Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

[TanmayMathur]

Hi,

This thread is a collection of commonly asked questions on different features and capabilities of Adobe Media Optimizer. It should be helpful to the users who want to explore this product.

[TanmayMathur]

FAQs About Reports

General Questions

What if the date range for the report begins before report data is available?

The report will be generated, but it will only include data for the dates for which data is available. For more information about when data is available for each report type, see "The Data Used for Reports."

What's the difference between click date- and transaction date-based reports?

When you report conversions by transaction date, the data includes transactions whose transaction date occurred during the specified time period. This is the default setting in basic reports and advanced reports, and it will show you how much revenue was earned within the specified time period.

When you report conversions by click date, the data includes transactions that have resulted from a click that occurred during the specified time period. When a portfolio has significant delay between clicks and transactions, this type of report is useful for computing the historical revenue per click for the portfolio, which will give you an idea of what revenue behaviors to expect over time.

What happens if I change the click lookback window or impression lookback window?

(Advertisers with the Media Optimizer pixel-based conversion tracking only) Media Optimizer will have a longer or shorter period in which to collect data for events resulting from the initial click.

An advertiser's click lookback window and impression lookback window determine the number of days after a paid click or a display impression (respectively) occurs in which the event can be attributed to a conversion. Changing a value to a longer or shorter period may be important for advertisers with especially short or long click-to-revenue or display impression-to-revenue periods.

Best practice:  Make sure the lookback windows are longer than the click-to-revenue and display impression-to-revenue times for most of your keywords or ads. When they are shorter, some conversions won't be associated with the initial click or impression.

How do I know which conversions resulted from a Google ad extension or product listing?

You can see which conversions resulted from a click on a Google ad extension (rather than on the ad itself) or on a product listing ad by generating a Transaction Report. The Link Type column shows the type and title of a link that was clicked:

• Product Extensions are listed as pe:<product ID>, such as pe:8525822.

• Product Listings are listed as pla:<product ID>, such as pla:8525822.

• Sitelinks are listed as sl:<Sitelink text>, such as sl:See Current Offers.
   
  You can also identify a Sitelink if you include the Tracking URL column in the report; the Tracking URL for a Sitelink includes the attribute &ev_ltx=sl:<link-name>.

Note:  Conversions from Google Locations and Phone Extensions are included in the data for the ads they accompany. They are not reported separately.

The "Keyword" column in my report includes a value "(adgroup content) <ad group name>."

When the row includes data for content-enabled search campaigns, display campaigns, or social campaigns — which don't include keywords — the Keyword column will show the applicable ad group name instead.

Note:  When you set up Facebook campaigns, you don't create ad groups. However, Media Optimizer automatically creates an ad group for each ad.

Because of seasonal or market changes, my reports show atypical data. Will this affect bids once the...

Media Optimizer builds its revenue models for each bid unit daily to ensure that it identifies and immediately responds to trends, and the models incorporate long-term historical data to help predict seasonal performance. The revenue model half-life setting for the portfolio also determines how heavily Media Optimizer weights recent revenue data, and the best practice is to lower the half-life during a period of atypical performance but increase it again after the revenue model is adjusted. If you have questions about if this is necessary, contact your Account Manager.

If you don't want the data for the period to affect future bids at all, you can choose to exclude those dates from the model. Contact your account manager to do this.

Can I receive reports by FTP?

Yes, Media Optimizer can send reports to an FTP location rather than to an email address. See "About FTP Access to Reports."

[TanmayMathur]

FAQs About Reports

General Data Issues

Reports generated using different attribution rules show different totals.

If you generate a report multiple times using the same report parameters but with different attribution rules, the data may differ for either of the following reasons:

• Click date-based data may fall outside the specified date range.
   
  If you use the report parameter "Conversions based on click date," the specified date range applies to the date of the click instead of the date of the transaction. If the report also uses the attribution rule "First Event" or "Last Event," the first or last event that led to the conversion may be outside the specified date range. For example, assume a user clicked on Keyword_1 on April 30, clicked on Keyword_2 on  May 20, and converted on May 21. If the report uses the "First Event" attribution rule and a date range of May 1-21, the first event (a click on Keyword_1 on April 30) will not be included in the report. If you run the report with the same date range but using the "Last Event" attribution rule, the conversion will be included in the report because the last click occurred within the specified date range.

• The portfolio filter selection excludes some of the events leading to the conversion.
   
