Development Newsletters

Release: 21-01-2015

List of new features and major fixes for this release:

  • passback
  • new creative template
  • change from UCTR to CTR

Passback

Overview

AdOcean allows you to use passback-enabled creatives, which may be used to request ads from external adservers with the possibility of emission return when an external adserver can't serve any ads.

How does it work?

  1. Website makes a request to an adserver for an ad using placement script.
  2. The adserver sends a passback-enabled creative with an attachment of the best alternative creative to be displayed on passback call.
  3. Website makes a request to the external adserver using an external ad script defined in the passback-enabled creative.
  4. The external adserver doesn't have a desirable ad, so it returns a passback code. The best alternative creative is displayed.


Requirements

Client placement codes must be deployed with:

  • ado.js support
  • passback doesn't work on placement profiles with slave multiplication (most video profiles). If you are not sure about your placement profiles, please contact our technical support.
  • passback doesn't work on placement with no JavaScript output, e.g. XML or JSON.
  • passback has limited support for external ad code that uses frames and iframes (see Alternative Passback Code).

    • Creating Passback Enabled Creative

    1. Create a new campaign, set basic campaign properties like publisher space.
    2. Set a new creative. Choose the Passback Enabled Creative template.
    3. Set Passback ID, which will identify which passback is executed by an external AdServer ("970x100" in example).
    4. Insert the external ad script into the JavaScript code field.

      5. Example screenshot:

    5. Create other campaigns on the same publisher space with optimization based on ECPM.


    Configure external AdServer

    Check external AdServer documentation how to set a passback code for AdUnit.

    Passback code differs depending on scripts generated by an external adserver. If the external adserver uses iframes or frames, see Alternative Passback Code. Otherwise use the standard passback code.



    Passback code

    Standard javascript passback code:

    Where '970x100' is a value of the passback ID parameter filled in the Parameters section of your passback-enabled creative.

    If the HTML passback is required, envelope JavaScript in the script tag.

    Alternative Passback Code

    If you call passback between frames or iframes, the following code should be used:

    Where '970x100' is a value of the passback ID parameter filled in the Parameters section of your passback-enabled creative.

    This code may be used without frames and iframes, but has some limitations. Microsoft Internet Explorer older than 8.0 and some other very old browsers do not support interframe messaging.

    Creating alternative campaigns to be displayed on passback call

    AdServer, after choosing the passback-enabled campaign for impression, chooses "the best alternative campaign". This campaign will be shown if the impression was not used by the external adserver and callback have been called.

    It must meet several requirements:

  • Best alternative campaign must run also on the same placement on which passback-enabled campaign was chosen.
  • Best alternative campaign must have the ECPM optimization set in campaign properties (not in order or surround). AdServer chooses the most profitable alternative campaign based on this optimization. At first, it selects the group of ECPM optimized campaigns with the same, highest priority. Then,, from this group it chooses the most effective creative on the selected placement. Some margin is reserved for less effective creatives to give them chance to get better statistics.
  • If you want to be sure that a passback-enabled campaign is chosen by the adserver, it must have the highest priority. If the adserver has chosen a passback-enabled campaign then there is a second choosing (starting from highest priorities). In this second choosing, all RTB auctions, passback-enabled campaigns and campaigns not optimized by ECPM are excluded, and the best alternative campaign is chosen from the group of ECPM optimized campaigns with the same, highest priority. In example: passback-enabled campaign can have the highest exclusive priority and alternative campaigns can have a default or commercial priority.
  • If cost per clicks (CPC) or per actions (CPA) is set for the best alternative campaign, the adsever needs creative/placement pair statistics to calculate ECPM. If the adserver is unable to calculate ECPM for a creative/placement pair, this pair may be chosen for impression. It will help this campaign to gain statistics.
  • Best alternative campaign surrounds will not be chosen.
  • Best alternative campaign can be a template based creative (HTML or JavaScript type) or a non-template based (types: HTML/JavaScript/IMG/SWF).


    • Alternative campaign properties:

  • All settings like cappings, limits, targetings and exclusions will be checked when choosing the best alternative campaign. Of course, if an alternative campaign loses the chance to participate in auction, this will not affect this campaign’s cappings, limits and planning.
  • Prediction for an alternative campaign can be influenced by unpredictable external adserver passback calls. Predictor learns the ratio between cases when an alternative campaign is chosen and cases when an external ad is served for the last day. When this ratio is known, the predictor will assume that the alternative campaign will be displayed in future emissions with the probability equal to this ratio. If this probability is not known - for example, on the first campaign day – the predictor will assume that the alternative campaign will be always displayed. Note that similar optimistic assumption is made by passback enabled campaigns (see "Passback Enabled Campaign properties"), so inventory on placement can double for one or two days after creating a new passback-enabled campaign and new alternative campaign on the same placement.

    • Warning: All campaigns that can be chosen as "best alternative campaign" for passback enabled campaign can also be chosen like all other campaigns in the system without passback.



    Passback-specific statistics

    In the Statistics view in the RTB summary section, the number of impressions in the AdServer column shows how many times a particular impression has been returned to the AdServer using the passback code.

    Other fields are not filled when Passback Enabled Creative is used.



    Preview limitations

    Passback Enabled Creatives are visible in Preview and Live Preview but no alternative campaigns from the AdServer are presented (only external AdServer emissions).



    Current version limitations and future improvements

  • Impression statistics for Passback Enabled Creatives are always counted, even if the external AdServer uses the passback code. In such cases, two emissions are counted - one for Passback Enabled Creatives, and one for the alternative campaign. It may result in overestimation of impressions on a given placement.
  • Predictions for passback-enabled creatives always assume that the external adserver will offer an ad (never call passback). It will be corrected in future versions.
  • Campaigns other than eCPM/bestperforming optimized can't be served as alternative campaigns. It will be improved in future versions.


    • New Creative Template – MultiAd

    Thanks to the MultiAd creative template it is possible to display creatives from various campaigns on one placement at the same time by dividing the available advertising space between „small ads”, or to display only one creative that occupies the whole available space. The ads can be displayed vertically or horozontally.

    AdOcean decides first whether to display one big creative or several smaller ones. In the second case, the system automatically selects the appropriate number of smaller ads and at the same time makes sure not to exceed the size of the placement. Each of the displayed ads is measured independently and has its own statistics.


    MultiAd has 3 forms:

    1. text ad



    2. graphic ad





    3. text-graphic ad



      4. Change in default values in the AdOcean interface

      Default values presented in the system have changed. CTR (click) are now presented instead UCTR (successful click). The changes are visible in the following Rankings: flights, websites, placements,placement categories creatives, creative categories, detailed, Geo stats: regions, cities/towns, and Tech stats: web browsers, operating systems.


      UCTR have been removed from the default view:

      Basic: Reach, Expansions, UExp, Other UC, All UC, UC, SUC.

      Advanced: UA, UA-pc, UA-pv, UCTR, UCTR d.i., CR-U, AR-U, TTExp, TTC, TTA-pc, TTA-pv

      Frequencies: Frequency

      UCTR statistics are still available, however, appropriate check boxes in different views need to be checked in order for them to be displayed.

    adocean statistics

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