Implement 1x1 tracking pixels in DFP

What is a tracking pixel?

In some scenarios, an agency, advertiser, or other third party might decide to track DFP impressions with a tracking pixel. A tracking pixel is simply a server call that returns a transparent 1x1 image (normally a GIF file).

Where do I get a tracking pixel?

A third party typically sends a DFP publisher a URL. The publisher will insert the URL into a tracking pixel and traffic the pixel in DFP with a creative.

What are some examples of tracking pixels?

Most tracking pixels have the same format with slight variations in the style variable. It is up to the DFP publisher and the advertiser to choose which format to use. Here are a few examples:

<img src="TRACKING-PIXEL-URL-GOES-HERE" style="position:absolute; visibility:hidden">

<img src="TRACKING-PIXEL-URL-GOES-HERE" style="display:none">

<img src="TRACKING-PIXEL-URL-GOES-HERE" width="0" height="0">

Where do I put the tracking pixel in DFP?

If you want to add a tracking pixel to the creative code for a Flash or Custom type creative, simply insert the tracking pixel code at the top of the 'Creative Code' box in the creative's properties screen.

If you want to add a tracking pixel to an image creative in DFP, follow these instructions:

1. Change the creative type from image to custom.
2. In the custom creative's properties screen, upload the image creative.
3. Click Apply a Template and select the 'Image Banner Open in New Window' template. You'll be prompted to enter the 'Image-Width' and 'Image-Height' for your image creative (ex. 728x90).
4. Click Generate Code.
5. In the 'Creative Code' box, you'll see code for the template you just applied. Insert your tracking pixel above this code. An example looks like this:

<img src="TRACKING-PIXEL-URL-GOES-HERE" width="0" height="0">

< !-- Template ID = 4439 Template Name = Image Banner - Open in New Window-->

<a href="%c%u" target="_blank">

< img width="728" height="90" border="0" src="%h/2315223/728x90Image.JPG">

< /a>

Source: DFP Support

What is a macro and why is it so important when trafficking third party creatives?

A macro is a short command or shorthand for an instruction to the DoubleClick ad server. Macros usually follow the format of %%MACRO_NAME%% (examples: %%CACHEBUSTER%% %%CLICK_URL_UNESC%%). The DoubleClick ad server executes macros when the ad is served or clicked. Macros are most commonly used when a publisher traffics third-party creative code, but macros can also be used in custom creatives.

Every third party has a different ad tag format and the macros are inserted in different spots in the tag depending on the third party. Every time you work with a new third party, you should get documentation from them on where the macros go in their ad tags when trafficked in DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP).

The two most common macros are click tracking macros and cache-busting macros. The click tracking macro ensures that DFP is counting clicks when a user clicks on the creative. The cache-busting macro ensures that a fresh call is made to the ad server every time the code is executed, so you’re accurately counting impressions. It’s very important to make sure that you always insert the macros properly; the third party should provide you with guidance and support.

Click-tracking macro

A click-tracking macro ensures that DFP is counting clicks when a user clicks on a creative that is hosted by an ad server other than DFP. There are two types of click-tracking macros:

• Unescaped click macro: %%CLICK_URL_UNESC%%
• Double-escaped click macro: %%CLICK_URL_ESC_ESC%%

%c will still work for creatives trafficked in DART, but we strongly recommend using the new syntax for all new creatives trafficked in the DFP upgrade.

As a best practice, we recommend using an unescaped click macro when the creative hosted by another server is a standard image file (GIF/JPG). You should use the double-escaped click macro for Flash (SWF) creatives and for certain third parties. You can preview the ad and right-click it to determine its file type. If you see a “Save Image As...” or “Save Picture As...” option appear in the right-click menu, the creative is a standard image. If you see an “About Adobe Flash Player...” option, the creative is a Flash creative.

A small number of third parties use double escaping (%%CLICK_URL_ESC_ESC%%). For certified third parties, we’ll auto-insert this double-escaped click macro; however, if you’re unsure whether you need a single- or double-escaped macro, you should reach out to the third party for confirmation.

Warning: If you don't put a click-tracking macro in the correct place in your third-party code, you will most likely not track clicks on the creative. Talk to your third-party creative provider to learn where to put the click macro.

