Actionable Log Files

Actionable Log Files allow you to capture media data from ad server log files and use the data to create traits in Audience Manager. Capture impressions, clicks, and conversions from ad servers as traits without having to append pixels.

Purpose

Actionable Log Files streamline the way you capture impressions, clicks, and conversions from ad servers. Use this information for user segmentation without having to manually pixel media to send campaign attributes to Audience Manager.

Getting started

To get started with Actionable Log Files, you need to import log data into Audience Manager. The following links will help you get started:

If you are already importing log data into Audience Manager, ask your Audience Manager consultant or Customer Care to enable Actionable Log Files for you.

Working with Actionable Log Files

With Actionable Log Files, the information from ad server logs is captured in Audience Manager the same way that you would capture data from real-time website interactions. Audience Manager connects to your ad server log storage, parses the information from the logs, and sends the log data as actionable signals to our Data Collection Servers.

You still need to set up rule-based traits to capture the actionable signals. See how to set up rule-based traits either in the Audience Manager user interface or using our Bulk Management Tools. Scroll down to the Actionable Signals section for a list of all the keys you can use in rule-based traits.

Actionable Signals

Signals are the smallest data units in Audience Manager. Actionable Log Files allow you to capture advertiser, business unit, creative, and campaign values in impression events, click events, and conversion events as signals from ad server logs.

Remember, in order to use this information for audience creation and segmentation, you need to set up the rule-based traits yourself.

Actionable Signals from Google Campaign Manager logs

The table lists the actionable signals from Google Campaign Manager log files:

The signals described in the table are captured in Audience Manager like a real-time HTTP call. The example call below contains information on a conversion event from Google Campaign Manager. Calls do not necessarily have to include all the signals in the example call.

https://yourcompany.demdex.net?d_src=743&d_uuid=07955261652886032950143702505894272138&d_time=1504536233&d_event=conv&d_conversion=24122&d_conversionType=2&d_bu=3983524&d_campaign=7321391&d_adsrc=11111&d_creative=123456

For an average-sized Google Campaign Manager log file of 2 million lines, any traits created from actionable signals are realized within approximately one hour after we process the logs.

Actionable Signals from Google Ad Manager logs

The table lists the actionable signals from Google Ad Manager log files:

The signals described in the table are captured in Audience Manager like a real-time HTTP call. The example call below contains information on a conversion event from Google Ad Manager. Calls do not necessarily have to include all the signals in the example call.

https://yourcompany.demdex.net?d_src=743&d_uuid=07955261652886032950143702505894272138&d_time=1504536233&d_event=conv&d_lineitem=112&d_orderid=22223&d_creative=3983524

Actionable Signals from Adobe Advertising Cloud, Flashtalking, and Sizmek ad server logs

First, you must deposit your ad server logs in our Amazon S3 buckets. To accomplish this, read Data Files for Audience Optimization Reports and Actionable Log Files and contact your Audience Manager consultant. The table lists the actionable signals from ad server log files:

The signals described in the table are captured in Audience Manager like a real-time HTTP call. Calls do not necessarily have to include all the signals in the example call.

https://yourcompany.demdex.net?d_src=743&d_uuid=07955261652886032950143702505894272138&d_time=1504536233&d_activity=1234&d_creative=24122&d_placemebt=3442&d_bu=3983524&d_campaign=7321391&d_adsrc=11111

Working with Actionable Signals in the Audience Manager User Interface

You can view your incoming actionable signals in the Signals Search interface.

Go to Audience Data (1) > Signals (2) > Search (3) and select the Actionable Log Files (4) filter.

To create rule-based traits using your actionable signals, select Actionable Log Files (1), select the actionable signals that you want to use as trait rules (2), and press Create Trait from Selected Signals (3).

Use Cases

One benefit of implementing Actionable Log Files is the option to apply recency and frequency controls to any rule-based traits that contain actionable signals. This allows you, for example, to frequency cap the number of times a user is shown a particular creative, within a media campaign. Read Instant Cross-Device Suppression to learn how to do this. Other use cases include:

Retarget Users

Retarget users who saw creative 123 but didn’t click or convert and show them creative 456. Do this:

Use Google Campaign Manager Floodlight Activity in the Audience Optimization Reports or in Audience Lab

Floodlight tags enable advertisers to track user conversions. With Actionable Log Files, you can track the Google Campaign Manager conversions in the Audience Optimization Reports or in Audience Lab: