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Monitor and troubleshoot direct insertions

Troubleshoot direct insertion delivery

Overview Developer tools Step 1: Check insertion status Step 2: Check time frames Step 3: Check placement Step 4: Check targeting Step 5: Check priority Step 6: Check linked insertions Step 7: Insertion is off due to delivery plan Step 8: Force delivery

Overview

This article explains the checks to perform when an insertion (creative(s)) you expect on a website is not displayed.

Developer tools

Using developer tools available in browsers (e. g. Chrome Developer Tools) is strongly recommended. The following table shows the relevant tabs in Chrome Developer Tools with some examples of usage:

Tab	Examples of usage
Console tab	detect errors in the page's code
Elements tab	check for tag modifications (search for "smart" to locate the tag) and compare them with tags as rendered in Equativ's UI (see Create placements) troubleshoot CSS issues (right hand side column) edit code temporarily to test potential fixes
Network tab	determine if an ad request is fired (filter calls with "smart")* inspect the ad request URL with its parameters (see POST Ad API integration: parameter reference for details on each parameter) detect latencies in the calls made
Resources tab	search all resources loaded alongside the inspected page (HTML documents, js files etc.), such as ad tags which have not been fired by the page

* This screenshot shows the Network tab of Chrome Developer Tools, filtered for requests with "smart".

Step 1: Check insertion status

Locate your insertion by displaying it in the campaign's insertion list. Check if its status is online — if not, enter the insertion and click Save and put online.

Step 2: Check time frames

Check if the insertion has time frames which prevent delivery. Time frames are set up in insertions under General settings > Delivery.

Step 3: Check placement

Go to Campaigns > Insertion follow up
Switch to the Advanced filters tab
Select Status "All"
Select Delivery State "All"
Scroll down and add the Format and the Site/Page where you expect the insertion
Click Calculate

If your insertion is not in the list of insertions, the issue is placement-related. Switch to your insertion and add the correct format/site/page (corresponding to the site where you expect the insertion).

Step 4: Check targeting

Go to the Targeting section of the insertion in question. Compare all targeting criteria with what is passed in the ad call.

Step 5: Check priority

The priority of your insertion might be too low. For instance, if your problem insertion is on level "Normal 3" and there is another "Exclusive" insertion, your problem insertion will not be displayed at all (read Create direct insertion: priorities for more information).

Go to Campaigns > Insertion follow-up
Proceed as described in Step 3 above (select placement on the Advanced Tab)
Filter the insertions with higher priorities using the Priority slider

Step 6: Check linked insertions

Your problem insertion may not be displayed due to a competing linked insertion. Keep in mind, that links enforce the delivery of all linked insertions. Even if the linked insertion priority is lower than the priority of your problem insertion, the linked insertion "wins" the impression when it is linked to another (third) insertion.

Step 7: Insertion is off due to delivery plan

Insertions on the priority levels Low, Normal and High have a delivery plan. These insertions deliver their impression/click volume in a paced manner (distributed over the time frame). To guarantee the paced delivery, Equativ switches the insertion off for short periods of time. Else, it would deliver its volume too quickly. This temporary "off" status lasts for a maximum of 5 minutes.

Step 8: Force delivery

You can force a specific insertion to deliver:

set your insertion to the priority level "Exclusive without capping"
switch to the Targeting section
target the insertion to your own IP address

As a result, your insertion will be displayed upon every page impression (exclusively) and only on your own computer (due to the IP Targeting). You can then proceed with testing.