Troubleshooting

The Troubleshooting page provides SpringServe users with a visual interpretation of their activity in realtime.  This is particularly useful to help debug issues for new supply and/or demand tags that do not work as expected. This dashboard can be accessed from the settings menu or by clicking the wrench icon in the header of an object or in the action column of an index table.

Navigating the Dashboard

Real Time Debugger

The main page of the Troubleshooting dashboard begins with the 'Real time Debugger' tab. This is where you can search any of your supply and demand tags, campaigns, or partners that need troubleshooting. As you enter text in the search box a drop down list sectioned off by headers (in bold) will display. Select the object that you want to look into and hit the submit button.

To search a specific supply and demand combination, add another search box by clicking on the "+" button and then hitting "Submit". This will result in 2 search boxes:

The results of your search will display the following in the same tab:   

  • Object metadata including Targeting, CPM and RPM Rates, Environment, waterfall positioning, and 3rd party pixels if applicable
  • Realtime events including usable and blocked or skipped requests, opportunities, errors, impressions, and completes
  • A visual display of your traffic including the number of secure/Non secure requests, Environment, Player Sizes, Inventory, Country, and User Agents

Note that realtime event and inventory data is a sampling of traffic for the last 15 minutes.

Object Metadata

Targeting icons are shown below the object name. Like in the rest of the UI, icons are highlighted in teal when targeting is on the object and dark grey when targeting is on the parent (partner and/or campaign). If applicable, parent objects are shown below the targeting icons.

Supply Tags

For supply tags CPM Rate, RPM Floor Rate, and (Targeted) Environment are shown. Response Type is displayed for managed supply tags. In the second column, the details for the associated demand are shown: domain and player size targeting, the number of tags in the waterfall, the number of distinct tiers/prios, and the number of broadcast tags in the waterfall.

Supply Partners

Targeting icons and the number of active supply tags are shown for Supply Partners.

Demand Tags

Revenue metadata and (Targeted) Environment are shown in the first column. Managed demand tags display the endpoint url in the second column. If applicable, demand pixels are shown. A table also displays the number of waterfalls that the demand tag belongs to, organized by tier. The inclusion rate is the percentage of time that the demand tag is included in a waterfall. There are a number of reasons that a tag would not be included in the waterfall, including:

  • Targeting Skips: targeting prevents the tag from being eligible
  • Pre-Bid Skips: demand tag has pre-bid enabled and 
  • Evaluation Skips: round robin exclusions, a demand tag downstream blocks the request, the demand stack behind a DC demand tag is empty

Campaigns

The number of active demand tags, Inclusion Rate, and average position in the waterfall is shown for Campaigns.

Demand Partners

The number of active campaigns and demand tags, as well as the inclusion rate and the average position in the waterfall is shown for demand partners.

Events

The events container shows data for a sample of your requests over the last 15 minutes.

You can look at performance information in three ways:

  • Sunburst: Hierarchy of all events listed in the tables below
  • Graph: Time Series for Usable Requests, Impressions, and Fill Rate
  • Table: Select events listed in the tables below, highlighted in yellow 

For demand objects, you can also view data for Errors. Sunburst and Table views are available for VAST error code data.

Supply Events

Level
Supply Event
Parent Event
Description
Notes
0Total Requests

All Requests that come into the adserver

Usable requests + skipped/blocked requests

1Usable RequestsTotal RequestsAll Requests that passed targeting and pre-bid blocking
2ImpressionsUsable RequestsNumber of times an ad is servedJS impression + VAST only impression
3CompletesImpressionsNumber of times an ad reaches complete
2Missed Opportunities