  If you report on a subset of portfolios, you may not be including the campaigns that included the event to which the conversion was attributed under one of the attribution rules. For example, assume a user clicks on Keyword_1 from Portfolio_1, clicks on Keyword_2 from Portfolio_2, and then converts. If the report uses the "First Event" attribution rule, Portfolio_1 must be included for the conversion to be included in the report; however, if the report uses the "Last Event" attribution rule, Portfolio_2 must be included.

Tip:  If you want to compare conversion totals under different attribution rules, run reports using the report parameter "Conversions based on transaction date" and select all search engines or all portfolios. If you set no other filters, the conversion totals should match.

Some advanced reports don't include conversion data provided by an advertiser feed.

The Search Term Report, Geo Distribution Report, and Domain Referral Report use data captured through the Media Optimizer conversion tracking service and can be generated only for advertisers with the service. The reports don't include conversion data that is tracked outside the Media Optimizer conversion tracking system.

Individual data fields are incorrect, although the totals are correct.

If you create a derived metric with the format Number w/out Decimal Points (which shows data as integers) and include it in a view or a report that uses a weighted conversion attribution rule (Weight First Event More, Weight Last Event More, or Even Distribution), the output will be shown in integers, not decimals, so individual data fields may be incorrect (although the totals will be correct). For example, if an order is divided evenly between three events, one order (rather than 0.33 order) will be attributed to each of the three events. To resolve the issue, change the metric format to Number to 2 Decimal Points.

Similarly, if you have a revenue metric that is sent as in integer, the same issue will occur. (The revenue format is controlled by the conversion tag that submits the data.) To resolve the issue, create a derived metric consisting solely of the revenue metric and with the format Number to 2 Decimal Points, and include it in views and reports rather than the original metric.

My report shows no conversion data.

The report may not include conversion metrics for which conversions occurred.

Performance data in Media Optimizer is different than data in the search engine editor or Facebook.

When the search engine or social network sends updates to previous data (often because they've attributed click fraud to some clicks), Media Optimizer won't update the data unless there is more than a 5% discrepancy and the account manager files a request.

Performance data in Google Analytics is different than data in Media Optimizer reports.

The two systems measure different data, so you should expect to see different data. For example:

• Media Optimizer (and Google AdWords) track clicks, whereas Google Analytics tracks visits per 30-minute browser session. For example, if a user clicks your ad once, clicks the Back button, and then clicks the ad again, Media Optimizer will record two clicks but Google Analytics will record one visit.

• Google Analytics shows all traffic data, whereas Media Optimizer (and Google AdWords) filters invalid clicks (such as excessive, repeated clicks).

• Google Analytics will include click and revenue data for all clicks. Media Optimizer can't track click and revenue data for ads and keywords with incorrect or missing tracking URLs.

When click or revenue data is missing, how I prevent it from affecting future bids?

Click data issues occur when Media Optimizer is out of sync with the ad network; contact Customer Care to manually sync the account. If click data is missing for an entire day, ask your account manager to exclude that day from the cost models.

Revenue data issues can occur because of a tracking or feed file issue; contact Customer Care to investigate the issue. If revenue data is missing for an entire day, ask your account manager to exclude that day from the revenue models.

Why do I see decimal values for a transaction property that should be a natural number (1, 2, and so...

If you ran the report using any conversion attribution rule parameter other than Last Event or First Event, the revenue may be split between multiple events in the conversion path.

In addition, in Transaction Reports, if multiple bid units with different match types have the same transaction ID, the revenue for the tracking ID is split according to the number of clicks on the specified click date.

Monetary data is shown in the wrong format.

By default, all monetary data in reports is shown in the format for US dollars (such as 1,000.00). To display the value in the correct currency format (but without any currency symbols in CSV and TSV formats), add the "Currency" column to the report. If the report includes data for accounts with different currencies, then any "Total" monetary values are simply the sum of all numbers in the column, regardless of currency.

[TanmayMathur]

FAQs About Reports

Specific Reports

The Ad Variation Report doesn't include data for Baidu campaigns.

Baidu doesn't provide the identifier necessary to attribute revenue to an individual ad. Ad-level data is not available for Baidu accounts.

In the Transaction Report, how do I know which transaction property is from a data feed or is tracke...

In a transaction report, you can tell if an included transaction property was tracked by the Media Optimizer conversion tracking pixel if you include the custom column "Tracking URL." Tracking URLs with the Media Optimizer tracking pixel begin with http://pixel.everesttech.net.

The data in my Transaction Report doesn't match the data in my Keyword Report.

