DATA FEEDS

A data or product feed is a file that contains information about your products or services which can be used in your ads. When your data feed is updated with new info, your ads will also be updated. A data feed might only contain a few products or it could contain thousands.

Requirements

Supported Feed Types

Feed Hosting

There are several options when it comes to using data feeds. Wherever your feed comes from, be sure to check that the provided file type is compatible with the Adacado platform.

Feed Provider

There are many services that can create product feeds based on your website’s content. Searching the web for “product data feed service” will be sure to give you plenty of options to choose from. The benefits of using a feed provider are increased flexibility and ease of use, making this a great option, particularly for websites with many products or services with frequently changing information.

Export From Ecommerce Platform

Many eCommerce platforms, such as Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, and Squarespace, provide ways to export product data as files that can be used as Adacado data feeds. Some platforms also have plugins that automate the process for you so that when you update products on your site, the feed is automatically updated! 

Click here to learn more about how to create dynamic display ads with Shopify product inventory.

Make Your Own

A very common (and very free!) option is to create your own feed using a spreadsheet. This option works best when you only have a few products or services you want to advertise. Doing this, paired with hosting it in Google Sheets is the easiest way to work with product data.

Still No Feed?

You can create a simple ad with one set of text and/or images, these types of ads don’t require a data feed. Check out our guide on creating static ads.

Data Feed Configuration

To start configuring your data feed, access the “Campaign Products Settings” page by clicking “Product Data” in the campaign drop-down menu in the header or the “Product Data” tab in the footer.

Advertiser Data Feed Configuration

When you set up a data feed configuration for an advertiser’s first campaign, the configuration and products are saved to the advertiser and the product data is available to all campaigns for that advertiser. These products are called advertiser products because they can be used in all the campaigns of that advertiser. 

Campaign-Specific Data Feed Configuration

If you are creating multiple campaigns for an advertiser, and you want to use entirely different data for a campaign, you can choose to use a separate feed for a particular campaign. In the “Campaign Product Settings”, select “Add and use products only for this campaign”.

Data Settings

On the “Campaign Product Settings” page, you will first need to choose a protocol in the dropdown menu, HTTP/HTTPs or FTP, to get your data feed. Currently, Adacado does not support SFTP.

Feed URLs With HTTP/HTTPs

Choose this method if your data feed can be accessed as a URL beginning with the letters “HTTP” or “HTTPS”. If you are using a Google Sheet, this is the method to choose. 

Enter the data feed URL in the field to the right of the protocol selection and click “Fetch Sample”.

Feed Hosting on FTP

If your feed is being stored on an FTP server then this is the option to choose. 

Enter your FTP credentials. You will need the Host Address, Username, Password and File Path. See the image below for an example of what the FTP credentials might look like.

If your data feed file is in the root directory of the FTP then simply enter the filename and extension into the File Path field. If your file is located within a sub-directory of the FTP, enter the path to your file as in the example below.

Click “Fetch Sample” after entering the FTP credentials.

As soon as you click “Fetch Sample”, the Adacado system automatically detects the data delimiter and data fields in your data feed and attempts to map Adacado’s data fields to the data in your feed.

Data Delimiter

A delimiter is a sequence of one or more characters that specifies where the boundary between separate regions should be. For example, a comma or a tab to separate these distinct values. If your file format is a CSV/Google Sheet (comma-separated values), “By comma” will be automatically selected. If “Custom” is selected, you need to manually enter the delimiter.

Mapping a Data Feed

To bring your product information into Adacado, you will need to map Adacado’s pre-defined data fields to the columns/headers in your feed. This is an important process as the data fields you use will determine the product data available to use in your ads both visually and in terms of campaign objectives like retargeting.

If you are using a Google XML feed, then the system will automatically map your data and you can skip this step.

Data Fields

Data Fields in Adacado are predefined labels that you can associate with the columns/headers in your feed. The available Data Fields will vary depending on the advertiser’s business type.

The following table shows examples of how a data feed might be mapped to Adacado Data Fields.

Mapping Data Fields

Map Relevant Fields

When you add a feed URL or enter your FTP credential, Adacado will attempt to automatically map the relevant data fields to the headers of your data feed.

Make sure to double-check that Adacado’s data fields have been mapped to the correct columns. Data fields can be added, moved, or removed from the column headers. Drag the data fields around until all the important data in your feed has been mapped.

IMPORTANT

• Make sure to map your Product Link, as this is a mandatory field!
• The actual information that will be shown in your ads depends on the templates you use. Having a column header mapped doesn’t mean that the information from that column will be shown in your ads, instead, it means that it is available to be shown or used, depending on the creative and campaign objective you choose. It is always better to map more fields than less, as this gives you more options later on.

Scheduling Data Feed Update

To ensure that your ads display the right content and that your campaign goals are working as expected, it is important to keep your data feed up-to-date with your latest product information.

Adacado will automatically import product data from your feed daily. If you want more control over when and how frequently your data is updated you can adjust the schedule settings. It is also possible to manually force an update.