Usable Requests

Number of times the request passes supply tag targeting but does not pass targeting on any of demand tags on the waterfall
1Blocked/Skipped RequestsTotal RequestsAll unusable requests blocked/skipped by Supply Tag, Partner, Account, and Global Blacklist targeting and Pre-Bid IVT Filtering
2Pre-bid Blocks/SkipsBlocked/Skipped RequestsSum of Blocked SpringServe and HUMAN Pre-bidBlocks are recorded for managed supply, Skips are recorded for DC supply
3HUMAN Blocks/SkipsPre-bid Blocks/SkipsHUMAN Pre-bid blocks/skips
3SpringServe Blocks/SkipsPre-bid Blocks/SkipsSpringServe internal Pre-bid blocks/skips
2Targeting Blocks/SkipsBlocked/Skipped RequestsRequests blocked/skipped by targetingSum of all targeting blocks/skips on the supply tag, supply partner, account, and global levels
3Tag: Targeting AttributeTargeting Blocks/SkipsRequests blocked/skipped by Tag level targetingSupply tag targeting includes: domain, app name, app bundle, selling supply tag (DC), player size, aspect ratio, user agent, country, budget, frequency cap, environment (DC), ssb fill rate
3Partner: Targeting AttributeTargeting Blocks/SkipsRequests blocked/skipped by Partner level targetingPartner targeting includes: domain, app name, app bundle, country, budget
3Account: Targeting AttributeTargeting Blocks/SkipsRequests blocked/skipped by Account level targetingAccount targeting includes: domain, app name, app bundle, country 
3Global: Domain Targeting Blocks/SkipsRequests blocked by the SpringServe Global Blacklist

Demand Events

Level
Demand Event
Parent Event
Description
Notes
0Total Ad Requests
Number of times demand is considered for inclusion in a waterfallIncluded Ad Requests + Skipped Ad Requests
1Included Ad RequestsTotal Ad RequestsNumber of times demand tag is included in a waterfall
2Pre-Ad VAST ErrorsIncluded Ad RequestsSum of VAST errors that occur before a non-empty VAST response can be returned by the demandsee VAST Error Code documentation
3Individual Pre-Ad VAST Error CodePre-Ad VAST ErrorsRequests that resulted in a VAST error before a non-empty VAST response was returned by the demandPre-Ad VAST error codes include: 1xx, 2xx, 3xx, 4xx, 5xx, 6xx, 900, 13xx
2AdsIncluded Ad RequestsNumber of times demand returns a non-empty VAST responseA non-empty VAST response is required for an impression to fill
3Post-Ad VAST ErrorsAdsSum of VAST errors that occur after a non-empty VAST response is returned by the demandsee VAST Error Code documentation
4Individual Post-Ad VAST Error CodePost-Ad VAST ErrorsRequests that resulted in a VAST error after a non-empty VAST response is returned by the demandPost-Ad VAST error codes include: 403, 405
3OpportunitiesAdsNumber of times the demand's VPAID is initialized
4ImpressionsOpportunitiesNumber of times an ad is servedJS impression + flash impression + VAST only impression
5CompletesImpressionsNumber of times the ad reaches complete
4Post-Opp VAST ErrorsOpportunitiesSum of VAST Errors that occur after the demand's VPAID is initializedsee VAST Error Code documentation
5Individual Post-Opp VAST Error CodePost-Opp VAST ErrorsRequests that resulted in a VAST error after the demand's VPAID initializedPost-Opp VAST error codes include: 901, 15xx
1Skipped RequestsTotal Ad RequestsRequests that are skipped due to targetingSum of all targeting skips on the demand tag, campaign, and partner levels
2Pre-Bid SkipsSkipped RequestsSum of Blocked SpringServe and HUMAN Pre-bid
3HUMAN SkipsPre-Bid SkipsHUMAN Pre-bid skips
3SpringServe SkipsPre-Bid SkipsSpringServe internal Pre-bid skips
2Targeting SkipsSkipped RequestsAll Requests skipped due to targetingSum of all targeting skips on the demand tag, campaign, and demand partner levels
3Tag: Targeting AttributeTargeting SkipsRequests skipped due to Demand Tag level targetingDemand Tag targeting includes: domain, app name, app bundle, buying demand tag, player size, aspect ratio, user agent, country, state, DMA, city, postal code, budget, flight dates, frequency caps, give-up, dayparting, dynamic pricing, key-values, secure, DC, tag health
3Campaign: Targeting AttributeTargeting SkipsRequests skipped due to Campaign level targetingCampaign targeting includes: domain, app name, app bundle, player size, aspect ratio, KPI, user agent, country, state, DMA, city, postal code, budget, flight dates, frequency caps
3Partner: Targeting AttributeTargeting SkipsRequests skipped due to Demand Partner level targetingDemand Partner targeting includes: domain, app name, app bundle, secure, budget, flight dates, frequency caps
2Evaluation SkipsSkipped RequestsRequests skipped due to waterfall evaluation rules
3Max TagsEvaluation Skips

