gam.md

Agenda

• Criteria
• Data layer
• Targeting
• Google Ad Manager set-up
• Testing
• Debugging
• Demo
• Documentation

Criteria

1. Target using information from data layer
2. Target by navcode, storycode, url anything else
3. Use custom functions to get data and use googletag setTargeting method to pass to GAM

Data layer

We output the dataLayer object which contains the data needed from stories / navigation, logged in / out. This is then picked up by various functions and then passed down to GAM for targeting.

Targeting

• Two-step
  • data has to come from site and passed to GAM
  • GAM matches line-item with criteria and serves ad-unit

WebVision

In WebVision CMS add the below functions to Global_JavaScript Head page text.

<script>
  function getDataLayerVal(keyVal) {
    for (var i = 0; i < window.dataLayer.length; i++) {
      if (dataLayer[i][keyVal] !== undefined) {
        return dataLayer[i][keyVal];
      }
    }
  }
  function getFullNavPath() {
    if(getArrayVal('FullNavPath') !== undefined) {
    	getArrayVal('FullNavPath').split('|').join(' ').trim();
	 }
  }
  function isMicrosite() {
    return document.body.classList.contains('microsite')
  }
</script>

Targeting can be done by calling getDataLayerVal function and passing a value of what to look for in the data layer e.g. getDataLayerVal('LoggedIn') which will return either 'True' or 'False'. This data can then be used in GAM to target specific line-items.

The same process can be used for other items needing to be targeted with the data layer.

By SPIN (section)

googletag.pubads().setTargeting('navcode', getDataLayerVal('NavCode'));

The data passed to GAM will be the type of stringand will be numerical e.g. "13609"

By Article (story) ID

googletag.pubads().setTargeting('storycode', getDataLayerVal('StoryID'));

If you are on a story page the data passed to GAM will be the type of stringand will be numerical e.g. "1003404". Otherwise, the value will be undefined.

By slug

googletag.pubads().setTargeting('slug', document.location.pathname.substr(document.location.pathname.lastIndexOf('/')));

This will return a string that will be the value from the last forward slash from the url e.g. "/1051.bio". This is useful for non-spin and non-article related pages for example, biography and contacts.

By section

googletag.pubads().setTargeting('FullNavPath', getFullNavPath());

This requires a custom function to pass the value in a transformed way that Ad manager can then consume. GAM should then use this with a match filter using the tilde symbol ~.

Is microsite?

googletag.pubads().setTargeting('isMicrosite', isMicrosite());

This function checks and returns a Boolean (true or false) if the page being viewed is a microsite. This can be used in combination with navcode or event fullnavpath to apply targeting.

GAM

Terminology

• Ad-unit
• Line-items
• Creatives
• Creative template

Once targeting has been set we need to create a new key in GAM, collect the value passed i.e. 'True' or 'False' and add that as a targeting criteria to the line-item

Debugging

Often you may need to debug why some targeting insn't working. For that we can use the debugger. Using this will allow you to see why a certain line-tem that you've targeted ins't working.

Demo

You will only need to follow the below steps if a new targeting criteria is going to be set-up. Often the default NavCode, StoryID and LoggedIn are more than sufficient to target articles / spin pages in GAM

1. create a new function to pass the information to googletag
2. use setTargeting to pass the data to GAM with a key
3. in GAM create a new key that matches in step 2 above
4. add the key to the line-item using the targeting criteria

Documentation

1. Help center
2. Jira
3. How ad selection works