If you’ve ever set up a Rule in Adobe Launch only to have it fire at the wrong time — or worse, not fire at all — you know the pain. You double-check your Event, your Condition, everything. It all looks right. But something’s off.
The culprit is almost always your Conditions configuration. Get it wrong, and your Rule fires when it shouldn’t, or stays silent when it should speak up. Get it right, and everything clicks.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through every Condition type available in Adobe Launch, show you how they work, and give you practical examples so you can set them up with confidence. Let’s dive into the reasons.
What Are Conditions and Why They Matter
Think of Conditions as the bouncer at the door of your tag. They don’t let anyone in unless the ID checks out. Their job is simple: limit the Events so your trigger only fires when it should, and prevent random, unwanted firing.
Without good Conditions, you get messy data. Tags fire on pages they shouldn’t. Events get attributed to the wrong sources. Suddenly, your reports don’t make sense anymore, and you’re digging through every trigger wondering what went wrong.
That’s where Conditions come in.
How to Configure Conditions
A Condition configuration looks like this (simplified):
| Field | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Logic Type | Determines whether the condition must be met (Regular) or must NOT be met (Exception) |
| Extension | The Extension the Condition depends on — different Extensions offer different Condition Types |
| Condition Type | The specific check you want to perform, which depends on your chosen Extension |
Here’s the catch: when you add multiple Conditions, they’re connected with an And logic — all Conditions must be true for the trigger to fire. There’s no Or between Conditions in the same block, so plan accordingly.
Let’s break down each category.
Data Conditions
- Cookie: Specify a cookie name and value that must exist for the event to trigger. For example, you can check whether the value of cookie
_gais[email protected]— the tag only fires when that cookie matches. - Custom Code: Specify any custom code that must exist as a condition for the event to trigger. Use the built-in code editor to enter the custom code. You can use custom JavaScript to build more complex logic that the other Condition Types don’t cover.
- Variable: Specify the JavaScript variable name and value that must exist for the event to trigger. This is similar to Value Comparison, since you can already access JavaScript variables through data elements. But having it as a dedicated type gives you a more direct way to check raw JS variables in the page context.
- Value Comparison: Compare two values to determine whether the condition returns
true. Almost any data element can be compared here.
Engagement Conditions
- Landing Page: Specify the page the user must land on for the event to trigger. This is the entry page of their session.
- New/Returning Visitor: Specify whether the visitor should be a new visitor or a returning visitor for the event to trigger.
- Page Views: Configure the number of page views the visitor must reach before the action is triggered.
- Sessions: Specify the number of sessions the user must have for the action to trigger.
- Time On Site: Specify the time on site the user must accumulate for the action to trigger.
- Traffic Source: Specify the traffic source criteria the user must match for the action to trigger.
Other Conditions
- Date Range: Specify a date range for the condition — choose the date and time the event occurs after, the date it occurs before, and the time zone.
- Max Frequency: Specify the maximum number of times the condition can return
true. Options include: Page view, Sessions, Visitor, Seconds, Minutes, Days, Weeks, Months. - Sampling: Specify the percentage of the time the condition returns
true. Great for gradual rollouts and A/B testing new tags.
Technology Conditions
- Browser: Specify the browser the visitor must use for the action to trigger. Select one or more: Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge, Safari, Mobile Safari.
- Device Type: Specify the device type the visitor must use. This Condition will be removed and is not recommended for new implementations.
- Operating System: Specify the operating system the visitor must use.
- Screen Resolution: Specify the screen resolution the visitor must use.
- Window Size: Specify the window size the visitor must use.
URL Conditions
- Domain: Specify the visitor’s domain. If the URL is
https://www.bbccss.com, the Domain isbbccss.com. - Hash: Specify one or more hash patterns that must exist in the URL. Multiple hash patterns are joined by an OR.
- Path And Query String: Specify one or more paths with query strings that must exist in the URL. If the URL is
https://www.bbccss.com/google-analytics&cid=12313, the Path And Query String is/google-analytics&cid=12313. - Path Without Query String: Specify one or more paths without query strings that must exist in the URL. For the same URL, the Path Without Query String is
/google-analytics. - Protocol: Specify the protocol used in the URL. For the same URL, the Protocol is
https. - Subdomain: Specify one or more subdomains that must exist in the URL.
- URL Parameter: Specify the URL parameter used in the URL. For the same URL, the URL Parameter is
cid.
Final Words
Conditions are one of those things that look simple on the surface but have a lot of depth once you start working with them. The good news is most of the operators follow predictable patterns, and once you’ve used a few, you’ve basically used them all.