Cache-busting macro

The cache-busting macro ensures that a fresh call is made to the ad server every time the code is executed, so you’re accurately counting impressions. Here is what the cache-busting macro looks like:

Cache-buster macro: %%CACHEBUSTER%%

If you don't add the cache-busting macro to the creative code, you’re more likely to see impression counting discrepancies between DoubleClick for Publishers and the third party ad server.

Source: Google Support

DoubleClick Macros – An Overview… Part 2

Continued from Part 1

File server macro

The file server macro is an ad server macro most commonly used as a shortcut to designate a creative file's path on DoubleClick's global creative and media servers. Here's what it looks like:%%FILE:file_display_name%% where file_display_name is the display name we can give to the creative file in DFP.

In general, the file server macro will be replaced with the machine name for a physical ad server when an ad serves. This is particularly beneficial for line items that are served to multiple countries.

Notes:

• %h will still work for creatives trafficked in DART, but we strongly recommend using the new syntax for all new creatives trafficked in the DFP upgrade.
• The syntax for a creative file's path using %h is: %h/advertiser_ID/filename.ext. For example, for advertiser 12345678 and creative file dclk1.gif, the syntax would be:%h/12345678/dclk1.gif
• DART macros are case-sensitive. That is, %H is not a valid macro.

Geo ad server macro

The geo ad server macro, %g, can be used in the click-through URL, the redirect URL, and the custom code of a creative. This macro is used to track geographic information - country code, state or province, telephone area code, postal code, bandwidth, and DMA (Designated Marketing Areas) - using your proprietary systems, after a website visitor clicks an ad served by DoubleClick for Publishers. This macro can be implemented regardless of whether a line item has been geographically targeted.

When %g expands into a string, it displays the geographical information of the user to whom the ad was served - assuming that the user's IP address can be looked up - as shown here:

ct=US&st=CA&city=13358&dma=197&zp=94105&bw=0

Where:

• ct is the key that returns a value for a country code
• st is the key that returns a value for a U.S. state, territory, or Canadian province
• city is the key that returns a value for a city
• dma is the key that returns a value for designated market areas
• zp is the key that returns a value for a postal code
• bw is the key that returns a value for bandwidth

Note:

• Macros are case-sensitive. That is, %G is not a valid macro.
• The expanded form of the geo ad server macro is not wrapped in quotes (single, or double). The macro can cause syntax errors with surrounding Javascript code if it's wrapped in quotes.

Height and width macros

The %%HEIGHT%% and %%WIDTH%% macros insert the creative height and width into the custom code of a creative during the ad serving process, based on the size of the ad slot where the creative is being served.

These macros can be especially useful if we are creating a creative template that you want to reuse with creatives of different sizes. Instead of hard-coding the size for each creative, you can let the height and width macros insert the values into each creative dynamically.

We can also use these macros in the custom code for creatives where we have overridden the creative size (which you can do on the "Settings" tab of a creative). When we override the size, we can enter multiple creative sizes. The creative can then be served to ad units of any of those sizes. We can use the height and width macros to add the dimensions dynamically to the creative code when the creative is served.

Host name macro

The host name ad server macro, %a, can be used in the redirect URL and custom code of a creative. This macro expands into http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net.

Note: DART macros are case-sensitive. That is, %A is not a valid macro.

Interstitial impression macro

The interstitial impression macro enables the DFP ad server to record when an interstitial impression is served from a creative that wasn’t built using one of the built-in creative templates for pop-ups, pop-unders and floating Flash overlays.

Use %%VIEW_URL_UNESC%% for image creatives (JPG, GIF) and %%VIEW_URL_ESC%% for Flash creatives (SWF).

Here's an example of the proper implementation:

<img src=%%VIEW_URL_UNESC%%http://www.acme.com/img/logo.gif>

Notes: %i will still work for creatives trafficked in DART, but we strongly recommend using the new syntax for all new creatives trafficked in the DFP upgrade.

Pattern match macro

We can pass a custom variable into a creative using our creative targeting macro:  %%PATTERN:key%%

Use this macro to pass targeting values into a creative. This can be helpful if we want to serve different creatives based on information we know about a user. For example, maybe we have two creatives for a given line item: one that was designed to appeal to female users and one that was designed to appeal to male users.

