HTML and CSS Reference
In-Depth Information
a publisher a few days to complete this process, depending on its ad operation's size and the number of tags to be
scheduled.
At this phase, the publisher will usually offer a test page to the ad server so more QA can be done at the ad
server's end. The test page typically mirrors what the page will look and function like on the day the ad goes live. The
page used is often the home page with the usual dummy copy—content of the “lorem ipsum” type—instead of actual
editorial content. This test is performed solely because anything can happen in the live environment. You could have
other ads competing for computer processing power or a hidden navigational menu that is knocking your ad
20 pixels down. Whatever the case may be, this test is performed to eliminate any remaining mystery that could derail
a campaign launch. This could result in a lot of back-and-forth involving the ad server, the publisher, and the creative
agency, depending on whose domain the issue is in. The back-and-forth can be time-consuming for sure, but its
important to hash out issues that may come up during the campaign before the launch. Think of it as test-driving a car
before it's taken out on the track.
Campaign Launch
When the publisher and ad server give a final thumbs up to the supplied tags, they're scheduled by the publisher for a
specific launch date and set live. Finally, one last round of checking goes into the tags while they are live in the
real-world environment by the ad server, publisher, creative agency, and most importantly, advertiser. All the checks
have been put in place to assure that the performance remains smooth throughout the course of launch.
Analytics and Reporting
At the campaign's beginning and end, the advertiser and media agency will request the ad server and any third-party
measurement companies to run their analytic reports. This is done at the beginning to ensure that all analytics are
being tracked successfully and at the end to aggregate all the results and metrics. The ad server's reports will tally the
totals to date; the tally includes but is not limited to impressions, clicks, activities, video metrics, click-through rate
(CTR), view-through rate, interaction time, and conversions. These results are offered to all requesting parties as the
final report, from which they can get a clear picture of the campaign's overall performance.
The information in this report is invaluable for the advertiser; it outlines the key performance indicators (KPIs)
of the campaign, whether they relate to driving brand awareness or interaction rate. A report could be issued as a
Microsoft Excel document, a CSV, XML or JSON file or even centrally located on the ad server's CMS application via a
user-controlled analytics dashboard.
Once the report is sent out and reviewed by all parties, the ad server bills either the publisher or the media
agency, based on a CPM model, on the basis of the total impressions served and possibly labor in development.
This is the stage in which media and creative can learn what worked and didn't work for their advertiser and apply
the recently acquired knowledge toward making a better campaign in the future. This sort of number crunching and
statistical analysis can be fed back to the folks heading up digital strategy and, even more importantly, the advertiser.
Payment
Based on the overall budget dictated by the advertiser's total digital spend, the media agency will have a specific
amount to devote to securing the appropriate media inventory. Another budget is assigned to creative and
technological design. The media budget will go to paying the publisher for the ad inventory and possibly the ad server
for the production and serving of ad tags. For the creative and technology development, those payments are sent to
the creative agency, possibly the ad server as well, for any tasks needed to optimize assets.
