Add tracking pixel

Tracking pixels allow you to measure impressions, clicks or events/actions. They can be used in other creatives, on a website for impression counting, in a newsletter, or in similar environments.

The following types of tracking pixels are available:

• Impression pixel: used to count impressions.
• Click pixel: used to count clicks without redirection to a landing page.
• Click command: used to count clicks and redirect to a landing page.
• Tracking URL: used to count events/actions. 

To generate a tracking pixel, proceed as follows:  

1. Go to the Creatives section of your direct insertion.
2. Click Add creative.
3. Select Generate a tracking pixel.
4. Define a Name.
5. Optionally, define a Click URL. If a click URL is defined, you will get an Impression pixel, a Click pixel, a Click command and a Tracking URL. If no click URL is defined, you will get an Impression pixel and a Tracking URL only.
6. Click Generate pixel.
7. To retrieve the URLs, click Copy impression pixel URL or Copy tracking URL or click on the arrow to display a sidebar which lists all URLs.

A tracking pixel is never eligible for delivery when its insertion is selected for delivery. As tracking pixels are always executed independently from regular ad calls and the insertion selection mechanism, they are counted as "Pixels" in reports, rather than as "Impressions". Likewise, the firing of tracking pixels does not count against the impression/click/event goal volume specified in the Delivery section of the insertion.

Insertions containing tracking pixels only

To create insertions that contain tracking pixels only, do the following:

1. Create a direct insertion.
2. Under Ad type, select the impression type Display and the environment Web.
3. Set the insertion priority to Very low 4 to ensure the insertion does not show up as a "real" insertion, competing with others in the Forecast.
4. Under Inventory, you are free to select any site, page, or format. The insertion as such will not be delivered there since tracking pixels are executed independently from regular ad calls and the insertion selection mechanism.
5. Under Creative template, select the creative template "Tracking pixels" from the Custom tab in the creative template library. This creative template has no parameters to be filled in. If this creative template is not available, reach out to your contact at Equativ to have it added to your network.
6. Add the tracking pixels.
7. To ensure the insertion is never selected and served when called from a publisher website, add a targeting criterion which can never be matched, for example a key-value pair which is never passed in any ad call, such as equativinsertion=trackingpixelonly.
8. Put the insertion online.
9. Retrieve your tracking pixels and implement them as usual.

Add blocking creative

Blocking creatives are used to keep a format (ad slot) on the page empty: instead of a regular creative, a blocking creative (transparent 1x1 GIF) is displayed.

Blocking creatives are useful in case of the Creative display mode option "All", also referred to as roadblocks: you can make sure that multiple creatives from the same insertion are always shown together to each user while keeping any other ad slots on the page empty. 

To set up "roadblock" insertions, proceed as follows:

1. Create the insertion as usual.
2. In the Inventory section, select the formats, for example leaderboard, skyscraper, or rectangle.
3. Upload and configure the creatives you received from the advertiser or agency.
4. Enable each creative on the appropriate format only, for example enable the leaderboard creative on the leaderboard format only.
5. Create a Blocking creative for each additional format, such as interstitial or medium rectangle, that you have on your pages and want to remain empty whenever this insertion is delivered. With these Blocking creatives you block any ads from competing advertisers on the given format.