When you generate both reports by portfolio, the data will be different if you generate the Keyword Report using historical data (that is, based on the portfolio configuration during the specified dates) rather than data for the current campaigns. When you generate the Transaction Report by portfolio, it includes data for the current campaigns in the portfolio.

Spreadsheet Feeds

Report output includes a mix of date ranges.

This may happen if the feed aggregates data using any data aggregation level other than "Daily."

To resolve the issue, update the spreadsheet feed to include data aggregated daily. This includes updating the report template, generating a report using the template, creating a custom Excel template using the report, and then updating the feed settings to include the new Excel template. For more information, see "Editing Spreadsheet Feeds."

A spreadsheet feed results in an Internal Error.

This may happen if you change the columns in the report template but don't update the Excel template accordingly.

To resolve the issue, update the spreadsheet feed to include the new columns. This includes updating the report template, generating a report using the template, creating a custom Excel template using the report, and then updating the feed settings to include the new Excel template. For more information, see "Editing Spreadsheet Feeds."

When you try to open a spreadsheet feed in Excel, Excel reports an "unreadable content" error, and d...

When the Excel template doesn't sort data by start date in ascending order, the spreadsheet feed may include blank rows. In particular, Excel will report the error "Excel found unreadable content in '<report name>.xlsx.' Do you want to recover the contents of the workbook? If you trust the source of this workbook, click yes." If you click "Yes," you get the following message:  "Removed Records: Cell information from /xl/worksheets/sheet1.xml part," and the spreadsheet feed will include blank rows.

To resolve the issue, edit the Excel template associated with the feed to sort data by Start date in Ascending (Oldest to Newest) order, and then upload the updated template via the spreadsheet feed settings. For more information, see "Editing Spreadsheet Feeds."

[TanmayMathur]

FAQs About Search

General Information

When is click data updated from the search engines?

The process of pulling the previous day's click data from the search engines begins at 06:00 in the advertiser's time zone.

In addition, Google campaign-level performance metrics on the search network for the current day are pulled at 08:00 and 16:00 in the advertiser's time zone.

What actions causes keywords and ads to lose their history?

Note:  (Advertisers with portfolios) Expect the performance of new keyword and match type combinations to be volatile while Media Optimizer gathers data to create new models.

Actions in the Search > Campaign Management views, in the bulksheet posting process, and in the search engine's own editor:

The existing keyword or ad is deleted and another one is created when:

• You edit a keyword name.

• (Google and Microsoft) You change a keyword's match type.

• You move a keyword between ad groups.

• You edit an ad copy (headline/title or description) or an ad image.

• You move an ad between ad groups.

Events in the product inventory feed posting process:

An existing ad or keyword is deleted and another one is created when:

• A feed file contains a new value for a column used in an ad variation.

• The template settings for an ad changed since the last propagation.

• A new feed file includes a row for an ad or keyword that was a) in a previous file but b) has been omitted since then and was paused or deleted according to the feed data settings.

An existing ad or keyword is deleted when the feed data settings stipulate it when:

• A new feed file doesn't include a row for an existing ad or keyword.

• The scheduled end date for the components of a posted feed file occurs.

• The stock level of an item dips below a minimum specified in the feed data settings.

(Google AdWords campaigns) Can I use a shared budget for campaigns in portfolios?

For best results, don't add AdWords campaigns to an AdWords shared budget if they are in optimized portfolios that are configured to "Auto adjust campaign budget limits." If you do, AdWords will override the Media Optimizer optimized campaign budgets, which may lead to bidding inefficiencies.

(Google AdWords campaigns) Can I send mobile and non-mobile users to different landing pages?

You can use the AdWords ValueTrack parameters  {ifmobile} and {ifnotmobile} to determine the domain name of the landing page in one of two ways, as applicable for your sites:

• Include the mobile designation as the host server using {ifmobile:m}{ifnotmobile:www}.
  
  For example, http://{ifmobile:m}{ifnotmobile:www}.example.com will take users to m.example.com when they view a mobile ad and www.example.com when they view a non-mobile ad.

• Include the mobile designation as the top-level domain using {ifmobile:mobi}{ifnotmobile:com}.
  
  For example, http://www.example.{ifmobile:mobi}{ifnotmobile:com} will take users to www.example.mobi when they view a mobile ad and www.example.com when they view a non-mobile ad.

In both cases, the destination URLs or final URLs with Media Optimizer tracking will include the unencoded {} tags and any additional parameters appended to the base URL.

