Configuring Taxonomy

Overview

A taxonomy maps raw audience segment codes from your imported data to human-readable names, so they can be used in Permutive cohort definitions and insights. Each taxonomy is one-to-one with an audience set (also called a Data Provider). An audience set is a way to separate and group different segments together. For example, you may have:

One audience set for your own first-party data analyzed and brought back in
Another audience set for self-sourced data through a partnership with another platform sharing demographic data

Each audience set has its own taxonomy to keep the data separated in the UI and in the system.

Taxonomy Fields

Field	Required	Description
Code	Yes	A unique identifier for the segment. Alphanumeric string, never displayed in the UI. Best practice is to use a sequence (e.g., `s001`, `s002`, `s003`) rather than human-readable words. This value can never be changed.
Name	Yes	The display name shown in the Permutive Dashboard. Use hyphens to delimit category levels (e.g., `Demographic - Inferred Gender - Female`). Can be updated.
Description	No	Description of the segment, shown in the Dashboard.
CPM (USD)	No	The CPM for the segment, typically for third-party partner segments. Leave blank or set to `0` for self-sourced data. If using partner segments billed through Permutive, add the CPM per segment as per the partner taxonomy.

Example Taxonomy

Below is an example taxonomy with four segments:

Code	Name	Description	CPM
4412	Demographic - Inferred Gender - Female	Users whose gender has been inferred as female.
4981	Demographic - Inferred Gender - Male	Users whose gender has been inferred as male.
4011	Demographic - Declared Gender - Female	Users who have specified their gender as female.
4099	Demographic - Declared Gender - Male	Users who have specified their gender as male.	1.50

Taxonomy CSV Format

Upload your taxonomy as a CSV file with the following columns:

ID,Name,Description,CPM (USD)
0001,Country - France,Users living in France,0
0002,Country - Spain,Users living in Spain,0
0006,"Income < $20,000","Having income of less than $20,000",0
0009,Gender - Female,People that identify as Female,0
0012,Subscriber - Premium,Paying subscribers,0
0013,Interest - Cars,Those who are interested in cars.,0

The taxonomy for a given Data Provider/Audience Set must be exhaustive and cover every possible segment code present in the data.

To manage taxonomy programmatically, use the Batch Update endpoint to create, update, and delete multiple segments in a single request.

Important Guidelines

Avoid major changes to existing segments. We advise only cosmetic changes such as descriptions. Changing the name of a segment or category could impact teams creating cohorts in the Dashboard.
Create new segments instead of recycling old ones. If you need to change the definition of a segment, create a new segment rather than repurposing an existing code.
Taxonomy is separate from data. The taxonomy is relatively static and defines what segments mean. The audience data files are more transient and updated as needed to reflect users’ membership in segments.

If you find yourself needing to make major changes to segment definitions, contact support or your Customer Service Representative so they can help you plan the migration.

Guides

Configuring Taxonomy

Overview

Taxonomy Fields

Example Taxonomy

Taxonomy CSV Format

Important Guidelines

Next Steps

Second-Party Data Overview

Taxonomy API

​Overview

​Taxonomy Fields

​Example Taxonomy

​Taxonomy CSV Format

​Important Guidelines

​Next Steps

Second-Party Data Overview

Taxonomy API

Overview

Taxonomy Fields

Example Taxonomy

Taxonomy CSV Format

Important Guidelines

Next Steps