What is the Web crawler?

A web crawler (also known as an automatic indexer, bot, Web spider, Web robot) is a software program which visits Web pages in a methodical, automated manner.

This process is called Web crawling or spidering, and the resulting data is used for various purposes, including building indexes for search engines, validating that ads are being displayed in the appropriate context, and detecting malicious code on compromised web servers.

Many web crawlers will politely identify themselves via their user-agent string, which provides a reliable way of excluding a significant amount of non-human traffic from advertising metrics. The IAB (in conjunction with ABCe) maintains a list of known user-agent strings as the Spiders and Bots list. However, those web crawlers attempting to discover malicious code often must attempt to appear to be human traffic, which requires secondary, behavioral filtering to detect.

Most web crawlers will respect a file called robots.txt, hosted in the root of a web site. This file informs the web crawler which directories should and shouldn't be indexed, but does not enact any actual access restrictions.

Technically, a web crawler is a specific type of bot, or software agent.

Ad Serving Options

Ad Serving Options 

There are two methods by which the winning bidder can return ad markup to the exchange. In either case, the ad markup is either XHTML if the bidder is responding with a banner or VAST XML if responding with a VAST video.

1 Ad Served on the Win Notice

In this method, ad markup is returned to the exchange is via the win notice. In this case, the

response body of the win notice call (e.g., invoking the “nurl” attribute) contains the ad markup

and only the ad markup; there must be no other structured data in the response body. Using

this method, the “adm” attribute in the “bid” object must be omitted.

2 Ad Served in the Bid

In this method, ad markup is returned directly in the bid itself. This is accomplished via the

“adm” attribute in the “bid” object. If both the “adm” attribute and win notice return data, the

“adm” contents will take precedence.

3 Comparison of Ad Serving Approaches

Each of the ad serving methods has its own advantages that may be of varying importance to

either the exchange or the bidder.

            3.1 Ad Served in the Bid

                   1   Potential Concurrency: The exchange can choose to return that ad markup and
                        call the win notice concurrently, thereby improving user experience.

                   2  Reduced Risk of Forfeiture: A forfeit is the scenario in which a bidder wins, but

                       forfeits due to technical failure serving the ad. This can occur when serving on

                       the win notice (e.g., win notice call failure), but is mitigated by including the ad

                       in the bid.

               

            3.2 Ad Served on the Win Notice

1 Reduced Bandwidth Costs: Serving ad markup only upon winning can save large

                    amounts of bandwidth usage, the costs for which can mount up over high volumes.

2 Additional Bidder Flexibility: Bidders may typically know the ad they will serve

                           at the time of bid, but this provides an additional optional decision point after

                           the settlement price has been established.

Mobile Interstitial

Banners are small ads that when touched typically take the user to some form of full-screen in-app browsing experience.

Interstitials, on the other hand, immediately present rich HTML5 experiences or "web apps" at natural app transition points such as launch, video pre-roll or game level load. Web apps are in-app browsing experiences with a simple close button rather than any navigation bar—the content provides its own internal navigation scheme. Interstitial ads are typically more expensive and subject to impression constraints.

Ad trafficker faced below Interview Questions?

Dilemma 1: Why are my ads not getting more clicks and what can you do about it?

Ad traffickers often take on too much responsibility for the success of a campaign. Whether this because we are the first ones under scrutiny if something goes wrong, or because we have such granular control in our ad servers that we feel like we can change a campaigns destiny, the most important move in this situation is to establish boundaries around the functional areas of ad trafficking. It's crucial to identify all of the other variables which will impact an ads performance but are outside of your control.

For instance, as the trafficker we are responsible for scheduling the ad to deliver a number of impressions over periods of time, or flights to a particular part of the website.  As part of that function we will be monitoring each campaign to ensure that its delivery is on target. If a campaign is not delivering on target we should notify the account manager in order to make the necessary adjustments to impressions across the various flight dates or by adjusting other parts of the campaign's targeting such as geo-targeting or zone targeting. We would then be effectively using the tools that are part of the ad trafficker's function to help improve the campaigns performance. That said, there are many other variables beyond the function of the ad trafficker and I believe ultimately that these elements -- such as creative size, messaging, offer and "intrusiveness" in relation to the visitor of your website -- have a greater impact on an ad's effectiveness beyond meeting impression goals. The insight you can provide in relation to these so-called "creative and marketing variables" will certainly make you an invaluable part of the team. However, keep in mind that the team includes the account manager and client partner -- the people who ultimately control these "creative and marketing variables."

