Ad Delivery Systems

For the first time in 2007, and due to begin in the second week of January, AdFast will make use of AdsML messaging standards. When an advert is uploaded to AdFast the system will automatically generate an AdsML Copy Instruction and attach it to the PDF. “It will contain all the information we have about the fi le, and can be read by products like OneVision Asura and Vio. It should make it easier for other software vendors to make use of the information and automate the workflow. In an automated production world, all that production people want is that URN and the file – then because it links up, the file drops straight into the system,” explains Rob Fogwill of AdFast.

His conversations with newspaper publishers have shown them to be very keen on making best use of AdsML, a flavour of XML, which AdFast was built upon in any case, to automate as much of the process as possible. Most are at various stages of developing a fully automated workflow.

Information such as unique reference number (URN), size of the ad and which issue it is destined for, will be held already on the system from when the ad was booked. Further along the line – perhaps in the Autumn, Fogwill speculates - it will be possible for newspaper ad booking systems to automatically inform AdFast of details of forthcoming bookings.

Before that even, (scheduled for Spring 2007 he says) AdFast will be able to receive an AdsML instruction from the sender of the ad. “This will allow agencies to send accurate and relevant Copy Instruction information on fi les in a fully structured environment, replacing the basic structure we have used for the last six years, which is now showing its age and becoming inadequate for modern processes,” continues Fogwill. He adds that the existing messaging structure will continue to be supported for some time.

These processes should make the job of the sender easier as well. At the moment, they have five or six different screens to contend with; the new AdFast service will enable them to track and fulfil actions in a single screen. This will also include a thumbnail image of the advert to help reduce confusion and error.

When it analysed the feedback from users, AdFast also discovered one particular request that kept coming back time and time again, and this has been catered for within the new version. It’s described as a “kill change” feature by Fogwill. This will allow senders to mark any previously uploaded ad to be replaced by new copy as “killed” so that the publisher knows to expect a new version.

Further new features include archiving of all uploaded adverts for at least six months so that repeats can be more easily lifted, and also AdFast will for the first time be able to handle adverts for online use, rather than just PDFs destined for print. All of these enhanced processes will be delivered through a new AdFast website due for launch in July 2007.

Fogwill emphasises that although automation is a key driver, those small agencies, some maybe even one-man bands, without the resources to automate things will still be able to use AdFast. Automation is a pipe dream without good quality information though, and that is going to be the key deliverable from this major upgrade of AdFast, he says.

“When we did our last ad delivery survey in February we found that most problems were with the quality of the information with fi les, so it’s all designed to improve that, and having that information allows greater automation. Some respondents said that up to a third of files had poor quality Copy Instructions. There were no issues with the PDF, but the instruction was incomplete. Automated systems stand no chance then.”