Rule Engine & Templates

The Cogwheel Attribute Rule Engine evaluates visitor sessions and dynamically rewrites links, inputs, and DOM attributes.

How the Rule Engine Works

When a visitor lands on your vanity website, the Cogwheel script captures their attribution parameters (UTMs, referrer, click IDs) and stores them in first-party cookies/localStorage.

Every time the visitor hovers over or clicks a link, or when a form is submitted, the script evaluates your project's rules:

1. Rules are evaluated in priority order from top to bottom (ascending order of rule_order).
2. The first rule that meets all trigger conditions "wins."
3. The actions associated with that rule are executed (e.g., appending a query param to the outbound link).
4. If a conflict arises between two matching rules, the higher-priority rule (positioned higher on the list) takes precedence.

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Brand Rule Templates

For convenience, Cogwheel Attribute includes pre-configured brand templates (supporting Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, etc.). You only need to input your specific campaign or source IDs.

1. Google Ads Template

• Trigger Conditions:
  • URL contains gclid, gad_source, gbraid, or wbraid
  • OR utm_source equals google AND utm_medium equals cpc
• Default Actions:
  • Appends the brand's tracking parameter with your campaign identifier:
    • Marriott: Appends cid with your Google Ads PMO_ SCID.
    • Hilton: Appends WT.mc_id with your Google Ads campaign ID.
    • Hyatt: Appends src with your Google Ads source code.
  • Target outbound links matching the respective brand domain (e.g., marriott.com, hilton.com, hyatt.com).
• Recommendation: Place this rule near the top of your stack.

2. Meta Ads (Facebook & Instagram) Template

• Trigger Conditions:
  • URL contains fbclid or cft
  • OR utm_source equals facebook (or instagram / ig) AND utm_medium equals paid_social (or cpc / ads)
• Default Actions:
  • Appends the brand's tracking parameter with your campaign identifier (e.g., Marriott cid / PMO_ SCID, Hilton WT.mc_id, or Hyatt src).
  • Target outbound links matching the respective brand domain.

3. Microsoft/Bing Ads Template

• Trigger Conditions:
  • URL contains msclkid
  • OR utm_source equals bing AND utm_medium equals cpc
• Default Actions:
  • Appends the brand's tracking parameter with your campaign identifier.
  • Target outbound links matching the respective brand domain.

4. Unpaid Referrer / Fallback Template

• Trigger Conditions:
  • Catch-all (fires if no paid parameters are found in the visitor's session).
• Default Actions:
  • Appends the brand's tracking parameter with your unpaid campaign identifier (e.g., Marriott UNP_ SCID).
  • Target outbound links matching the respective brand domain.
• IMPORTANT: This catch-all rule must reside at the very bottom of the priority list. If it is placed at the top, it will match all traffic and bypass your paid templates.

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Custom Rules (UTM & Query String)

If you use custom UTM setups or non-Marriott booking engines, you can build rules from scratch:

1. Click New Rule -> Create from Scratch.
2. Define Conditions: Combine rows using AND/OR logic:
   • Parameter Matching: Match query variables (e.g., utm_campaign, source).
   • Page Context: Match current page path or hostname.
   • Referrer: Match specific domains (e.g., tripadvisor.com).
3. Define Actions:
   • Append URL Parameter: Appends custom key-value pairs (e.g., utm_source=vanity).
   • Inject Hidden Input: Adds inputs to matching form submissions.
   • Set DOM Attribute: Sets custom HTML attributes (e.g., data-attribution="social").
4. Specify Targets: Restrict rules to certain outbound links using URL contains or CSS selectors.

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Reference: Condition Fields & Brand Mappings

Traffic Source Condition Fields

When building custom conditions, Cogwheel Attribute provides preset boolean fields representing detected traffic sources:

Hotel Brand Parameters

The application features native presets to map rules to specific booking domains. Outbound links targeting these domains automatically receive the associated parameter name:

• Marriott: Targets marriott.com using parameter cid (typically carrying an SCID).
• Hilton: Targets hilton.com using parameter WT.mc_id.
• Hyatt: Targets hyatt.com using parameter src (typically carrying a concatenated Hyatt source code).
• IHG: Targets ihg.com using parameter cm_mmc.
• Wyndham: Targets wyndhamhotels.com using parameter CID.
• Choice: Targets choicehotels.com using parameter mc.