Prerequisites:

1. a product catalogue in XML, JSON, CSV, or API format
2. the DSP, SSP, or a recommendation system

Here is an example of the product catalog that we will be using in this tutorial. It has the product ID column, product description, product image, landing URL, etc.

Now, let’s create a BigTable connection for our product catalog. The BigTable is used when you have more than 100 products (it can even be used if you have 100 million products in your catalog).

Enter the product catalog URL (in our case, it will be the CSV file that is hosted on a website). Select CSV, refresh once per day (BannerNow will update all the product info daily). In the Advanced Settings, enter the Item Primary Key that matches the product ID column in your product catalog.

Our BigTable connection is now active, and it will automatically update the product data daily

Now, let’s create a Data Feed

Select BigTable as the source

Select the BigTable that we have just created

Select all the fields that will be used in the banner (like price, image, …)

Next, create a banner

Select a Bannerset

Select the Feed that we have just created

Next, bind all the items in your banner to the feed data

In this tutorial, we will be creating a banner that displays 2 different products.
For the first product, we will set Fixed Line to ON and the Row Number = 1

The same for the image, button, description and the landing URL:

And for the second product, simply set the Row Number = 2

Save the Banner and click Preview

In the Preview panel, you can input different product IDs to test the banner.
For example, entering 2,3 will load the products with ID 1 and ID 2 from the BigTable

Then click Publish

Next:

Select the Ad Network (in this tutorial, we’ll be using Google Ad Manager).
If you don’t need any Ad Network simply select the BannerNow from the Ad Networks list

In the Ad Tag generation panel, there is an additional input called Feed Items IDs where you can input the product IDs separated with the comma (,) or use the macros from the Ad Network.

For the Google Ad Manager, this macro will be %%PATTERN:key%% where the key can be replaced with the “product” if you’re targeting products or “segment” if you’re targeting a specific audience segment.
For another Ad Network, it will have a different format.

Next, copy/paste the Ad Tag in the Ad Network (DSP/SSP).
Here is a tutorial for the Google Ad Manager third-party Ad Tag publishing:

For the Google Ad Manager Unit, the setTargeting method needs to be added after addService():

googletag.defineSlot("/1234/adunit1/adunit2", [728, 90], "div-gpt-ad-123456789-0")
.addService(googletag.pubads())
.setTargeting("product", "5,8");

Obviously, the setTargeting method values should be dynamic (usually this is managed by the recommendation system), so simply update the Google Tag JavaScript code to use the product IDs from the recomendation system (or simply read the first-party cookies or the Local Storage where the product IDs that the user visited are stored).

Feel free to contact us if you you need any help with the retargeting setup.

Google Ad Manager step-by-step remarketing integration:

Here is a quick overview of how this feature works:

1. The user opens a website with the banner. The website (or the DSP/SSP platform on the website) loads the BannerNow Ad Tag and passes the segment this user belongs to.
   For example, &segment=age18-20 (where the segment value will be different for each website user).
   Basically, the website or DSP/SSP should know the segment the user belongs to before the banner starts rendering
2. Once banner is rendered using the additional Ad Tag parameter, it tries to search for the segment value match in the Feed connected to the banner.
3. If a match is found, it will display the data from the same feed/table row where the match was found.

Let’s create a Google Spreadsheet and use it as a data source for this tutorial.
The Age column will represent the Segment values

Next, click the Share button located in the top right corner.
Choose the Anyone with the link option to make your feed public, then click Done.
Now, this spreadsheet can be used as a feed data source in BannerNow.

Let’s return to BannerNow -> Data -> Feeds tab. Click Create new feed button.

Select the Google Spreadsheet option.

Next, copy/paste the spreadsheet URL (the link from Google Sheets), and enable the targeting option.

Choose the columns from the feed that you want to display in your ad.

In the Targeting tab, click Add New Rule.
Rule Type: INCLUDE
Rule match type: SEGMENT ( string, = )
Column from our table to match: age

Now it’s time to build a creative.

Select the Bannerset format.

In the pop-up modal, select the feed that we have just created and click Create.

After creating your design, you need to bind the feed data to the element values (images, texts, landing URLs).

To do this, select the text element and click on the feed icon to bind the text value to the feed data.

Select the column you want to display for a specific text element.
Also, select the Fixed Line option and set the Row Number = 1
This will ensure that if no match is found, it will take only the first row from our feed (which in our case is the default one).

Perform the same action for each dynamic element in the design.

Don’t forget to bind the Landing Page URL (Global settings) to the Landing URL from the Feed

Save your creative and click Publish.

