Integration with vBulletin - Google Admanager Integration

Notice: This mod uses Re-usable Code, so please feel free to port it to vbulletin 4 under your username. Thanks.

Google Admanager Integration

This product targets ads to usergroup, script, forum. That way you can

• address ads to these targets.
  Example: Target all users except moderators in your favorite forums on index and forumdisplay directly in Google Admanager! (see admanager.jpg)
• Adsense Advanced Statistics. Have a detailed view which usergroups, scripts, forums bring best adsense results. You have a detailed view about all targeting values.
  Example: You see that your announcement forum has a CTR of 8% and an eCPM of 25 $. Unregistered users bring an eCPM of 15 $ while registered users only have an eCPM of 3 $.

By the way a maximum of 6 adsense ads are allowed, when using Google Adsense in combination with Google Admanager.

1. Install product
If you upgrade: Allow Overwrite: Yes

2. Change template headinclude
If you upgrade please also do this. Add to end of this template:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://partner.googleadservices.com/gampad/google_service.js">
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
  GS_googleAddAdSenseService("YOUR CA-PUB");
  GS_googleEnableAllServices();
</script>
<script language="JavaScript">
  GA_googleAddAttr("usergroup", "$bbuserinfo[usergroupid]");
  GA_googleAddAttr("script", "<if condition="THIS_SCRIPT =='index'">index</if><if condition="THIS_SCRIPT =='forumdisplay'">forumdisplay</if><if condition="THIS_SCRIPT =='showthread'">showthread</if>");
$admanagerforums
</script> 
YOUR ADDSLOTS
<script type="text/javascript">
  GA_googleFetchAds();
</script>

3. Google Admanager Configuration
Configure Admanager like I write in #2 post in this topic.

Version History
9.11.2008 1.2 Solved a bug for forum targeting
8.11.2008 1.1 Improved forum targeting. Forums are shown with real names. Unlimited forum levels supported.
1.11.2008 1.0 Forums are targeted by using forumids. 3 forum levels supported.

Works with vbulletin 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8. This product works perfectly with vbSEO. This product doesn't make the vBulletin 3.8 implementation of Adsense work with admanager.

[ThorstenA]

Re-Use: This code may be used in other modifications as long as the original author is credited.

[mrtroybaker]

Hello,
First let me say I love the idea of this mod. Im am using 3.8.1
when I use the hack it shows up under the "New Post" and "whos online" tab but not on the home page. I ahve changed settings back and forth with no results. I can put the code in my header and it shows on the homepage. When I click eith link that works, mine is there and the one from the hack shows up too.
Note: It works great on my test forum. I am running the default skin. The main board in a custom skin. (maybe thats the problem)

Any suggestions?

[ThorstenA]

Originally Posted by mrtroybaker

when I use the hack it shows up under the "New Post" and "whos online" tab but not on the home page.

You can only target special vbulletins sites with custom Targeting key:Script which you can set to index, forumdisplay, showthread. Try to use this custom targeting and report if it works.

[KrisP]

Is it only possible to target criteria for a pageview as a whole, or would it in any way be possible to track the number of the post the ad is shown: $post['postcount'] (if shown inside a post)?

(Works perfectly for 3.7.4)

[ThorstenA]

There's only one way I know to have different targetings on one webpage with Admanager.
Example:

1. On the webpage is one ad slot
2. You can run a line item on this ad slot. The tag of this line item is another adslot. In this tag you can also include additional targeting values.
3. Make sure that all data for the adslot are fetched in headinclude.

If you like this mod and use it,click Install

[KrisP]

Installed!

For now I am afraid I have some troubles grasping the fundamentals.

Lets say I upload an adslot to my forum, and create a placement in ADM only containing that adslot, then the Targeting Report will automatically show data for all the criterias for that placement? (browsertype, OS, forum, script, ... , etc.) Or is there anything else that needs to be done?

[ThorstenA]

Originally Posted by KrisP

For now I am afraid I have some troubles grasping the fundamentals.

Lets say I upload an adslot to my forum, and create a placement in ADM only containing that adslot, then the Targeting Report will automatically show data for all the criterias for that placement? (browsertype, OS, forum, script, ... , etc.) Or is there anything else that needs to be done?

Your webpage looks always like this:

<html>

<head>

<!-- PUT THIS TAG IN THE head SECTION -->
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://partner.googleadservices.com/gampad/google_service.js">
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
GS_googleAddAdSenseService("ca-pub-1234");
GS_googleEnableAllServices();
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
GA_googleAddSlot("ca-pub-1234", "adslot_RECTANGLE");
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
GA_googleFetchAds();
</script>
<!-- END OF TAG FOR head SECTION -->

</head>

<body>

<p>Sample Text before slot targeting_b_index
</p>

<!-- PUT THIS TAG IN DESIRED LOCATION OF SLOT targeting_b_index
-->
<script type="text/javascript">
GA_googleFillSlot("adslot_RECTANGLE");
</script>
<!-- END OF TAG FOR SLOT targeting_b_index
-->

</body>

</html>

Now you run a line item "adslot_RECTANGLE_ADSENSE" which is enabled for Adsense on your adslot_RECTANGLE placement. You can even define a Frequency Capping (fc) for your line items, so this would be a solution to show adsense with a fc. You also give an additional targeting out "Adsense_active_on_this_page". Why that? You can tell all your other line items to only be shown on pages where's no adsense page yet. You do that by setting the targeting criteria for the other line items to "Adsense_active_on_this_page != active". That way you accomplished this:

1. Show Adsense on your page by Admanager. So you can track browser type and all other additional build in targeting criterias for your Adsense statistics.
2. You show this Adsense with a Frequency Capping - you can also display Adsense Ads with additional targeting criterias (in the night, to people from New York ...)
3. Everytime the Adsense is shown, all other campaigns are not shown - all other campaigns have the "do not show on pages where adsense is already shown" targeting criteria.

Insert the targeting criteria "Adsense_active_on_this_page" with the value "active" in Admanager > Inventory > Targeting and make the tag of your new line item look like this:

<script type="text/javascript">
GA_googleAddAttr("Adsense_active_on_this_page", "active");
</script>
<script type="text/javascript">
GA_googleAddSlot("ca-pub-1234", "adslot_RECTANGLE_ADSENSE");
</script>

and change the header of these pages to include additionally this:

<script type="text/javascript">
GA_googleAddSlot("ca-pub-1234", "adslot_RECTANGLE_ADSENSE");
</script>

That would be the way to include a target criteria directly with the additional adslot. There are situations where this is very needed.

Another solution: Say you want to place your Ad after the last post on SHOWTHREAD and you want to check, how the ad is performing when SHOWTHREAD consists of 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 ... 30 posts on a page.

1. Then I would write a small plugin that checks how much posts are displayed on showthread.
2. The result number is given Admanager in the <head></head> section as a targeting criteria:
   

   <script type="text/javascript">
   GA_googleAddAttr("thispagecontainsthatmuchposts", "12posts");
   </script>

3. That way you can measure the ctr of your line item for the targeting "thispagecontaintsthatmuchposts" and can see, if the ctr is higher on larger pages or not.
4. You could also write a plugin that places the ad on one random posts within SHOWTHREAD and each time give the postnumber and number of all posts to admaanger by both targeting criterias: "thispagecontainsthatmuchposts" and "the_actual_ad_is_on_this_post".

[KrisP]

Wow, great post!

I was wondering, what if you create a .html page with header and each ad slot code together and then show each in an iframe. Wouldn’t then each slot then be considered like a page in itself, then you could collect slot specific attributes? I am not sure you could then collect slot specific vbulletin attributes - perhaps if done in a special vbtemplate with the same conditionals as the script - but at least you could collect AdSense specific attributes like fx. colors.

If you try out different color schemes but with all ads in the same color is it then possible to collect these on page level? If you want to try out 30 color schemes, its a little easier to collect automatically.

[ThorstenA]

Originally Posted by KrisP

I was wondering, what if you create a .html page with header and each ad slot code together and then show each in an iframe. Wouldn’t then each slot then be considered like a page in itself, then you could collect slot specific attributes? I am not sure you could then collect slot specific vbulletin attributes - perhaps if done in a special vbtemplate with the same conditionals as the script - but at least you could collect AdSense specific attributes like fx. colors.

If you try out different color schemes but with all ads in the same color is it then possible to collect these on page level? If you want to try out 30 color schemes, its a little easier to collect automatically.

I am not sure about iframe. I just would take the normal way:

Create 30 Adsense enabled adslots ADSLOT_RECTANGLE_ADSENSE_COLOR_BLUE (RED)(YELLOW) ...:

• each with different colors
• each with a different placement

Create 1 line item:

• placement: Your normal RECTANGLE placement
• creative rotation: even
• tags: put each of your 30 created adsense enable adslots as one tag. Then you have 30 tags.
• Remember to have changed the <head></head> to include all 30 adsense ADSLOT_RECTANGLE_ADSENSE_COLOR_X adslots and the one normal RECTANGLE adslots.

That's all. The easy thing is here, that the adsense enabled adslots themself are running adsense. If you instead of adsense want do show 30 different colors of a third party banner, you would take another step

Create 1 line item

• placement: all 30 created adslots - NOT the normal rectangle
• creative rotation: even
• change each adslots that it has in addition a different width and size: from 1-1 (height - width) to 1-30.
• you make 30 tags each from 1-1 to 1-30 so that they are targeted to 1-created adslot

That's advanced admanager That way ou can also do a true 5 lifetime frequency capping on different placements with different tags.

[KrisP]

Nice!

Here are a few extra conditions ...

GA_googleAddAttr("forumdisplay_id", "<if condition="THIS_SCRIPT =='forumdisplay'">$GLOBALS[forumid]</if>");

GA_googleAddAttr("totalposts", "<if condition="THIS_SCRIPT =='showthread'">$totalposts</if>");

GA_googleAddAttr("pagnumber", "<if condition="THIS_SCRIPT =='showthread'">$pagenumber</if>");

Forumdisplay: To see how forumdisplay converts in the different subforums.

Totalposts: Number of posts in the thread viewed. CTR seems not to be corellated with number of posts in thread.

Pagenumber: The number of the page of a thread is viewed. So far it seems CTR on page 2 is half the CTR on page one. Dont know if the guests clicking those ads came from page 1 and therefore where affected from viewing ads on page 1 or if they came directly from google.


Lastely if you rename forums underway its nice to have forumid (unchanged) for "unbroken stats":

GA_googleAddAttr("forumid", "<if condition="THIS_SCRIPT =='showthread'">$GLOBALS[forumid]</if>");