1. We are passing the user's gender into an ad tag on your page via custom criteria like this:

GPT tag:

googletag.defineSlot("/1234/adunit1/adunit2", [728, 90],

"div-gpt-ad-123456789-0")

.addService(googletag.pubads())

.setTargeting("gender", "male");

DART tag:

http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/sitename/pagename;gender=male;ord=12323

2. In the custom or third-party creative, dynamically pass the criteria using the following macro:<some creative script here>...&gender=%%PATTERN:gender%%
3. The entire macro of %%PATTERN:gender%% will be replaced with "male".
4. DFP will call and serve the “male” creative file to this user.

Notes:

• %p will still work for creatives trafficked in DART, but we strongly recommend using the new syntax for all new creatives trafficked in the DFP upgrade.
• %p is not supported with GPT tags. If you use GPT, you must use %%PATTERN:key%%.
• DART macros are case-sensitive. That is, %P is not a valid macro.

Site name macro

The site name ad server macro, %s, can be used in the click-through URL, the redirect URL, the custom code of a creative, and click commands. This macro is commonly used to track the name of the site (included in the ad tags) where visitors clicked on an ad served by DART in a proprietary system. This macro expands into the originating site's name as defined in DART, not into the DNS name of the site.

Target window macro

The target window macro instructs the user's browser to open the creative's landing page in either the user’s existing window or a new window when the user clicks on the creative.

For example, the DFPNews.com ad unit has the target window set to _top and the DFPFashion.com ad unit has it set to _new. If the %%TARGET_WINDOW%% macro is included in the creative's code or script, it will open a new window when a user of DFPFashion.com clicks on it and an existing window if a user of DFPNews.com clicks on it.

Typically, here’s where you’d see %%TARGET_WINDOW%% placed in the creative code:

<a href="%%CLICK_URL_UNESC%%%%DEST_URL%%" target="%%TARGET_WINDOW%%"><img src="my ad"></a>

Notes:  %t will still work for creatives trafficked in DART, but we strongly recommend using the new syntax for all new creatives trafficked in the DFP upgrade.

Source: Google Support

DoubleClick Macros – An Overview… Part 1

A macro is a short piece of code that serves as a shortcut for a message to the ad server. Macros will expand into a longer code string that the ad server can understand when they’re included in creative code or click through URLs. Ad server macros are useful for passing important information to your proprietary systems or third-party ad servers.

If the creative code is recognized as being from a certified vendor, then it will automatically insert the proper macros. If DFP don't recognize the third-party creative code, then we need to insert the macros manually. We can manually insert the macro at the cursor's position in the 'Code snippet' field by clicking one of the insert macro buttons. Work with respective third-party to determine where to insert the macro.

For clients upgrading from DART for Publishers: Creatives that we trafficked in DART with DART macros will continue to serve as expected after we upgrade. However, it is strongly recommend that we use the new syntax, where available. This list represents all of the macros it supports in DoubleClick for Publishers for Creatives which traffic after upgrading.

Cache-busting (random number) macro

The cache-busting macro ensures that a fresh call is made to the ad server every time the code is executed, so we’re accurately counting impressions. Here is what the cache-busting macro looks like:

%%CACHEBUSTER%%

If we don't add the cache-busting macro to the creative code, we’re more likely to see impression counting discrepancies between DoubleClick for Publishers and a third-party ad server. Note that not all third parties require the cachebuster macro.

Most creative vendors will offer a placeholder in their tag to insert cachebuster macros. 

For example, if your third-party creative code contains something like this:

http://abc.3rd-party-serving.com/Targeting/adServer.php?ab=cd&e=12fg=click&ord=[RANDOM_NUMBER]

We will want to select [RANDOM_NUMBER] and click the Insert cachebuster macro button so that it replaces the placeholder:

http://abc.3rd-party-serving.com/Targeting/adServer.php?ab=cd&e=12fg=click&ord=%%CACHEBUSTER%%

Notes:

• %n will still work for creatives trafficked in DART, but we strongly recommend using the new syntax for all new creatives trafficked in the DFP upgrade.
• DART macros are case-sensitive. That is, %N is not a valid macro.

