Line Item Management¶
Each line item is associated with a campaign, and they define where and to whom an ad or series of ads is shown.
Line item settings must fall within certain limits inherited from their parent campaign, such as flight times and available budget.
Targeting is set on line items to filter your traffic based on certain Bid Request parameter outlined below (e.g. geo or device targeting).
Pixel tracking is set up on line items to measure impressions and/or other performance metrics.
Line Items List¶
Select in the menu on the left to open the list of line items. On the list you can see all existing line items, their unique numeric IDs, parent campaigns, budgets, current spend, spend forecast, flight dates and statuses. Next to the line item ID there is a checkbox that allows you to bulk update flight dates for line items belonging to the same campaign. You can also edit a line item budget using the edit button in the Forecast/Budget column.
If a line item is active and has delivered for at least one day, you can see spend forecast for this line item in the Forecast/Budget column. The forecast is calculated basing on the historical spend data and shown against the line item budget. The forecast is recalculated regularly as the spend data updates. The color indicates the predicted budget percentage spend:
Green: 95% of the line item budget or more
Yellow: 50-95% of the line item budget
Red: 0-50% of the line item budget
None: the line item is completed or paused
Note
While budget overspend in standard campaigns is rare, it can happen in scenarios when either impression targets are low or there’s a delay between the ‘yes’ bid and the impression itself. For example, in case the delay between the ‘yes’ bid and the impression is longer than 30-90 seconds, overspend can reach around 1% – but never exceed $10.
If you’re worried about overspend, please review your buying strategies with your Technical Account Manager.
The Activate switch allows you to activate or deactivate a line item. The result of this action is immediately reflected in the Status column, switching the line item’s status from Active to Paused or the other way around. Line items with the Paused status won’t trade.
To be assigned the Active status, a line item must have at least one creative attached for actual media trading to take place. If a line item has not started yet or has already ended, it cannot be activated either.
A line item can have one of the following statuses:
Active - The line item is active and delivering
Complete - The line item is past its end date, no longer delivering
Paused - The line item won’t deliver until activated
Scheduled - The line item will start delivering on its start date
Information on existing line items can be exported into an .xlsx table and saved on your computer. The table reproduces all the columns present in the BidCore UI. Press Download XLSX on the top of the line items list to download and save the file.
You can filter the list using the Search function to return any partially matching line item name or ID. Use the dropdown and menus next to the search field to filter the line items list by advertiser and campaign.
You can create a new line item fully duplicating the settings of an existing one by using the content_copy button. You will be able to set the name of the new line item and its flight dates in the pop-up window prompted by the system.
Creating a Line Item¶
To create a line item, select and proceed as follows.
Overview¶
The Overview block includes the following sections.
Key Details
Enter the line item Name into the relevant field.
Assign the line iItem to a Campaign.
Select traffic types for the line item from the Traffic Type dropdown list. Note that you are not limited by one traffic type.
Select the Ad Type for the line item. The ad type defines what creative type can be assigned to this line item.
If Display or Video ad type is selected, you can enable Viewability Measurement for all creatives assigned to this line item by activating the appropriate switch.
If Video ad type is selected, you are also given access to an additional set of targeting tools unique to video ads. There are the following tools available:
Set a Minimum Predicted Viewability (MOAT) value if you want to bid only on requests with viewability equal or above this value. See Moat Prebid Viewability for more information.
Timing
Set the Start Date/End Date and Time. Make sure they fall within the parent campaign’s flight start/end dates and time.
Set a Time zone for your line item. By default the time zone is inherited from the parent campaign.
Budget
Set the budget type for the line item by selecting Total Budget (selected by default), Daily Budget, or Monthly Budget option. Note: monthly budget is set to be spent by the last day of a calendar month, even if the line item starts mid-month.
Fees
Set client custom fees (up to 5) if needed, more information can be found in the Budget Management section.
Frequency Cap
Set a frequency capping limit if necessary.
Press Next to proceed to the next block.
Assign Creatives¶
Select creatives you want to assign to the line item from the dropdown list. Creative types available for the line item are defined by the chosen ad type. For example, if you have chosen Display ad type, you won’t be able to assign Video creatives to the line item.
Press Next to proceed to the next block.
Buying Strategy¶
Set the buying strategy for the line item, for more strategy information see the Budget Optimization Strategies section.
Set the budget you want to give this line item. Note: The budget must fall within the budget still available to the campaign.
The total budget of all line items assigned to a campaign cannot exceed the campaign budget in case it is set on the campaign level. BidCore automatically stops buying for all line items assigned to a campaign when the campaign spend equals the planned spend. See the Budget Management section for more details.
Assign tracking pixels to the line item and customize them.
You can assign pixels to a line item in the Event tracking section. A typical CPA campaign requires at least 3 pixels: for landings, for funnel conversions (landing - some other page - final action) and for final conversions (often server-2-server - a buy, for example).
In the beginning it would make sense to optimize funnel conversions, then final conversions when there is a sufficient amount of them. Whichever pixel is selected for optimization, it will be used in the predict model for the chosen type of event.
If you choose a CPA optimization strategy for your line item and don’t select any pixel for optimization, the system will behave as if there is zero probability of any type of event. Make sure you have assigned at least one pixel to a CPA line item.
See the Pixel Management section for a detailed guide on pixel management in BidCore.
Press Next to proceed to the next block.
Targetings¶
Associate your desired targeting settings with the line item.
Press Next to proceed to the next block.
Review and Submit¶
Review all the line item settings and press Submit to save the line item.
Once the line item is configured with all of the required settings, you can edit its details if needed. You can also stop all line items by setting their parent campaign to Inactive.
Note
When editing an existing line item, you can save changes you made at once, without using the Next Step option to switch between the line item customization blocks. Just make the necessary edits and press the Update button on the bottom.