Developments in online marketing cannot really be planned. In this respect, AdChecker is a good example.
Jan Rauscher is responsible for product development at maanto. Here, Jan provides a look back at 8 years of development history of the AdSuite module “AdChecker” and describes the current impact of the DSGVO on this topic.
It was originally designed in 2012 to check advertising activities for compliance with specifications. A lot has changed and progressed since then …
Such as the technical basics of advertising content. Where we once checked for Javascript errors and the meanwhile extinct Flash format, today HTML5 or VAST is validated. Advertising materials are hopefully delivered in an SSL-encrypted and compressed format.
Something else that’s changed: the complexity. Campaigns are becoming more fragmented and generally more dynamic. Even the creatives themselves are becoming more complex.
An image file, an impression and click tracker has now become a virtual composition of web libraries, CDNs and technical measurement service providers.
Instead of the “technically feasible”, the maxim is now the “perfect advertising experience for the user” – with complete transparency for the advertiser at the same time.
“Don’t be evil” was yesterday
Are advalidation tools like AdChecker even necessary anymore when almost everything is written down in specifications, guidelines or self-commitments?
Apparently so. The multitude of systems involved in ad delivery still offers room for many problems despite numerous standardization efforts …
Jan Rauscher
“AdChecker has been subject to major changes since it start in 2010 reflecting considerable requirement changes in the ad tech industry.”
The cascade of delivering and measuring systems complicates troubleshooting in the delivery chain.
Heterogeneous requirements make the situation even more difficult: In the balancing act between the lowest common denominator (publisher specifications) and the advertiser’s desire for creative advertising content, it is impossible to please everyone.
It’s all down to dosage
Even if every delivering system sticks to the rules: This can still lead to poor loading behavior or errors on the whole. Neither a glance at the first delivered redirect nor at the final result displayed is sufficient to recognize this. The entire development process is relevant.
What about transparency for publishers and advertising sales houses?
They’re the first contact for the loading behavior of website and advertising. They are often held responsible for the entire chain of redirects and Javascript code, which keep the client browsers very busy.
Since 2015, AdChecker has therefore been looking at every single request and logging the loading behavior. All relevant technical matters seemed to be covered.
Over time, however, AdChecker clients developed an increasing interest in new issues: Instead of “How fast does the advertisement load?”, the question at some point became “Who is sitting at the data table and perhaps has their own agenda?” Topics such as cookie dropping or an extremely long lifespan of cookies increasingly came to the fore.
From “sense of responsibility” to “liability”
With the increased focus on data protection aspects and at the latest in the context of the DSGVO and ePrivacy, it is no longer just a question of meaningfulness. Uncertainty is spreading: Is data collection permissible? Is there a risk of liability for downstream stages of the ad supply chain?
AdChecker takes this uncertainty into account by identifying the technical service providers (“Provider Detection”). It quickly shows which third-party systems interact with the user’s browser during the loading process. To do this, the analysis follows each individual request, in the case of VAST also the tracking events and MediaFile URLs.
If unwanted service providers are found during the daily checks of all active advertising activities, the warning lights in AdChecker come on.
But with a simple blacklist you quickly reach your limits.
Yes. No. Maybe?
What are the unwanted systems? What should happen if a remarketing pixel is unproblematic as long as client A uses it, but is regarded critically in the hands of client B? And what should happen with new, previously unknown providers?
In order to ensure the functionality and revenue potential of the advertising delivery, you should be able to agree individually with your direct clients and agencies on the service providers used.
In spring 2018, we therefore gave AdChecker a function for managing so-called “tracking contracts”. For each client/agency constellation, you can specify which systems are to be used.
If everyone involved sticks to it, AdChecker shows only green lights.
But red means “stop!”
But more about that another time.