Click macro

A click macro allows us to track clicks on our third-party creatives. There are two types of click-tracking macros:

• Un-escaped click macro: %%CLICK_URL_UNESC%%
• Double-escaped click macro: %%CLICK_URL_ESC_ESC%%

As a best practice, we recommend using an un-escaped click macro when the creative hosted by another server is a standard image file (GIF/JPG). We should use the double-escaped click macro for Flash (SWF) creatives and for certain third parties. We can preview the ad and right-click it to determine its file type. If we see a “Save Image As...” or “Save Picture As...” option appear in the right-click menu, the creative is a standard image. If we see an “About Adobe Flash Player...” option, the creative is a Flash creative.

Notes:

• A small number of third parties use double escaping (%%CLICK_URL_ESC_ESC%%). For certified third parties, we’ll auto-insert this double-escaped click macro; however, if you’re unsure if you need a double-escaped macro, you should reach out to the third party for confirmation.
• %c will still work for creatives trafficked in DART, but we strongly recommend using the new syntax for all new creatives trafficked in the DFP upgrade.
• Warning: If you don't put a click-tracking macro in the correct place in your third-party code, you will most likely not track clicks on the creative. Talk to your third-party creative provider to learn where to put the click macro.

Tips:

Do not enter the click macro as the source of an image or iframe. Doing so results in a click being recorded every time the image or iframe renders, which is not legitimate and is filtered out as an invalid click.

Click-through URL macro

This macro can be helpful if we are traffic a custom creative and we want the click-through URL that you set in the creative trafficking screen to override the click-through URL built into the custom creative code.

There are three URL macros you can use:

• %%DEST_URL%%
• %%DEST_URL_ESC%%
• %%DEST_URL_ESC_ESC%%

Normally the amount of escaping (whether we include ESC once, twice, or not at all) depends on the third-party click-tracking company. Some third-party click-tracking companies require the URL to be escaped, while others do not.

The level of escaping required by a third-party click-tracking company is normally specified in the tag with the click= string in the third-party ad tag or custom creative code in DFP:

• click= escape it once (%%DEST_URL_ESC%%)
• click1= escape it once (%%DEST_URL_ESC%%)
• click0= don't escape it (%%DEST_URL%%)
• click2= escape it twice (%%DEST_URL_ESC_ESC%%).

Notes:

%u will still work for creatives trafficked in DART, but strongly recommend using the new syntax for all new creatives trafficked in the DFP upgrade.

Expand macro

This macro is most commonly used to track line items with your backend reporting system. %e is used in combination with match tables, which provide a relationship between the ID number in the database and the ID number in DoubleClick for Publishers. This can be useful for troubleshooting; for example, a trafficker only has to look at the ad server response in order to see the line item ID or creative ID that served to an ad tag.

We can insert the %e macro at the end of the ad's click through URL in its creative assignment (for example: http://www.firstautomobile.com/?%ecid!; inserts the creative ID for the line item).

The different expand macros available are:

• %eaid! -- expands with line item ID
• %ecid! -- expands with the creative ID
• %eenv! -- expands with the environment (tag type) indicator. For example, 'i' if iframe, 'j' if JavaScript, etc.
• %esid! -- expands with the first-level ad unit ID serving the line item
• %epid! -- expands with the second-level ad unit ID serving the line item
• %eadv! -- expands with the advertiser ID of the line item being served
• %ebuy! -- expands with the order ID of the line item being served

The %e macros can be separated from one another in the click through URL with any character that is safe for use in DFP click through URLs: 

http://www.site.com/?%eaid!;%ecid!              

Could become: http://www.site.com/?1234567;4265598

Notes:

The %e macro cannot be used by DFA clients running click-commands on DFP sites. The advertiser_id or page_id values, for instance, will populate with the DFP values instead of the intended DFA values.

This article will continue to Part 2

What is Click Tag?

A click tag is a parameter used in Flash banner ads. The parameter is a variable that defines the destination URL from the markup code. By using a click tag, the advertiser can easily see and modify the URL without a Flash developer.

The click tag is supported by every major ad server.  The click tag enables the ad serving network to gain metrics such as the amount of clicks and from which sites these clicks have been made. By reading the data gained by the click tag parameter, an advertiser can evaluate how effective the ad campaign has been.

Variations

There are no industry standards on how to program a click tag. The code for the programming is case-sensitive, but programmers format their capitalization differently so ad serving networks may require clickTAG, ClickTag, clickTag, or any variation of capitalization for that specific variable.