Note:  Don't use a full URL as the value for ifnotmobile and ifmobile parameters; use only the variable part of the URL (such as "m" versus "www," or "mobi" versus "com").

(Google AdWords campaigns on the search network) What data is shown for today?

Google campaign-level performance metrics on the search network for the current day are pulled at 08:00 and 16:00 in the advertiser's time zone.

In the Campaigns tab in the Search > Campaign Management and the Optimization > Portfolios views, when you report on Today or a custom date range that includes the current day, it will include the most recently-pulled data.

Campaign Reports that include the current day and have a data aggregation of "Hourly" will also include the most recently-pulled data.

Note:

• Data for clicks, impressions, and conversions are delayed by three hours and won't be complete until the next data pull.

• Campaign Reports don't show device data by hour. If the report includes the "Device" column, all data for the hour is included in a row with a device value of "N/A."

(Google Merchant Center accounts) How do I set up Media Optimizer tracking for Google product listin...

To allow Media Optimizer to track conversions for Google product listing ads, generate tracking URLs using the Search > Tools > Tracking URLs tool, and add them to the product data by including them in a custom column "adwords_redirect" within the Merchant Center product feed. URLs generated using this method don't include any tracking parameters specified in the Media Optimizer account or campaign settings.

For more information about Google Product Listing Ads, see http://support.google.com/adwords/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2454022.

Why do destination URLs for my ads include "&EV_HASH={<hash>}?"

When you upload ads using an product inventory feed for an account with the Media Optimizer pixel redirect and with keyword- and creative-level tracking, Media Optimizer adds the hash parameter and value to the ad's destination URL to identify that it was created using the inventory feed feature.

(Product inventory feeds) Should I pause or deleted ads that are obsolete or are for a product whose...

It depends on the advertiser's business requirements.

When you pause ads, they will be reactivated if you resubmit the same ad or the stock level goes above the minimum. This allows you to retain the ad's history.

When you delete ads and resubmit them, new ads are created, and historical data will need to be accumulated. If you don't expect to resubmit deleted ads, however, having historical data is not important.

(Product inventory feeds) If I delete an ad template and then create a new, identical one, will miss...

If the next feed file is missing line items and you have not previously posted those line items from the new template via a previous feed file, then the missing line items won't be recognized as "missing," and they won't be created. To avoid this, propagate the previous feed file through the new template and post the data before propagating and posting data from a new file.

(Product inventory feeds) Can I update prices for my products without affecting an ad's quality scor...

For Google campaigns, yes:  Google's {Param 1} and {Param 2} variables allow you to dynamically insert numeric values in an ad variation without deleting and recreating the ad, and therefore without affecting the quality score.

To use Google's {Param 1} or {Param 2} variable for your price data, map the price column in your data file to that variable in the appropriate feed template(s), and then include the variable in your ad variation templates.

For example, if the column is called "Price," then open the feed template that will create the ads, click in the input field next to Param 1, and then click the Price column in the Feeds/Available Columns list, which will insert [Price] as the value for Param 1. Then, in the ad variation template at the bottom of the feed template, insert {param1:default text}, where "default text" is text that will be used if the parameter column in the feed file is empty for an ad row.

[TanmayMathur]

FAQs About Search

Account- and Campaign-related Performance Issues

Some of my campaigns are spending more or less than the campaign budgets.

• (Advertisers with portfolios) This is normal in an optimized portfolio that is configured with the "Auto-adjust campaign budget limits" option. When this option is enabled, you may spend up to N times each campaign's budget, where N is the value of the "Multiple" setting. This option allows Media Optimizer to adjust spending for individual campaigns as necessary while steering the entire portfolio to meet its target.

• If Google AdWords campaigns use a shared budget, AdWords will adjust spending for individual campaigns as necessary to spend the entire shared budget.

Bid Rules (Media Optimizer Standard Only)

Which conversion attribution methods are supported when keyword bids are based on bid rules ?

When you bid according to bid rules, conversions are attributed to the last click.

How do you determine the last known position?

The last known position is the most recent position that was tracked in the previous seven days. Position data is collected from the search engines daily at approximately 06:00 in the advertiser's time zone.

When a keyword has not received an impression in the previous seven days, the Last Known Position column won't have a value. As a result, any action set that includes it as a metric won't be executed.

Data Issues

My campaigns generated from inventory feeds have many orphan transactions.

If the feed data settings are configured to delete ads in various situations, any delayed conversions that occur after clicks on the ad may cause orphan transactions. The best practice is to pause ads instead of to delete them. If an ad still hasn't received any revenue after a long period of time, you can delete it via a bulksheet or the Media Optimizer user interface.