Dilemma 2: I thought I asked you to run this many impressions? Why didn't you do that?

This dilemma revolves around client frustration related to "What happened? This isn't what I asked you to do." What I have learned in working with people across various organizations and functional areas is that you need to document all requests and file them in an easily retrievable system for yourself, because as the ad trafficker, you are the last person in the process chain. This is more so if you are working in a fast-pace culture where processes are casual. Personally, I ask that all requests be made by email and I create folders to file and save every email related to each project.

As an ad-trafficker, you will be implementing and monitoring multiple campaigns. Some campaigns may only run for a month while others will be up and running for several months with many flight and creative changes. Over that time, you may have discussions with the account manager and the client about delivery rates, impression re-allocations and targeting and creative changes. Be aware that everyone else is simultaneously dealing with other business priorities. Decisions will have been made and changes committed to, but as a responsible ad trafficker, the task should fall on you to document all changes to a campaign. The next time someone says "What happened? This isn't what I asked you to do," you can respond "Yes it was. Here's that email discussion we had four months ago outlining your request and our discussion about it." You will find that once the client is reminded of what changes were made, any misunderstanding and frustration is quickly diffused.

Dilemma 3: Am I just an ad ops person? It feels like I'm the SEO/Project Manager/Analytics/Executive Assistant.

It can be overwhelming, but ad ops is usually the nexus of an organization. For example, if you are in online media, as the ad ops trafficker, you will be working with sales and their clients, editorial and web development teams and accounting. Many ad trafficking candidates are generalists, who have dabbled in web development, online marketing or sales and customer service.  Our generalist experience gives us a degree of technical facility coupled with the people skills to service clients (internal or external). As such, we are often the go to person for answers because we are involved in so many facets of an organization. Do yourself a favor and start to see yourself as an ad ops specialist. A good ad ops person is well versed in a number of tools and skills, but should not aspire to be the jack-of-all-trades for the entire organization. If there is an analytics guy, defer all analytics questions to him. If there is a project manager, defer all web development questions to her. Your role is a vitally important one: You ensure the provision of accurate ad-related information that will help sales sell, as well as maintain the quality and integrity of your websites ad infrastructure and provide exceptional client service.

Ref From below person
Derrick Hoang is an ad operations manager in Toronto, Canada.

Online Privacy Alliance (OPA) & Online Publishers' Association (OPA)

Online Privacy Alliance (OPA)

A group of corporations and associations who have come together to introduce and promote business-wide actions that create an environment of trust and foster the protection of individuals' privacy online. See privacyalliance.org for more information.

 Online Publishers' Association (OPA)

Trade association representing a segment of online publishers. See the Online-Publishers.org for more information.

What is Overlay? What is Overlay Ad?

An overlay is a media element that 'floats' above other content. This could be text floating over video, or an expanding banner ad expanding over page content.

Overlay Ad
A banner ad that appears in the bottom 20% of the video window. Click action initiates a Linear video spot or takes the user to a website. Sold on a CPM and CPC basis.

IP-based geo-targeting

IP-based geo-targeted advertising is delivered to a user’s geographic location as determined by his or her Internet Protocol (IP) address.

What is Internet service provider(IPS)?

An internet service provider (ISP) is a business or organization that provides internet access and related services.

Typically, internet access is provided by a class of ISPs called access providers who focus on provide a connection via dial-up, DSL, cable internet, FTH, or other, similar technologies. An access provider may choose different technologies based on whether thye focus more on home users or business clients.

Other types of ISPs include transit ISPs who provide internet access to smaller ISPs and hosting ISPs who provide internet access for servers.

What is ITV (Interactive Television)?

Any technology that allows for two-way communication between the audience and the television service provider (such as the broadcaster, cable operator, set-top box manufacturer).

What is Click-stream?

1) The electronic path a user takes while navigating from site to site, and from page to page within a site; 

2) A comprehensive body of data describing the sequence of activity between a user’s browser and any other Internet resource, such as a Web site or third party ad server.