Some ad serving networks may also require the ad's programmer to specific the level or strata the advertisement directs to such as the Google click tag requirements. Other ad serving networks such as Myspace do not require root level specification.

Ad serving networks may also require protocol specification by forcing the URL to begin with "http:" as a security measure advised by Adobe. Adobe warns that a malicious website could source the banner and pass a URL that begins with "javascript;" or another pseudo-protocol creating a hole for malicious scripts. This would allow someone access to the site's data, cookies, or can perform actions on behalf of the website where the ad is placed.

Click tags also vary depending on the version of Flash or Action script used. And it's case sensitive in flash 7 and Above.

How to implement a clickTAG and how does it work?

You need to insert a transparent button into the top-most layer of your Flash banner. Then you assign the button an action with some special Action Script code that is designed to accept a click-tracking redirect URL as a parameter. Your button then uses that redirect URL as its link rather than having a direct link embedded inside the code.

Some clickTAG example :

AS2 Standard

on (release) {

            getURL (_root.clickTAG, "_blank");

}

AS2 Google Network

on (release) {      

            if (clickTAG.substr(0,5) == "http:") {      

            getURL(clickTAG, "_blank");}

}

ClickTAG advantages

This method offers a couple of advantages. The clickTAG might also be a script, on an ad server for instance, that tracks where the banner appears and when it is clicked. Thus this method affords you multifarious ways of launching your banner.

A further point is that in case of the clickTAG isn't passed; the banner won't work as link. This might be useful if the banner should be adopted as a header of a website.

Source: www.wikipedia.com and www.123-banner.com

How the Ad Exchanges will work – An Overview

More and more online display inventory is being purchased via ad exchanges than ever before. On these platforms, advertisers utilize technology to bid on each and every ad impression in a real-time marketplace based on the value they put on the viewer. For example, retargeting has become a popular tactic as advertisers are able to tag (and then buy ads exposed to) users who have already shown interest in them by visiting their site. This technique has proven to be very effective, with higher than normal click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, and other key performance indicators (KPIs).

Currently, more than 400 billion global monthly impressions are up for bid to online marketers -- that translates to about 150,000 ads each second during high internet traffic times!

Since the first banner ad was sold more than a decade and a half ago, it's no big surprise that publishers have aggressively sought ways to increase revenue by optimizing their ad inventory. Because so much of online inventory goes unsold or dropped into remnant channels for a micro-fraction of what can be made from presold, premium inventory, ad exchanges were an organic evolution in the ecosystem. A successful model was already in place with paid search where advertisers bid in a real-time, auction environment for ad impressions. As with paid search, exchange ad inventory is optimized by capitalist equilibrium -- some inventory is worth pennies, some is worth tens of dollars. Either way, ad price is determined by what the market is willing to pay.

Because most of the transaction is automated by technology, exchanges are very efficient for publishers to monetize previously unsold inventory without the need for robust sales teams, as well as for advertisers to buy direct inventory without middle men (such as ad networks) inflating costs. This has led some industry experts to predict that the market share of exchange vs. traditional online display buying methods will grow quickly in the next several years. In fact, this may have set off a revolution in which we will see more and more inventory moved to digital channels -- it might not be all available in real-time, but the efficiencies of this model cannot be denied. It's very possible that one day that any inventory that can be sold this way, will be sold this way... not just online, but TV, print, radio, etc.

The debates of the value of audience vs. context, technology vs. manual expertise, commoditization of inventory and its effect on our industry, etc., are already taking place in board rooms, industry conferences, and the blogosphere. As exciting as the new opportunity might be, there is resistance from the owners of the status quo, who will find their importance and market share drastically reduced by this evolution. As well, there is concern about the quality of this inventory and, as is always the case when targeting individual users, there will be privacy issues to take into account.

Regardless of the positive and negative context surrounding ad exchange buying, there still exists some mystery into how the technology actually works. Below is a top-level overview on how a publisher impression gets passed through the exchange value chain and ultimately gets served as an ad to the end user.

Note: This entire process happens in less than one-third of a second.

The publisher

An online user makes it to a publisher's site via a link or direct URL typed into a browser. The page loads and swooshes...