Scheduling is especially important for advertisers with large volumes of inventory and stocks that are constantly changing. Feed update times are based on the time zone set for each advertiser.

Check with the advertiser or feed provider to find out how often the feed is updated and when updates are expected to be complete. Then, schedule Adacado to process the feed after the update is finished.

For example, if your feed provider finishes updating your data feed at 9 am daily, then choosing 9:10 am in Adacado would be a good choice.

Saving Data Feed Configuration

Once your data mapping is done, you will need to save your data feed configuration by clicking the “Save” button in the upper right corner. The message next to the “Reload” button displays a different message depending on the selected save option.

There are two save options to choose from. Please read the pop-up message carefully before choosing an option. 

Save and Process

• Choose this option to generate product data immediately and add it to your campaign/advertiser.
• When this option is selected, the data feed configuration is saved and the feed is processed immediately.
• You can choose to process only up to 5 products (no product cost), or you can choose to process all product data from your feed. Visit the Understanding Your Invoice page to better understand product costs.
• This option allows you to immediately verify that all product data has been generated correctly, and if you have already selected an ad template, you can ensure that the product data displays in your ad as expected.
• After clicking the “Save and Process” button, the message next to the “Reload” button will change to “Product data is being processed”.

IMPORTANT: 

• If there are many products in the feed, it may take some time to complete the feed run and import all information.
• With this option, you incur product costs for your product data for all products created if you have more than 5 products in the feed from the date you save and process your data feed. If you have more than 5 products in your feed and want to test your feed and avoid incurring product costs for testing, set your processing limit to 5 or fewer products and use this option.
• After testing 5 or fewer products, when you are ready to load full product data, select the “Process all (no limit)” check box and then click the “Update” button to process all the product data from the feed.

Save Only

• Choose this option if you only want to save your data feed configuration and do not want Adacado to process your product data yet. 
• Product costs are not incurred with this option, since no product data is generated.
• If you later want to process your data feed and generate products, click the “Save” button on the product settings page and then click the “Save and Process” button in the pop-up to process your feed and generate products. 
• After processing the feed, you will incur product costs for your product data for all products created if you have more than 5 products in the feed from the date you save and process your data feed.

Updating Data Feed Configuration

Mapping and Scheduling

To change data mapping or scheduling, make your changes and then click the “Update” button next to the “Reload” button in the upper right corner to save your changes.

The “Update” button is activated in blue when there is a change and turns grey and inactive when the change is saved. If you change the mapping, make sure the changes are reflected in the product data.

Replacing the Current Data Feed with a New Data Feed

To replace your current data feed with a new data feed to use a different product data set in your campaign, you must first check which data feed and products your campaign is using.

IMPORTANT:
Replacing the current data feed with a new feed will immediately remove all the existing products and add new products to the product list.

Replacing the data feed at the advertiser level

Follow the next steps to replace the current data feed with a new feed at the advertiser level.

• Access the “Advertiser Products Settings” page by clicking “Products” in the advertiser drop-down menu in the header. 
• Replace the current data feed URL or FTP information with the new feed URL or FTP information in the data feed location field.
• After completing the remaining configuration steps such as fetching samples, data mapping, and scheduling, click the blue “Update” button next to the “Reload” button to save the new data feed configuration and generate new product data.
• Check the “Advertiser Products” page and the products pages for all campaigns that use the advertiser products and ensure that old product data is removed and new product data is listed on the product page. 

NOTE:

Replacing the data feed at the advertiser level only affects campaigns that use the advertiser products, the campaign-specific products remain the same and continue to be displayed on the “Advertiser Products” list.

Replacing the data feed at the campaign level

For campaigns using campaign-specific data feed configurations and products, you can replace the current data feed with the new one on the “Campaign Product Settings” page in the same way you replace the data feed at the advertiser level. You should check the campaign products page to ensure that old data has been removed and new campaign-specific product data has been added.

NOTE:

To stop using campaign-specific products and use advertiser products in your campaign, select “Use product from advertiser” in the “Data Settings” field on the “Campaign Product Settings” page. This will immediately remove the previous campaign-specific products from the campaign products list and use the advertiser’s products in the campaign.

Forcing a Data Feed Update

If the product information in your data feed has been updated and the updated product information should appear immediately in your ads, you can force processing the feed by clicking the “Reload” button on the product settings page. You can check the updated product information on the “Products” page.

Filtering Products

Optionally, you can set up product filtering for your campaigns. This is helpful if you only want to use some of the product data in your feed for the ads in your campaign.

Choose the “Save and Process” in the save options to run your feed and update your product data in the Adacado system.

Checking Data Feed Runs

Check the bell icon next to your account name in the header to see if and when data feeds have been processed.

Deleting Data Feeds and Products

If you no longer want to use product data for your dynamic ads for your campaign and avoid accumulating product costs, you can use the “Delete Product Feed” feature on the product settings page to delete data feed configuration and remove all the products associated with it. Click here to learn more about how to delete a data feed.

FAQs