[TanmayMathur]

FAQs About Tracking

Tracking Features

Can I track campaigns that Media Optimizer doesn't manage?

Yes.

If Media Optimizer is accessing one of your search engine or social accounts, it will track click data for all campaigns in that account, and it will also track conversion data if you've added the Media Optimizer redirect to your ad and/or keyword destination URLs and implemented conversion tracking in your conversion pages. Clarify with your account manager which campaigns you want Media Optimizer to simply track and which you want us to manage. Non-managed campaigns won't be added to a portfolio, so no bids will be placed for them.

If you have display campaigns that you want Media Optimizer to track but not manage, you can set up "tracking campaigns" that will track data from any display platform without placing any bids.

Can I track campaigns on platforms that Media Optimizer doesn't support?

Yes. If you have display campaigns on unsupported platforms, you can set up "tracking campaigns" that will track data from those campaigns without placing any bids.

Can Media Optimizer track SEO conversions?

You can view reports showing the total number of page visits (clicks) and associated transactions from non-paid (organic) search listings by search term or by search engine when you track page views on any of your site pages using Media Optimizer JavaScript page view tags.

How do I get multi-event attribution?

If you use pixel-based conversion tracking or combo tracking, Media Optimizer provides multiple options for attributing conversion data across a series of events that lead to a conversion. An advertiser-level setting determines how to attribute conversion data across events, even when they occur across multiple ad channels, as long as the channels allows impression tracking at the event level. By default, conversions are attributed to the last (most recent) event, but the setting can be configured differently, such as to attribute conversions to the first event or to weight all events evenly. Changing the attribution rule will affect how future bids are calculated.

If you use only feed-based conversion tracking, you need to attribute the conversion to the related transaction events yourself.

Note: In reports and (available to some users) custom simulations, you can change the rule used to attribute conversion data within the report results (without affecting how future bids are calculated).

[TanmayMathur]

FAQs About Social Campaigns

General Information

How often does Media Optimizer refresh performance data from the social networks?

Facebook — Media Optimizer refreshes performance data and engagement metrics from Facebook hourly. In addition, each day by 09:00 a.m. in the advertiser's time zone, Media Optimizer refreshes all Facebook data for the previous five days.

Facebook doesn't attribute click and cost data by the hour; Media Optimizer pulls available click and cost data from Facebook hourly and adds an hour stamp accordingly. Data that Facebook takes more than an hour to process is attributed to a later hour, according to when Media Optimizer receives the data.

For new ad sets created via Ad Manager or Power Editor, hourly data is pulled beginning with the next daily sync process (about 18:00 in the user's local time zone). Account managers can manually sync new ad sets when an advertiser-level option to allow synchronization requests is enabled.

Are cost model and revenue model half-life settings used for social bid units?

Yes, currently the portfolio's half-life settings are used to create cost and revenue models for social bid units.

What are my options for tracking unpublished page post ads?

You can track unpublished page posts using either the Facebook Click Tracking Tag or optional URL tags.

The Facebook Click Tracking Tag adds the Media Optimizer redirect to a hidden URL that is executed when the user clicks on the page post URL. When you include an optional URL tag that includes ev_cl={ef_uniqueid}, Facebook adds the Media Optimizer redirect to the page post URL, and appends the unique ID on redirect. Note:  Facebook appends optional URL tags only if the user clicks the URL before taking any other action on the ad, such as liking or sharing it.

You can do any of the following in the Tracking section for the creative:

• To just track clicks on the ad, select the "Facebook Click Tracking Tag" option only.
  
  For link ads, include the tracking within the "Link URL" field in the creative details. You don't need to enter a value in the "Facebook Click Tracking Tag" field unless you want to separately track the click at an additional URL.
  
  For other types of page post ads, enter the tracking URL in the "Facebook Click Tracking Tag" field.

• To append extra parameters to the tracking URL, select the "Facebook Click Tracking Tag" option, and then enter the extra parameters in the "Optional URL Tags" field.

• If the advertiser is integrated with Adobe Analytics, then select the "Post and Ad Level Tracking" option, and then enter the required tracking parameters to share Facebook ad data with Analytics.
  
  Note:  View-through tracking isn't supported for Analytics.

• If you have tracking tags for a third-party analytics tool, select the "Post and Ad Level Tracking" option, and then enter the extra parameters in the "Optional URL Tags" field.

[Jagpreet_Singh_]

Thank you for sharing. This is really informative.