The following FAQs regarding the Partner Optimization Program are covered in this article:
Partner Optimization Program (POP)
What is the Partner Optimization Program (POP)?
The Partner Optimization Program (POP) ensures Cint Exchange supply partners maintain high standards for user response quality and fraud prevention.
Cint proactively monitors data trends to identify any supply partner with negative reconciliation rates that are higher than the expected standard rate of 5%. This program ensures our supply partners are aware of high reconciliation rates so they can act quickly to mitigate any respondent quality or fraud issues, in addition to creating trust among buyers and researchers.
How does the program work?
Cint analyzes per-country reconciliation rates for all Cint Exchange supply partners during both a mid-month and end-of-month audit. As a standard, supply partners must have reconciliation rates below 5% for any given country. Depending on the severity of reconciliation rates, partners who do not meet our standards may be required to discontinue sending traffic into the Cint Exchange until they take appropriate steps to identify and resolve quality issues.
How is reconciliation rate calculated?
Negative Reconciliation Rate = [Completes Reconciled to Term] / [Total Completes]
How can I monitor my reconciliation rate?
Supply partners can monitor current and past negative reconciliation rates by accessing the reconciliation pacing dashboard within the supplier portal. This dashboard can be used to assess negative reconciliation rates by country, and ensure supply partners are within healthy metrics.
What are the program statuses? What circumstances will result in a supply partner’s traffic being paused?
Program statuses are assigned based on country level reconciliation rates and/or past inclusion in the program:
Status | Threshold | Consequence |
|---|---|---|
Watchlist | Country Soft Close Reversal Rate ≥ 5 & <10% | Supply partner receives a notification email making them aware of the elevated reversals. Their Cint account team is available to support with building a plan to reduce reconciliation rates. |
Need Attention | Country Soft Close Reversal Rate ≥ 10% & <40% | Supply partner needs to fill out the plan of action form (POA), and review their Security & Quality Audit Form (SQA). Traffic must be paused after 10 business days - unless they take appropriate action within this time |
Alarming | Country Soft Close Reversal Rate ≥ 40% | Supply partner needs to fill out the POA, and review their SQA. Traffic must be paused after 2 business days |
Multiple Strikes - L1 | Supply Partner has received 2 “Needs Attention” or “Alarming” statuses in the past 6 months | Supply partner needs to fill out the POA, and review their SQA. Traffic must be paused after 2 business days; it must remain paused until the POA & SQA are filled out and sufficient remedial measures are implemented. |
Multiple Strikes - L2 | Supply Partner has received 3 Needs Attention or Alarming statuses in the past 6 months | Supply partner pauses traffic for a minimum of 1 month and until sufficient action is taken, and/or the future of their contract is determined with supply |
*The statuses, thresholds and pause criteria are subject to change by Cint at any time.
How does a supply partner become eligible to resume traffic?
In order to resume traffic, the supply partner must:
Conduct an internal Audit: Review performance data to identify the root cause of high reconciliation rates. Utilize the ID Reconciliation Report to help identify individual sessions and respondents, and the Reconciliation Pacing Dashboard to view aggregate trends across your countries.
Review the Security Quality Form (SQA): Review and update their Security Quality Form here.
Submit a Plan of Action (POA): Provide Cint with a formal plan of action (POA) documenting the root causes of and action steps taken to address any respondent quality and/or fraud.
Take Appropriate Action: To mitigate the impact of the root cause. The Cint account team will work with supply partners to define this based on their SQA and POA.
Partners will not be permitted to resume sending traffic unless there is confidence that reasonable preventative measures have been taken to reduce reconciliation rates.
What is the process and expected timeline for resuming traffic into the Cint Exchange?
Supply partners eligible to resume traffic must soft launch by gradually increasing traffic volumes over a period of four weeks. A maximum amount of daily completes must be adhered to during soft launch, as specified below. Pending no further quality escalations, a graduated increase in traffic volumes during the soft launch period will proceed with the following schedule:
Timeline | Traffic Volume Limit |
|---|---|
Week 1 & 2 | Up to 25% of supplier’s average daily completes* |
Week 3 & 4 | 50% of supplier’s average daily completes* |
Week 5+ | Full volumes |
*This number will be provided to the supply partner by their account team and is calculated using the supplier’s average daily completes count into our Cint Exchange over the previous three months.
Are all supply partners reviewed?
All Cint Exchange supply partners are eligible for inclusion in the program, with the exception of Non-Integrated Supply. Partners in all regions are subject to this program, as Cint maintains high quality and respondent expectations for all supply partners, regardless of their geographical location.
What should I do if I am impacted?
Confirmation: Confirm receipt of email with a reply to trustandsafety@cint.com. In the case of a traffic pause requirement, Cint Exchange supply partners must also confirm they have ceased traffic within the timeframe specified in the email received from Cint’s Trust and Safety team. Supply partners who fail to reply and/or comply with traffic pauses may be subject to having their full integration paused.
Next steps: Reach out to your Cint account team for next steps and a remediation plan. This will include the previously mentioned security and processes audit and plan of action.
Overall: Maintain a negative reconciliation rate that is within an acceptable range of the platform average. Specifically, supply partners “at risk” will need to maintain a rec rate that does not exceed double the platform average in the country flagged for the current month (month in which they are notified).
Special considerations for paused supply partners
Supply Partners may continue sending traffic to the following studies if they were supported prior to the pause:
Private Exchange
Tracker & Wave
Recontact
Third party partnerships: Supply partners that source or send traffic via third party partnerships or integrations are responsible for coordinating the pause in respondent traffic.
Cint reserves the right to require traffic pauses into the Cint Exchange at any time.