbook you'll see four step types send email sends an automated email based on your templates how it works click + button → select "send email" give the step a name (e g , "hijacking warning 1 non trusted") click "edit templates" to select an existing email template create a new template edit template content with dynamic fields see here for more details on using templates click "save step" dynamic fields available {{brand name}} your brand name {{ad details}} ad text, search date, keyword and location {{ad click analysis}} full redirect chain showing affiliate details link to docid\ r5wyslhqw78nhzuew mgi tag and move task changes task status and moves it through your workflow columns how it works click + button → select "tag and move column" choose which column to move the task to (to do, ready, in progress, done) select a tag to apply (e g , "warning sent", "no response") click "save step" use this for organizing tasks by status flagging affiliates who don't respond moving completed enforcement to "done" link to custom tags and workflow report to google automatically submits a complaint to google about the ad how it works click + button → select "report to google" choose the report type ad impersonates our brand website affiliate site breaches programme rules phishing or scam ad breaches our trademark edit the message for the report if needed click "save step" notes when google assigns a task number, it will be added to the task inside task manager whether google acts on reports varies this automates the submission but doesn't guarantee ad removal assign or unassign user to task adds team members to the task so they're notified and can take action how it works click + button → select "assign or unassign user to task" give the step a name choose the action add user(s) to card assigns team members remove user(s) from card unassigns team members select users from your team click "save step" use this for delegating investigations to team members keeping managers informed of escalations automatically looping in network contacts for complex cases handing off tasks after initial warning example workflow send warning → wait 3 days → if no response, assign to manager for escalation step 4 set timing between steps each step shows when it will run first step "run 1 days after playbook activation" subsequent steps "run x days after the previous step" to adjust timing click the timing bar between steps change the number of days/hours steps run in sequence from top to bottom you can drag and drop steps to reorder them step 5 review and save before saving your playbook check step order is correct verify timing makes sense review email templates are appropriate ensure team members are correctly assigned click "save playbook" when ready adding a playbook to an affiliate via a report from any report (e g , hijacking affiliates tab) click the + button where it says "playbooks by advertiser or affiliate" select your playbook a task is created showing all scheduled steps fix any missing info (usually email addresses) click "save" to start the playbook managing active playbooks inside the task, you'll see all playbook steps are listed in sequence when each step will execute any missing information flagged (shown as "fix missing info" in yellow) a disable button to stop future steps any finished steps you can edit individual emails before they send click edit in the email below the playbook pause the playbook click "pause" to temporarily stop all steps remove the playbook delete it entirely from the task manually disable steps click disable to stop a step from activating important notes emails are sent from marcode , but replies come to the task creator's inbox already sent emails can't be unsent only pause future steps missing info stops the playbook it won't start until you add required details (usually email addresses) understanding the task manager playbooks live inside the task manager, which works like a trello board columns to do new tasks waiting to start ready tasks ready for action in progress active playbooks running done completed enforcement each task card shows advertiser/affiliate name task type (hijacked, infringement, etc ) active playbook steps status tags assigned team members link to docid\ dogd93owymfrowd6efhcv tips for effective playbooks create strike based playbooks build separate playbooks for warning 1, warning 2, final warning to track escalation adjust response timing start with 3 days between steps, then adjust based on response rates use the assign step strategically automatically loop in managers or networks at escalation points keep email templates consistent use the same tone across all playbooks for professionalism test before going live send yourself a test email to check formatting and dynamic fields monitor the "pause on response" setting leave it enabled unless you specifically want emails to continue after a reply review missing info regularly check tasks stuck on "missing info" and add email addresses to start them use tags to track outcomes tag tasks with "resolved", "no response", or "escalated" for reporting common questions "will the playbook show me who has been warned in the past?" yes, when an advertiser appears again in reports, you'll see their previous playbook history on the task card "what happens if i need to stop a playbook?" click "pause" inside the task to stop future steps already sent emails can't be recalled "can i edit emails after the playbook starts?" yes, click into any pending step and edit the email before it executes you can't edit steps that have already run "do playbooks work with all affiliate networks?" yes, playbooks work independently of network integrations you just need the affiliate's email address "what if the affiliate doesn't have an email address?" the playbook will flag this as "missing info" (shown in red) and won't start until you add it "can i add multiple team members to a task?" yes, use the "assign user to task" step and select multiple people they'll all receive notifications "what's the difference between manually adding someone to a task vs using the assign step?" the assign step automates it, useful for always looping in specific people at certain points (e g , manager on escalations) manual adding is for one off situations "can marcode automatically apply playbooks when affiliates are detected?" this feature is in beta, email us to have it activated