Profero Trafficking Guide
Profero Trafficking Guide |
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Ad Support Team
E-mail: adsupport@profero.com
Tel: +44 20 7387 2000
This document is designed to assist in the trafficking of our adverts & creative executions. It is also available for download in PDF format & as a Microsoft Word Document.
If the Ad is to be 3rd Party served, Media Owners should be provided with two URLs: a serving URL (used to call the Ad from our AdServer and count views of the ad) and a click-through URL (used to track responses to the ad and direct users to the destination page).
Media Owners should enter the provided URLs into their Ad-Rotation software, taking care to ensure that correct cachebusting is implemented (see An Explanation of our URLs section for further details).
The serving URL should not be entered into a web browser with the intention of "saving off" the displayed ad, as this will negate the intention to 3rd party serve the creative (which requires each request or call for the ad to come from our Ad Server).
If this is a CPC deal then Media Owners should be issued with a physical file for the creative (.gif, .jpeg etc.) and a click-through URL.
If the Media Owner needs to track clicks separately then they may try to insert its own click-through URL over our provided click-through URL. In this case, the Media Owner must ensure that the user click is still redirected back to the original http://eu.xmts.net.. URL, and not directly to the destination page. If the click-through goes directly to the destination page, then we are not counting clicks.
If the Media Owner does not have an Ad-Rotation solution (or is unable to implement a cachebusting code), please consult An Explanation of our URLs for some example templates which may be used.
We have, essentially, two methods of distributing "3rd party served" flash creative to Media Owners.
The first method of distributing flash places the SWF file and an accompanying HTML wrapper on our AdServer. A call to the serving URL results in the serving of the HTML file, which has built-in flash detection, click-through & backup gif selection. This implementation is compatible with the "External Rich Media Package Tag" function in some Ad-Rotation Software, but it is also suitable for implementation in an IFRAME src, etc.
Only one URL (the serving URL) is trafficked to Media Owners with this method and calls to this must be cachebusted correctly (see Serving URLs/Cachebusting Code section in An Explanation of our URLs below).
Since the click-through is built inside the HTML file (and this resides on our system), this cannot be changed or affected "externally". This is why no click-URL is trafficked with this method. If a Media Owner needs to track clicks via its own system, they should contact adsupport@profero.com in order to come to an arrangement (e.g. an exchange of click URLs between Profero AdServer & Media Owner tracking server).
An example of this kind of tag is: http://eu.xmts.net/PERFORMANCE/21278?cachebusting-code .
The second method for distributing Flash involves sending the Media Owner an HTML wrapper for the flash creative. This wrapper contains flash detection, backup gif and built-in cachebusting, as well as calling the ad and sending the clicks via our AdServer.
Media Owner receives an HTML file. This file contains calls for the Flash SWF, backup gif and, for safety and convenience, cachebusting which is handled via javascript. The inclusion of javascript cachebusting in this HTML wrapper method means that media owners do not need to add their own cachebusting code to the wrapper.
Clicks are handled within the HTML wrapper file and not directly within the SWF itself. Specifically, clicks are implemented using the "ClickTag" method, as supported by DART and several others. This means that the SWF file, which is resident on our AdServer, does not contain the destination URL for the creative. Instead, the SWF contains the code "clicktag" (or ClickTag, clickTAG, etc.) and the HTML wrapper defines the destination for the click-through. If the Media Owner wishes to add their own click-tracking, this should be done on the "?clicktag=" sections within the HTML wrapper. For example, a %c code for DART can be added as "?clicktag=%chttp://eu.xmts.net..."
Should the Media Owner choose not to use the provided wrapper file, they can extract the relevant serving & click URLs from within our HTML file and use these in its own flash template.
Within the wrapper file you will see the normal embed/object calls to the flash movie:
e.g. <PARAM NAME=movie VALUE="http://eu.xmts.net/PERFORMANCE/28682?clicktag=http:// eu.xmts.net/28682?' + random_number + '">
Here you can see the call to our AdServer for the SWF (in this case, the AdServing URL http://eu.xmts.net/PERFORMANCE/28682), the click-through URL (http://eu.xmts.net/28682) implemented via clicktag method, and the built-in cachebusting (?' + random_number + '). Care should be taken to ensure that the AdServing URL is similarly cachebusted in any replacement template used (http://AdservingURL?clicktag=http://clickURL?cachebusting-code - see An Explanation of our URLs section).
An example HTML Wrapper file is available for download (in ZIP format) here:
example_flash_type2.zip .
As mentioned above, our standard method for implementing Flash click-through is via the "ClickTag" method. This means that clicks are handled within the HTML wrapper file and not directly within the SWF itself, thereby reducing production overhead (since each execution does not require a distinct click-through to be implemented inside the Flash file itself).
Instead of the flash movie clicking directly through to the client site (e.g.: "GetURL(http://www.destination.com)" ), we want to replace the URL with just the word clickTAG.
For the most part, this type of creative execution is distributed either via an intermediary such as Tango Zebra, EyeBlaster, CheckM8 etc., or via a zip file that contains all the elements of the ad.