The publisher ad server

...the site's ad server recognizes that an ad box is on the page that needs to be filled. Publishers have a variety of choices on where to buy inventory. They can have in-house sales teams that work to presell their best (premium) inventory, ad networks that agree to help sell the inventory (either on an exclusive or non-exclusive basis), and, of course, ad exchanges, where advertisers can bid, in real time, for the impression.

So the first-party ad server may put the ad impression up for bid on the exchanges directly or through...

The publisher's tools

...which can enable them to let the impression be handled by yield optimizers (such as Rubicon, Admeld, and PubMatic) that can help them maximize their site revenue? They can consult with optimization service teams to help set pricing, decide what kind of ad units should go on specific pages, make deals with ad networks and exchanges, etc. As well, these partners can offer propriety technology to facilitate and optimize ad sales.

If the publisher tool decides at this time that the best value for the impression is on an exchange, it will send the impression there.

The exchanges

Currently, there are only a handful of "major" ad exchanges:

• AdBrite
• AdECN (Microsoft)
• ContextWeb
• DoubleClick Ad Exchange (Google)
• Right Media (Yahoo... currently testing real-time bidding)

These media entities have direct deals with publishers, networks, or publisher tools to sell inventory on their open platforms. On its DoubleClick Ad Exchange, for example, Google has migrated inventory from its very successful AdSense program, which enables it to sell advertising this way on literally billions of web pages. Exchanges negotiate rates with the media providers and get paid to simply handle the transaction.

Advertisers and their agencies can elect to "get a seat" on these exchanges in order to be involved in the bidding marketplace. Exchanges have self-service, back-end platforms that media buyers can log into, set up and manage campaigns, and run analytics reports to analyze and then optimize their accounts without ever talking to a sales person.

However, many advertisers elect to not work with exchanges directly, and opt to use a demand-side platform (DSP) as their trading desk of choice.

The demand-side platforms (DSPs)

Demand-side platforms have risen to help advertisers manage all of their exchange campaigns through a single interface. These DSPs utilize the ad exchange's data connection via application program interfaces (APIs), which provide the same functionality as working on the exchanges' own systems. Some agencies and holding companies have built their own DSPs, and many third-party DSP providers have popped up, such as Turn, Invite Media (Google), [x+1], MediaMath, DataXu, and Triggit.

DSPs provide more features than just letting advertisers manage all of their buys in one spot. By aggregating the entire exchange buying process into one system, advertisers can utilize the high-powered algorithms of their DSPs to optimize their bids. These algorithms can be tuned to target a specific cost-per-click, cost-per-sale, return on investment (ROI), or other business goals. They can also provide integration with various third-party data providers to allow for simple access to purchasing inventory. Another recognized benefit to running everything through a DSP is that advertisers can enable universal frequency capping across all of the exchanges they work with.

Because an ad needs to load quickly, DSPs have service level agreements (SLAs) that set how long they have to return a bid for the impression. The standard time frame for a DSP to return a bid request to an exchange is around 50 milliseconds, or one-twentieth of a second!

The bid

Bids are generally handled at the cost-per-thousand (CPM) level, and advertisers can choose to vary these bids based on the value of the users each placement is targeting. A common targeting choice is contextual, as exchanges classify their inventory by categories (i.e., sports, entertainment, news, finance, etc.) and sub-categories (entertainment - movie; entertainment - music; etc.). It's probably safe to say that an advertiser involved in promoting a new film would be willing to pay more for to users on movies sites than on financial ones.

Another common targeting option is geography -- by country, region, state, DMA, etc. And because you can mix targeting directives in a placement, you could, for example choose to create a campaign that just targets users on automotive-related sites in California and bid accordingly for that traffic.

It's important to note that advertisers are not manually bidding on every impression in real-time -- not even Superman could keep up with 150,000 ads per second. Rather, advertisers choose targeting settings and a maximum bid for what they would pay for an impression that meets those parameters. As with paid search, analysts can continuously optimize their choices by changing bids and targeting settings to ensure the best possible ROI.

The data layer

The piece of the puzzle that seems to most accentuate the value of exchange buying is the various data that can be leveraged in order to target users. By tagging user browsers via anonymous cookies, advertisers can retarget to their website's visitors on publisher sites by bidding more for those users than their competitors; reaching shopping cart abandoners with multiple ad impressions in the first few days after leaving the site has become a smart way to utilize this feature, for example.

