Simplifying Conversion Tracking in DFA: Floodlight is the new Spotlight
March 17th, 2011 | Published in Google DoubleClick
This past week we made a big step to simplify conversion tracking in DoubleClick for Advertisers (DFA). Now by default all tags in DFA will be referred to as “Floodlight” tags, and “Spotlight” as a name is being retired in the system.
Our goal is to make conversion tracking easier to understand while enabling more of our customers to take full advantage of our most up-to-date conversion tracking technology using iFrames.
So where you used to see the term “Spotlight” in the interface, you will now see “Floodlight in its place. For example, as you can see in this screenshot, the tabs formerly labeled as Spotlight Configuration and Spotlight Activities are now labeled Floodlight Configuration and Floodlight Activities.
Another instance where you will notice the change is in ReportCentral, where queries with “Spotlight” in the name will now show up as “Floodlight” instead. The Shared Spotlight report is now named the Shared Floodlight report, for example. Field names and metric definitions have been updated, but all data will be calculated the same way as before.
Permissioning for dynamic tags
Previously, the key feature of Floodlight was dynamic tags — the default and publisher tags that you can use to deliver additional code whenever your Floodlight activities are triggered.
If Floodlight was enabled for your DFA account prior to March 12, you can automatically use dynamic tags with all of your advertisers. Advertisers that were previously using Floodlight will have dynamic tags enabled automatically. To switch them on for other advertisers, just go to the Floodlight Configuration tab for the advertiser.
By default, dynamic tags are not available for new DFA accounts or for accounts that were not enabled for Floodlight before March 12. To begin using dynamic tags, at no additional charge, you'll need to sign an agreement with us, similar to the agreement required previously to use Floodlight.
Easy to switch back to image tags
If there are certain instances where you prefer to serve an image tag (what use to be referred to as a Spotlight tag) instead, you can easily switch to using image tags for a single activity, all activities within an advertiser, or across all activities in your DFA account.
No retagging required
The good news is that no retagging is required. All of your existing tags — both Spotlight and Floodlight — created before March 12 will continue to work as normal.
Simplifying conversion tags is just one of many enhancements to DFA over the course of 2011 to ensure it is the most efficient, easy-to-use and integrated ad serving system available.