Due to the complexity and variety of this type of ad, it is impractical to go into specific trafficking details. However, any questions regarding the implementation of Rich Media should be directed to adsupport@profero.com .
Media Owners wishing to track clicks separately may try to insert their own click-through URL over the http://eu.xmts.net URL already present. In this case, the Media Owner must ensure that the user is redirected back to the original http://eu.xmts.net click URL afterward.
Our system uses 2 basic types of URL, a serving URL and a click-through URL.
Serving URL: http://eu.xmts.net/ABC123/12345?cachebusting-code
Click-through URL: http://eu.xmts.net/12345?cachebusting-code
The serving URL is used to call an ad, or component thereof, allowing us to track impressions or ad "views". A serving URL takes the form:
http://eu.xmts.net/ABC123/12345?cachebusting-code
The first part is the address of our AdServer (http://eu.xmts.net), ABC123 refers to the campaign and 12345 is the "Banner ID" of the individual creative piece.
"?cachebusting-code" on the end of the URL refers to a cachebusting timestamp code. In order to ensure that no cacheing occurs on the viewer's machine (therefore affecting stats collection), "cachebusting-code" should be replaced with a code specific to the ad-rotation software used by the site and separated by a question mark from the original banner URL. For example, a creative URL of:
http://eu.xmts.net/TST123/12345?cachebusting-code might be implemented as:
http://eu.xmts.net/TST123/12345?%n , where %n is the ad-rotation software code which generates a timestamp (see Common Ad-rotation Software Cachebusting Codes section below). At serve-time this would become something similar to:
http://eu.xmts.net/TST123/12345?1004445881 with the 1004445881.. part being the cachebusting timestamp.
Do not leave a serving URL as "http://eu.xmts.net/ABC123/12345?cachebusting-code" or caching issues will occur. If in doubt regarding this, please contact adsupport@profero.com
If your code is not listed here or is incorrect, please contact adsupport@profero.com and let us know:
| AdRotation Software | Cachebusting Code Used |
| Accipiter | %%RANDOM%% |
| Adforce | _ADFORCE_TIME |
| BanManPro | [RandomNumber] or [timestamp] |
| Dart (DoubleClick) | %n or [timestamp] |
| Engage | %%ACC_QUERY%%? |
| Netgravity | $gmt$ |
| Open Adstream/Real Media | %%GMTTIME%% or _QUERY_ |
If the Media Owner has no Ad-Rotation solution or is unable to implement a cachebusting code, they can use our HTML example (click here to download), which uses javascript to generate a cachebusting code.
For sites using PHP, we have an example template (click here to download) that implements cachebusting using PHP.
The click-through URL is used to direct response to the ad (a click), via our AdServer which counts this response, to the client or destination page.
A click-through URL takes the form:
http://eu.xmts.net/12345
The first part is the address of our AdServer (http://eu.xmts.net) and 12345 is an individual "Banner ID" which refers to the creative execution in question. When a user clicks on a piece of our creative, they are taken to our AdServer (which records the click) and then redirected to the destination page.
Our Event Tags are designed to be easily placed on designated pages, or the corresponding template, of a site. This means a user will request a 1x1 invisible pixel from Profero's tracking server each time they call/view the tracked page. The URL for our Event Tags is similar to the Serving URL for regular gif creative (see An Explanation of our URLs above), the campaign identifier in the URL being replaced by the word "COOKIE".
To ensure the action is counted properly, we recommend that the tag be placed near the top of the page source. If a tag is placed too low in the page rendering order, visitors with particularly slow connections may not be counted if the tag does not fully load. We also recommend that the tag is cachebusted (see Cachebusting Code section in An Explanation of our URLs above).
An example Event Tag, implemented with our built-in javascript cachebusting is available for download (in ZIP format) here:
As can be seen from the source of this example, the tag is effectively an image call <img height="1" width="1" src="http://eu.xmts.net/COOKIE/28221?cachebusting-code" alt="" border="0">
NB - If the tag needs to be inserted on a secure (https) page, simply replace the http://eu.xmts.net... with https://eu.xmts.net and the tag will be served from our secure server.
For testing purposes, it might help to set the tag to a larger size with a visible border (this will make it easier to spot). Once live, however, the width & size should be explicity defined as 1 pixel and the border set to zero, in order to minimise intrusion into the page design.
Please contact adsupport@profero.com if you have any queries regarding Event Tag implementation.
The majority of problems encountered are due to set-up issues, rather than a problem with our AdServer itself. Our AdServer system is among the most reliable in the industry and great care has been taken to ensure backup redundancy and the prevention of outages. However, if an ad was previously running okay and has suddenly stopped working then the matter obviously needs to be investigated ASAP. Please contact our adsupport team on +44 20 7700 9960 or adsupport@profero.com .
If you have read this document and an ad you are trafficking still does not display as expected, please contact adsupport@profero.com for further guidance.
If you have read the Click-through URL section of this document, are satisfied that the click URL is formatted correctly but isn't working then please contact adsupport@profero.com . We will investigate the problem.