Budget Controls
Budget settings control the monetary limit placed on an offer that restricts the total revenue the offer can generate. Budgets are enforced based on tracked conversion revenue associated with the offer.
Budgets can be configured in Step 3 Budget and Targeting of offer edit
Budget Type | Definition | Timing | Use Case |
Daily Budget | The maximum total revenue an offer can generate within a single calendar day (UTC). | Resets automatically at 00:00 UTC. Offers reappear once the new day begins. | Ideal for pacing spend evenly over a long-term period. |
Total (Lifetime) Budget | The maximum cumulative revenue allowed across the entire lifetime of the offer. | Does not reset automatically. Once hit, the offer remains inactive unless the budget is manually increased. | Ideal for fixed-spend campaigns or limited-time promotions. |
Conversion Caps
Conversion caps limit the number of conversions an offer may receive within a specified timeframe, independent of payout amounts.
Conversion caps may be configured at either the offer level or the event level, depending on the offer structure.
Offer Type | Where to Apply | How Caps Apply |
Single-Event Offer | Step 3: Budget & Targeting Enable “Add Conversion Cap(s)” toggle | Cap applies to the entire offer |
Multi-Event Offer | Step 4: Events → Open event sidebar → Enable “Add Conversion Cap(s)” Toggle | Cap applies to the specific event only. Each event may have its own cap settings. |
Available Cap Intervals
Conversion caps may be set as:
Daily Cap – Maximum conversions per calendar day
Weekly Cap – Maximum conversions per calendar week
Monthly Cap – Maximum conversions per calendar month
Total (Lifetime) Cap – Maximum conversions over the lifetime of the offer
Time-based caps automatically reset at the start of each new period and calculated in UTC.
Purpose of Budgets & Caps
Budget and conversion cap controls serve several important operational functions:
Enforcing advertiser-imposed spending limits
Controlling traffic ramp-up during launch
Preventing sudden volume spikes
Regulating placement-level exposure
Ensuring predictable delivery
These controls allow automated enforcement without requiring manual monitoring.
System Behavior When a Budget or Cap Is Reached
When an offer reaches any configured limit the system will:
Automatically prevent additional new user sessions from being initiated
Remove the offer from the offer-wall UI and API responses
The system will NOT:
Reject conversions from existing sessions (more details below)
The offer will resume automatically when:
A new time window begins (for daily budgets, daily, weekly, or monthly caps). No manual reset is required for time-based caps.
The configured budget or cap is increased manually
Multi-Event Offer Enforcement:
If any individual event reaches its configured conversion cap, the entire offer is considered capped and will be removed from eligibility.
The system does not partially serve offers based on remaining eligible events. Enforcement occurs at the offer level.
This ensures consistent delivery logic and prevents users from entering a funnel where downstream events are unavailable due to caps.
Existing Sessions & Long Tail Conversions
It is important to understand how GoKart handles in-flight traffic.
When a budget or conversion cap is reached:
The system prevents new traffic only
The system does not reject or block conversions from existing sessions
This means:
If a user initiated a click or session before the budget or cap was reached,
And the conversion postback is received afterward,
That conversion will still be processed and counted.
GoKart does not invalidate legitimate conversions originating from active sessions that began while the offer was eligible.
This design ensures:
Accurate reporting
Protection of legitimate advertiser performance
No disruption to user flows
No retroactive blocking of valid conversions