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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.

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Taxonomy Fields

FieldRequiredDescription
CodeYesA 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.
NameYesThe display name shown in the Permutive Dashboard. Use hyphens to delimit category levels (e.g., Demographic - Inferred Gender - Female). Can be updated.
DescriptionNoDescription of the segment, shown in the Dashboard.
CPM (USD)NoThe 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.

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Example Taxonomy

Below is an example taxonomy with four segments:
CodeNameDescriptionCPM
4412Demographic - Inferred Gender - FemaleUsers whose gender has been inferred as female.
4981Demographic - Inferred Gender - MaleUsers whose gender has been inferred as male.
4011Demographic - Declared Gender - FemaleUsers who have specified their gender as female.
4099Demographic - Declared Gender - MaleUsers who have specified their gender as male.1.50

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Taxonomy CSV Format

Upload your taxonomy as a CSV file with the following columns: 
ID,Name,Description,CPM (USD),Lifetime (days)
0001,Country - France,Users living in France,0,45
0002,Country - Spain,Users living in Spain,0,45
0006,"Income < $20,000","Having income of less than $20,000",0,60
0009,Gender - Female,People that identify as Female,0,30
0012,Subscriber - Premium,Paying subscribers,0,30
0013,Interest - Cars,Those who are interested in cars.,0,30
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.

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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.

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Next Steps

Second-Party Data Overview

Learn about using second-party data in Permutive

Taxonomy API

Manage taxonomy programmatically via the API