Select the sizes you want to publish and click Next

Pick the Ad Network where the banner should be published.
If you just plan to use it on your website (without SSP/DSP), then select the BannerNow Ad Network

The Ad Tag is now generated for your banner.
Next, we need to add the &segment= to our Ad Tag:

Because the segment will be dynamically replaced for each end-user, we suggest you to use the Macros.
A Macro is a special string that can be easily replaced in the code with the real value.
For example, &segment=%%segment%% (where the %%segment%% is the string macro that will be replaced by the SSP/DSP or your website).
Each Ad Network has its own format for the segment macros, so please check the Ad Network documentation to find the right macros format.

If you plan to replace it with the code on your website, then just use the default %%segment%%

For example, the BannerNow Ad Tag will look like:

<script src="https://storage.bannernow.com/MVDq2PxpdlGOk5Axgea8ryZeQb7LWBwKgMqbFFb2Gk/embed.js?responsive=0&bnTag=&segment=%%segment%%" async></script>

And on your website, once the %%segment%% is replaced with the real value, it should look like this:

<script src="https://storage.bannernow.com/MVDq2PxpdlGOk5Axgea8ryZeQb7LWBwKgMqbFFb2Gk/embed.js?responsive=0&bnTag=&segment=age18-22" async></script>

or like this for another website end-user:

<script src="https://storage.bannernow.com/MVDq2PxpdlGOk5Axgea8ryZeQb7LWBwKgMqbFFb2Gk/embed.js?responsive=0&bnTag=&segment=age55-60" async></script>

1. Let’s create a Real Estate spreadsheet document and use it as a data source for this tutorial. Add a City and Zip code columns to your feed so we can match these values to user’s data later.

2. Publish your Google document to the web ( File->Publish to the web… ).

3. Copy the Google Sheet URL from the browser tab (don’t use the one from the “publish to the web” modal).

4. Add an ID from your google sheet URL to https://gconv.bannernow.com/?id=

Note: If you want to use a specific sheet from your document then add the &sheet=2 (number of the sheet)

https://gconv.bannernow.com/?id=1Y_yMUxJHS00vUvCj1Cvd-ZqP8SMbzSdx44JxKh69OgE&sheet=2

5. This URL can now be used to create a feed on BannerNow. Don’t forget to select “Enable Targeting” checkbox.

6. Select the columns that you want to use in your ads and check “Unify results” checkbox (required for google spreadsheet). You will see the “Products” preview in the panel on the right side.

7. Now let’s add the targeting rules to our feed. Switch to Targeting tab and click “Add New Rule” button.

8. Set rule type to “Include” – means include ONLY results that match targeting rule (all other results/products will be excluded from the feed when ad is loaded).

Then select “City” in the dropdown on the left side, then cast as “String” equals and the second dropdown – attribute(column) from our feed – “city”.

This means that if user loads the Ad on some website and he is from the New York city – the Ad will try to find the product that has the attribute value that matches user’s data (product with city = New York) and all other products will be excluded from the feed.

As a result user will see the Ad with New York city real estate product that matched his geo targeting.

If none of the rules matches user’s data then feed will be not filtered and user will see the first product from the original feed.

1. Let’s start by clicking on the Campaigns menu, Decision trees tab and Create New Decision Tree button.

2. Rename the Decision Tree title and click Create.

3. On the left side of the decision tree interface, you’ll find a list of dynamic conditions that you can use to create rules for displaying different creatives to different users.

Let’s walk through an example: select Country.

4. Once you’ve selected Country, you can choose from a list of available countries in the dropdown menu. Simply select the country you want to create a rule for, and the decision tree interface will guide you through the process of assigning creatives variations for users from that country.

5. To add a new decision node for another country, click Plus and from the drop down menu select another country.

6. A key advantage of using a decision tree is its flexibility. You can tailor your ad campaigns to specific audiences by adding even more granularity, such as targeting users based on their state.

To do this, simply click the Plus icon next to the country and select State from the dropdown menu. This allows you to create rules based on the user’s state.

7. From the dropdown menu (on the right side) select a state (for example California). This means that your show a specific ad to people from California.

8. You can also add City, Zip, Device, Browser, Language and ISP rules.

9. Let’s add a language rule. As we did before, set up your languages from the dropdown menu.

10. By adding multiple languages to your decision tree, you can ensure that users see ads in the language they prefer, resulting in a more personalized and effective ad experience. 

To add another language, simply click on the Plus icon and select languages from the dropdown menu.

11. Now, let’s assign creative sets to which these conditions/rules will be applied.

12. Choose the creative sizes you want to include and click Add. Once you publish your decision tree, an embed code will be generated for each size you’ve selected.

13. Assign a creative set for each rule in your tree. For example for country United States and state California for 300×250 container select Bannerset1 and for country Canada and language fr-FR for 300×250 select Bannerset2 and so on…

14. After assigning creative sets to all rules go to the Publish tag to see the Ad Tags / Embed codes for your placeholders.