3Max AuctionEvaluation SkipsExceeds maximum number of tags in the waterfall 
3RandomizedEvaluation SkipsTag was not selected due to round robin with other tag(s) at the same priority
3EmptyEvaluation SkipsThe demand stack behind the demand tag was emptyDC only
3Max WF SizeEvaluation Skips

3ValidationEvaluation Skips

3DownstreamEvaluation SkipsTargeting block downstreamDC only
2Open RTB SkipsSkipped RequestsRequests skipped due to Open RTB rules
3RTB ExclOpen RTB SkipsTag/domain/size/country combo matching active set in exclusions, a system used to weed out combos that never fill in order to preserve QPS
3RTB No PageOpen RTB SkipsNo domain passed (required for desktop/mobile web inventory)
3RTB No AppOpen RTB SkipsNo app name or bundle passed (required for ctv/in-app inventory)
3RTB QPSOpen RTB SkipsQPS limit was reached
3RTB No User IDOpen RTB SkipsNo user id match (most desktop/mobile web demand partners require a user id in the bid request)
3RTB Dupe DemandOpen RTB SkipsDuplicate demand tag in the same waterfall

Sunburst Tips

The sunburst graph allows you to see what portion of requests are being blocked, resulting in impressions, or throwing errors. To drill down, either click on the name of level in the legend or the level in the graph itself.


Drilling down can be helpful if there is a large portion of your requests that are being blocked or if you want to know more details about what kinds of VAST error codes you are seeing.

To get back to the default view of all events, click on Total (Ad) Requests in the legend.

Requests

The Requests graph shows the ratio of secure vs. non-secure requests.

Environment

The Environment graph shows the ratio of requests from Desktop, Mobile Web, In-app, and CTV.


Player Sizes

The default Player Sizes graph shows the ratio of declared sizes. 

The dropdown menu allows you to see histograms of Player Widths and Player Heights.


 

You can also view a scatter plot of Aspect Ratio. In this graph, the width is shown on the x-axis and the height on the y-axis. You can zoom in on this graph by highlighting the area of interest. Zooming can be useful if there are outliers.

 

These 4 types of graphs are also available for Detected sizes. Note that player size can only be detected if the VPAID has initialized, so for tags will few opportunities or VAST only tags (CTV), detected data is not available.

Inventory (Top 25)

The Inventory graph shows the top 25 requesting domains or apps. Select from Domains, App Names, and App Bundles in the dropdown.

Country

The Country graph shows the ratio of requesting countries.


User Agents

The User Agents graph defaults to the ratio of Device Types.


You can also select Device Make, Operating System, and Browser from the dropdown. 

Incoming Requests

The Incoming requests tab is generated if your search included a managed supply tag. This tab streams the last 100 incoming requests. You could choose to pause the stream, or continue it by clicking on the/ button to the right of the search box. This tab is especially useful to see if the tags are being filled in with their correct macro data.

Outgoing Requests

The Outgoing requests tab gets generated if your search included a managed demand tag. The tab streams the last 100 outgoing requests. You could choose to pause the stream, or continue it by clicking on thebutton to the right of the search box. This tab is especially useful to see if macros from the supply tags are correctly being passed on to the demand.