Using Indeed with idibu

This article explains how the idibu integration with Indeed works, what is and isn’t supported, and how to troubleshoot the most common issues – especially when jobs do not appear as expected on Indeed.

Overview

idibu is integrated with Indeed as a partner for distributing jobs and collecting applications.

Key points:

• The integration is based on a central upload feed managed by idibu.

• Only Sponsored Jobs are supported via this integration. Jobs posted from idibu to Indeed will not appear in Indeed’s organic (free) listings.

  Indeed controls what is ultimately published, based on:

  • Your Indeed account and campaign setup;
  • Whether the job is sponsored;
  • Matching of Company Name, Job Title, and Job Reference.

Because of this, idibu can only confirm that a job has been sent to Indeed, but cannot guarantee that Indeed will publish it or how it will be ranked.

How posting from idibu to Indeed works

1. You subscribe to Indeed in idibu
   • Any idibu client with a valid Indeed agreement can enable the Indeed job board in their idibu account.
   • Commercial terms (budgets, CPC, etc.) are always agreed directly between you and Indeed.
2. Jobs are added to the Indeed upload file
   • When you post to Indeed from idibu, each job is added to a central upload file that idibu hosts and maintains.
   • This file contains all currently active jobs from idibu to Indeed.
3. Indeed processes the file on a schedule
   • Indeed processes the upload file on a regular cycle (around every 4 hours).
   • After a job is posted from idibu, it may take several hours before it is fully processed and visible (if accepted).
4. Only Sponsored Jobs are published
   • idibu’s integration with Indeed only supports Sponsored Jobs.
   • To appear on Indeed through idibu, your job must:
     • be associated with an active Indeed Sponsored Jobs campaign, and
     • have a sufficient budget configured in Indeed.
   • Jobs that are not sponsored will not be published via this integration, even if they appear as “sent” or “live” in idibu - the successful posting status in idibu only indicates that the job has been added to the central upload file.
5. Identification of your jobs by Indeed
   • Indeed matches posts in idibu’s upload file to your Indeed account using:
     • Job Title
     • Unique Job Reference (set when posting)
     • Company Name (this is critical)
   • The Company Name used by idibu must match exactly what Indeed has recorded on your account. This includes:
     • Spacing
     • Hyphens
     • Capitalisation (case-sensitive)
   • You can configure the Company Name in your Indeed settings page within idibu so that it is identical to the Indeed record.

   • Example: If your Indeed account is registered as:

     Top-End Recruitment

     The following will not be recognised by Indeed, and your jobs may not be picked up:

     • Top End Rec
     • Top end Recruitment
     • Top-End recruitment

Application handling: Indeed Apply

By default, all idibu-posted adverts support Indeed Apply, allowing candidates to apply directly on Indeed using their Indeed profile. Please consult this article for more information.

Campaign Tags and how to use them

When you arrange Sponsored Jobs with Indeed, they may provide you with a Campaign Tag (sometimes per account, sometimes per user or brand).

Adding a Campaign Tag in idibu

When posting an advert to Indeed from idibu:

• Tick “optimise this advert” for Indeed.
• You will see a non-mandatory, free-text extra field named “Campaign tag”.
• Enter the Campaign Tag provided by Indeed.

If you want this to be mandatory for all posts:

• Go to the Indeed board settings page inside your idibu account.
• Locate the Indeed Campaign Tag extra field.
• Set it as required.

Default vs. individual Campaign Tags

You can also configure a default Campaign Tag at the admin level in the Indeed settings page - it will then be applied to all your Indeed postings.

If individual users have their own Campaign Tags, idibu will always prioritise the user-level Campaign Tag over the default admin value when both are present.

Why can’t I find my jobs on Indeed?

If you cannot see a job on Indeed that you have posted from idibu, work through the following checklist:

Confirm sponsorship

Is the job definitely sponsored?

• idibu can send a job to Indeed, but Indeed will only publish it if:
  • it is configured as part of a Sponsored Jobs campaign, and
  • the campaign is active with an appropriate budget.
• Organic (free) jobs are not supported via the idibu integration.

Who manages the sponsorship?

• Sponsorship configuration, budgets, and campaign strategy are agreed directly between you and Indeed.
• idibu does not manage or control your Indeed budgets.

Allow processing time

When was the job posted on idibu?

• Indeed processes the idibu upload file on a scheduled basis.
• It may take several hours from the point you post to Indeed before:
  • the file is processed, and
  • the job appears in search results (if accepted).
• If your job was posted only recently, it may simply not have been processed yet.

Validate the Job Reference

Are you using a unique Job Reference per vacancy?

• The Job Reference should be a unique identifier for each vacancy.
• Reusing the same reference across multiple jobs (for example, initials like “AB” or generic codes) can cause:
  • Confusion for job boards such as Indeed.
  • Incorrect processing or overwriting of jobs in their systems.
• Best practice:
  • Use a unique, non-recycled reference for each job.
  • Avoid using the same reference for multiple roles or locations.

Verify Company Name

Does the Company Name in idibu exactly match the one on your Indeed account?

• Go to the Indeed settings page in idibu.
• Check the Company Name field.
• Compare it to the Company Name on your Indeed account.
  • It must match exactly, including:
    • spacing
    • hyphens
    • capitalisation
  • Email-like or “proxy” strings (for example, those used by some media agencies) are often not valid company names from Indeed’s perspective, unless Indeed themselves have explicitly configured them as such.
• If there is any doubt:
  • Ask your Indeed contact to confirm the exact Company Name that should be used for your Sponsored Jobs via idibu.
  • Update the Company Name in idibu’s Indeed settings to match that value and re-post the job.

This is the most common cause of jobs failing to appear on Indeed when they have been sent from idibu without error.

Limitations and important caveats

To set the expectations clearly:

• Sponsored-only
  • idibu’s integration with Indeed currently only supports Sponsored Jobs.
  • Jobs distributed from idibu to Indeed do not appear in Indeed’s organic (free) results.
• No budget control from idibu
  • You cannot set or manage Indeed budgets or bids from inside idibu.
  • Budgeting and campaign configuration always take place on your Indeed account.
• Visibility is controlled by Indeed
  • idibu can confirm when a job has been created and added to the upload file.
  • However, idibu:
    • Does not control whether Indeed chooses to publish a given job.
    • Does not control the ranking, impression volumes, or click-through performance.
    • May show a job as “live” even when Indeed has not made it visible to job seekers (for example, due to campaign settings or policy reasons).
• Organic posting from other systems
  • Some ATSs / CRMs / website engines allow you to post directly to Indeed.
  • If those options use free / organic posting, they bypass idibu and are outside the scope of this integration.

Best practices

To minimise issues and support faster troubleshooting:

• Always use unique Job References in idibu.
• Agree on clear naming and tagging conventions with your Indeed account manager:
  • Exact Company Name string
  • Use and structure of Campaign Tags
• Educate users that:
  • Posting to Indeed from idibu sends jobs into a Sponsored Jobs pipeline, not into free results.
  • There can be a processing delay before jobs are visible on Indeed.