Notes and Thoughts on Grocery 2.0

Advertisers and publishers in the online industry talk a lot about ad serving. Without ad serving, online advertising wouldn’t exist. But what exactly is ad serving?

This is a question I hear a lot. What goes on behind the scenes that allow advertisers to show consumers ads online? It is a simple question, yet one that is often overlooked. Let me explain.

There are two main types of ad serving; publisher ad serving and advertiser ad serving. Examples of publisher ad servers include Doubleclick DART for Publishers, Accipiter Ad Manager, and 24/7 RealMedia’s Open Ad Stream. Examples of advertiser ad servers include Doubleclick DART for Advertisers, Mediaplex Mojo and Atlas.

In publisher ad serving, an advertiser most likely bought advertising on the publisher’s site and specified files to be served onto the site. The files are first trafficked on the publisher’s ad server, or when applicable, directly onto the publisher’s site. Trafficking consists of campaign set-up, ad creation and targeting, and creative production and assignment. Once the ads are approved to serve on a specific site, the following occurs:

1. A user visits the site, causing the browser to call the web publisher via a web server. The web server loads an HTML file, the web page the user sees.
2. In the HTML file is an ad URL that tells the browser to call the ad server. The ad server selects the correct ad’s file location to send back to the browser.
3. The browser requests the ad creative from the ad’s file location. The file containing the ad’s creative content is sent back to the browser to load.

Between steps 2 and 3, the ad server completes several actions that determine which ads and creative are selected to serve.

1. The ad call that is made contains a unique ID that is specific to a web page or group of web pages. Snippets of the ad URL also include identifiers that are specific to ads, such as size and placement.
2. The ad server reads the ID and chooses which ad to deliver based on multiple criteria.
3. Common criteria include whether the browser is part of any targeting groups, such as geographic location; Whether any rules associated with the campaign assigned to the unique ID apply; The priority of each ad that matches delivery criteria (which should serve first); The priority of creative that matches delivery criteria.
4. The ad server sends the final selection to be delivered to the browser.
5. The ad server sends data to its inventory forecasting, reporting and billing systems to be logged for future use.

That’s publisher ad serving in a nutshell. Of course, ad serving systems differ, but the workflow remains relatively straightforward.

Advertiser ad serving depends on publisher ad serving processes but adds tracking functionality that easily automates the majority of campaign work. Advertisers running campaigns across multiple publishers use ad serving to automate workflow such as data input, creative management and trafficking, and to centralize reporting.

Advertiser ad serving begins like publisher ad serving:

1. The browser calls the web publisher via the web server, which responds by sending a HTML file. 
2. In the HTML file is an ad URL that tells the browser to call the ad server. Instead of the publisher ad server selecting the file location to send back to the browser, it delivers a secondary ad tag that re-directs the call to the agency ad server.
3. The browser calls the agency ad server, which selects the correct ad’s file location to send back to the browser.
4. The browser requests the file containing the ad’s creative content, which is sent back to the browser to load.

The complexities of ad serving technology enable media buyers, ad operations staff and agency personnel to relatively seamlessly complete complex tasks. With targeting and tracking capabilities already at significant levels, advanced ad serving tools are sure to continue improving the power of online advertising.

Rachel