Third-party data providers tag users and then sell advertisers’ access to identify those users later on an exchange. These companies (such as BlueKai, eXelate, and Experian) can provide user segments such as male or female, age bracket, income bracket, etc. How do they do this? There are various ways. There are data providers that tag users online who are registering product warrantees; they can provide exchange visibility to audiences based on the types of products they own. Other data providers make deals with travel aggregators so that advertisers can (anonymously) target users who have searched for Caribbean vacation deals or European hotels. Some data providers work with social networks that have registration data on millions of users and can help find audiences with specific niche interests.

The most valuable data seems to be that which can help identify in-market users. For example, a data provider signs a deal with a top-tier automotive review site to allow it to tag its users on key portions of the site. Days later, a major car manufacturer is able to buy impressions on other sites to target those same users who were looking for specific car-related information.

Ultimately, advertisers are going to pay more to reach the most desirable audiences to their business. Data empowers the advertiser to be able to better judge the value of each impression as it is passed to them.

The verification systems

If a bid is submitted and won by an advertiser, the ad can be served at this point. However, to provide a level of protection, verification technology is sometimes inserted into the value chain. Because the focus on the exchanges is audience buying and the human element has been removed, there has been a fear in the advertiser community that the ads may not be served in the best way for their brands -- e.g., being placed next to overtly sexual or violent content. Being served next to a competitor on the same page is also something that could potentially happen. Verification systems try to discern the context of the page before serving the ad, and it will block the ad if it determines the page doesn't fit the advertiser's specified settings.

Another function of verification systems is to validate the buy itself. As the impression comes up for bid and is won by the advertiser, the system determines if it really matches the target that advertiser was bidding on. Is the ad being served in the right geographic area? Is it ensuring compliance to the industry-specific guidelines and not breaking any rules (for example, pharmaceutical companies have strict editorial needs)? Once again, if the verification technology detects anything outside of the ordinary, it will block the ad from being served. Also in this category are contextual providers such as Peer39 and Proximic, which leverage semantic filters in real time to protect advertisers from buying the wrong impressions.

Verification technologies can differ in methodology and implementation, but, basically, if the impression passes the verification system's filters at this point, the ad is ready to be loaded into the blank ad box on the publisher site.

The third-party ad server

On some occasions, advertisers can load ads directly into the exchanges or allow their DSPs to serve them. However, most major advertisers load the exchanges (and DSPs) with creative "tags," which are ad requests that are filled by their third-party ad servers.

Third-party ad servers solve the same problem with serving ads as a DSP does with buying from exchanges. Instead of having to manage all of their display buys for each individual publisher (or exchange), the third-party ad server allows for everything to be managed in one place -- reporting, tracking, creative management -- one platform for the agency or advertiser teams to worry about.

So, the exchange sends the advertiser's creative tag (either directly or from a DSP) to the publisher's first-party ad server. The publisher's server loads the creative tag into the blank ad box. The creative tag "calls" to the advertiser's third-party ad server to then serve the ad. The third-party ad server will serve whichever creative is deemed appropriate for the situation. For example, if it detects that the end user is in Texas, there may be a specified ad to be served to that user. Or, if the third-party ad server detects that the user visited the company's website and checked out a certain product page, it may be directed to serve an ad related to that product.

Abracadabra! The ad is served. Remember, this entire process has to happen virtually instantaneously to ensure a quality experience for a website user. From the moment the page begins to load, to the publisher's tools farming it off to an exchange, to the exchanges receiving bids from their own users and their partner DSPs, to being filtered through the verification systems, and finally returned by an advertiser's third-party ad server-- it all takes place in around less than half of a second.

Summary

It's almost impossible to imagine that technology buying, such as the exchange system, will completely replace human interaction. Frankly, not all inventories can be sold this way. However, with the promise of lower costs from efficiencies, fewer wasted impressions through smart targeting, scalable reach, and controlled frequency; it seems very likely that these technologies will evolve into even more impactful tools. Competency in these platforms has already become a priority for leading advertisers, and new ideas for innovation are springing up every day. It's reasonable to assume that we have only scratched the surface on the capabilities of these systems and that they will be even more powerful and ubiquitous in a very short time.

Source: www.imediaconnection.com