What ping post is
Ping-post has two steps. First, send the fields listed in your campaign’s posting guide. Lead Router checks buyers and their bids. Next, post the full lead to Lead Router. It sends the lead to buyers and records the result.
Ping asks. Post delivers.
This example sells a lead to one buyer. Use your campaign’s posting guide for the exact fields and responses.
- 01 / Ping
Send qualifying data
State: California
Product: auto insurance
Vehicle count: 2
Send the details buyers need to check the lead. Send the full lead in the next step.
- 02 / Evaluate
Find matching buyers
Contract filters
Capacity and schedule
Configured price or buyer bid
The platform checks matching contracts under the offer’s rules.
- 03 / Post
Submit the full lead
Contact fields
Required qualifiers
Supplied consent evidence
The partner submits the full payload to the platform for delivery.
- 04 / Record
Inspect the result
Buyer and contract
Delivery response
Sale or failure
A ping response is not a completed sale. Check the post outcome.
The two calls: ping + post
The ping is a small HTTP request. It sends the fields your campaign needs to check a lead, such as state, zip code, or product type. Use the campaign’s posting guide to decide what to send. Your partner posting key proves who sent it. The campaign ID tells Lead Router which offer to use.
Lead Router checks active buyer contracts at the same time. It checks filters, funds, open hours, and duplicate leads. Contracts with a buyer bidding endpoint ask that buyer for a price. Fixed-price contracts use the price you set. Each contract returns a bid or a reason it cannot take the lead.
Lead Router returns the ping result to the partner. The partner decides whether to post the full lead. The post goes to Lead Router, which sends it to the selected buyers. Include the required contact fields and any consent proof, such as certificate links, form wording, and the time it was collected.
After a buyer accepts the full lead, Lead Router records the sale. It updates lead limits and balances using the buyer price and partner payout rules. The lead record shows the buyers checked, their bids, and each delivery result.
The result belongs on the lead record
- Who was considered?
- Check the buyer, contract, and reason attached to each recorded result.
- What actually sold?
- Check the final delivery and sale result. A winning ping alone is not a completed sale.
Why ping post beats direct POST
Buyers can return a fresh price on each ping. For example, a buyer nearing a daily limit may lower a bid. A buyer seeking more leads may raise it. Lead Router uses the returned price to rank the bid.
The offer sets how many buyers can win. Exclusive selects one buyer. Multisell allows several buyers. Hybrid limits sales to the number you set. Your form sends the lead details; Lead Router applies these rules.
A buyer can use its own system to set a price for each lead. Lead Router sends a ping to that system, gets the price, and uses it as a bid. This lets buyers use their own data, such as staff availability, when setting prices.
Buyers are checked for lead limits and duplicates during the ping. A buyer that fails a check is left out of the bids. Checks also run at post time because balances and limits can change between the two requests.
Distribution modes: exclusive vs multisell vs hybrid
Exclusive. One buyer wins. Lead Router picks the top buyer under your offer’s ranking rules. Use exclusive when your buyer agreement calls for a lead to go to one buyer.
Multisell. Several buyers can win. Lead Router sends the full lead to the selected buyers. Each accepted delivery is a separate sale. Use this when your buyer agreements allow the same lead to go to more than one buyer.
Hybrid. Set a limit on how many buyers can win each lead. If 8 buyers match and the limit is 3, Lead Router selects up to 3 buyers. Hybrid uses this limit; it does not switch between exclusive and multisell based on a price floor.
Timing and latency
When a ping arrives, Lead Router checks all active contracts at the same time. In the 30-day July 2026 sample, the median ping response was about 1.2 seconds. Most of that time was spent waiting for buyer systems to reply. The checks include filters, lead limits, funds, open hours, and duplicate leads.
Total time also depends on how fast buyer systems reply. Check the delivery logs to find slow responses. Set each buyer’s timeout to fit the time you can wait.
Common mistakes operators make with ping post
Treating a ping as a sale. A bid is an offer to buy, not a completed sale. Check the full lead’s delivery result before counting revenue or charging for a sale.
Resetting daily limits in the wrong time zone. Use the account’s time zone for daily and monthly limits. That keeps the reset time in line with the local business day.
Waiting until after the auction to check for duplicates. Check buyers during the ping, then check again at post time. This helps keep repeat leads out while allowing for changes between requests.
When NOT to use ping post
One buyer on one offer at a fixed, agreed rate. Direct POST is simpler and faster to set up, and there is no auction to run with only one bidder. Use ping post when you have competition. Skip it when you do not.
Verticals that depend on consent certificates can be tricky on some platforms. TrustedForm and LeadiD certificates need to survive both calls without being dropped or reused. If your platform does not pass the certificate URL on the post, the buyer may reject every lead even though the consumer gave consent. Most platforms handle this well. Check before you assume.
FAQ
What is ping post?
A two-call way to distribute leads. The first call (the ping) sends partial data and returns buyer bids. The second call (the post) delivers the full lead to the winning buyers. The ping runs the auction. The post delivers the contact info.
Who uses ping post?
Ping-post works when several buyers want the same type of lead. Examples include insurance, mortgage, solar, legal, and home services. It helps compare what those buyers will pay.
Is ping post the same as real-time bidding (RTB)?
Not exactly. Ping-post uses two requests: one to check buyers and one to send the lead. Real-time bidding (RTB) lets a buyer return a fresh price on each ping. You can also use fixed prices, or mix both types of buyer on one offer.
How fast is a ping post auction?
Lead Router checks contracts at the same time. In the 30-day July 2026 sample, the median ping response was about 1.2 seconds. Much of the wait came from buyer systems. Actual time depends on their responses and the timeouts you set.
Does ping post comply with TCPA?
Ping-post checks buyers and delivers leads. It does not create or verify consent. Keep the consent proof collected by your form and send it with the full lead. Your team must check whether that consent covers the planned calls or texts under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
Run your ping post on one engine
Use Lead Router to check buyers, compare bids, and deliver leads. Set up buyer contracts and give partners your campaign’s posting guide. The platform checks lead limits and duplicates as it routes each lead.
Related reading
The technical feature page: real-time contract evaluation, atomic caps, RTB endpoints, distribution modes in detail.
A routing model that tries buyers one at a time, in priority order, until one accepts. It works alongside ping post for verticals that need leads offered in sequence.
The full platform view: partners, buyers, campaigns, offers, contracts, caps, dedup, payouts. How ping post fits into the broader routing stack.