Instant Insights

Overview

Instant Insights is a reporting tool with data output in real time, as you compose your query. 
The data freshness is approx. 10 minutes, with some initial inaccuracies that may occur; however, continuous recalculations in Instant Insights make sure that any data older than 5 hours is 100% accurate.

User rights and access

To access Instant Insights, go to Reports > Instant Insights.

The following user rights are required to access Instant Insights:

• access to at least one site - either with the Access to sites option set to All the sites of the network or set to No default access (determined one by one) with at least one site enabled
• user right Reports: Access to Programmatic part
• user right Reports : Access to Direct part

 

Switch to Instant Report Builder

You can easily switch to the Instant Report Builder at any time without losing any of the current settings (selected time frame, selected dimensions/metrics etc.). However switching from the Global view (in Instant Insights) into the Instant Report Builder is not possible because the Global view does not exist in the Instant Report Builder.
 

Datepicker

In the Datepicker:

• define the time frame you want to report on: Custom (exact start/end date) or predefined time frames (e. g. Today, Yesterday, Last 7 days etc.)
• select Days for “by day” granularity or Hours for "by hour" granularity* 
• select the Time zone (only the time zones enabled in your network are available); by default, the default time zone of your network is selected; this option is useful for companies with business units in different time zones; Keep in mind: Time zones with an offset in minutes are not supported (e. g. Indian Standard Time (IST), which equates to UTC+05:30, is not supported) 

* to keep the charts short and simple, the time granularity is adapted, depending on the selected time frame.The table below explains the behavior:

Selected time frame using datepicker	Resulting time granularity
less than 1 day	per hour
between 1 day and 15 days	you can choose from either “per day” or “per hour”
more than 15 days	per day

 

Views

All metrics and dimensions are organized in Views. Choose from the views Programmatic, Direct, Video Auctions or Global in the top right corner.

Metrics

Metric selection 

The metrics are categorized into Video, Financial, Delivery and Interactions. Click on Metrics + to add new metrics. If needed, rearrange the metrics using drag and drop.

Metric charts

​​​​​For each selected metric, a chart with the performance of the metric over time is shown, along with the total value of the metric. You can hover over the chart to see the value of the metric for a specific day/hour.

Available metrics

Read chapter "Metrics in Instant Insights and Instant Report Builder" in the Report metrics article to find a definition of each metric.
Reminder: the metrics are organized by view (see chapter "Views" above). Consider switching the view if you cannot find a metric.
 

Dimensions

Dimension selection

The dimensions are categorized into Video, Ad Info, Quality & Privacy, Placement, Competition and Targeting. Click on Dimensions + to add new dimensions. If needed, rearrange the dimensions using drag and drop.
For each selected dimension, a table is shown with a column for each selected metric.

Expanding dimension tables and exporting data

Click on the expand button to show all rows and all metrics. Click on the same button again to collapse the table and display the other tables.
You can also click on the download button to export and download a csv file with the data of the table (top 250 rows only).


 

Dimension filters

To set a filter in dimensions, click on Filter and select the desired dimension. Then, select the actual value(s) (enter at least 3 characters to get automatic suggestions). The auto-suggestion of values is limited to values that have actual results; for instance, an insertion for which there are no results will not be auto-suggested. The following rules apply for filters:

• multiple values of the same dimension are connected with the “OR” operator (e. g. “Seat ID 123” OR “Seat ID 456”) 
• multiple values of different dimensions are connected with the “AND” operator (e. g. “Seat ID 123" AND "Deal ID 123”)

Available dimensions

Read the Report dimensions article to find a definition of each dimension.
Reminder: the dimensions are organized by view (see chapter "Views" above). Consider switching the view if you cannot find a dimension.

Sorting tables

You can sort tables by clicking on the column header of a metric.



Alternatively, you can click on the chart of the desired metric. The orange horizontal bar indicates the metric currently used for sorting.


 

Comparing dimensions

For any metric, you can compare up to 5 specific items of a dimension. For instance, you can display the Gross revenue generated in multiple countries over the selected time frame. Proceed as follows:

• on the right side, click on the expand button of the dimension of interest (e. g. the Country dimension)
• select the items you want to compare (e. g. the countries United States, France, Spain) and click the Compare button; if the maximum of 5 items is reached, you must unselect some items first to be able to select other items
• alternatively, click on the Compare button right away; this will select the top 3 items in the list

On the left side, the start of each metric will display a curve for each selected item of the dimension, distinguishable by color. You can hover over a curve to display a tooltip with the metric’s value (e. g. 1K EUR) at the according point in time.

Searching in tables

In dimension tables on the right (e. g. in the “Deals” dimension table), you can search for items (rows) by entering their name (e. g. the Deal name) or their ID (e. g. the Deal ID).

Comparing time frames

To compare time frames:

• select the first time frame as explained above in chapter “Datepicker”
• enable the Compare checkbox - the UI will automatically preselect the comparison time frame; it is always before the first time frame and has the same length
• change the start date of the second time frame if needed; the UI will automatically select the according end date based on the duration of the first time frame (e. g. 7 days each)

Once the time frames are set, the metric charts are updated as follows:

• each chart shows the data for both time frames
• the total of each metric is displayed for both time frames
• the difference between both time frames is displayed in percent (e. g. “+9%” or “-9%”)

In addition to the updates of the metric charts, each dimension table shows the difference in percent; the values remain the ones of the first time frame.
You can also expand a dimension table to display the Change and % columns.

 

Sharing results 

Once you are done with composing your query, you can easily share the results with other users. Simply copy the complete URL including all parameters from the address field of your browser. You can share it with any user that has access to your network and that has the appropriate user rights to use Instant Insights (see chapter “User rights” above). 
 

Resetting parameters

In some rare cases, you may want to completely reset all the parameters you have set in Instant Insights (dimensions, metrics, dates etc.). To do so, simply remove the part after the “?” character in the Instant Insights URL in your browser address bar; then, refresh the page.

Example of a shortened URL - the part to be removed is in red:

https://manage.smartadserver.com/n/insights/?currentMetric=impressions&dimensions[]=Publisher&dimensions[]=Seat&dimensions[]=Deal ...
 

Use cases

Use case #1 – Global volume analysis

You can use Instant Insights to do a global volume analysis. Here is an example:

• select a time frame (e. g. Last 7 days)
• look out for sudden events (e. g. decline in revenue etc.) in the metric charts on the left
• select the Estimated Net Revenue metric
• select the App/Site dimension 
• select the Seats dimension and look at the top buyers
• enable the checkboxes next to the top n seats to filter the ones generating the most revenue
• look at the App/Site table to see on which Apps or Sites the selected seats generate the most revenue 

Use case #2 – Deal follow-up

You can use Instant Insights to follow up on your deals. Here is an example:

• select a time frame (e. g. Last 7 days)
• select the Seats dimension
• select the Deals dimension and enable the checkbox of a specific deal
• select a metric of interest (e. g. Impressions)
• check the Seats table to see which buyers in your deals are actually buying (e. g. the amount of impressions bought, if you have selected the “Impressions” metric)

Use case #3 - Comparison

You can use Instant Insights to compare the performance of your deal over two different time frames. Here is an example

• select a time frame (e.g. Last 7 days)
• click the Compare checkbox; the UI will set the comparison time frame automatically
• if needed, adjust the comparison time frame
• select the Deal dimension and filter a specific deal by enabling the checkbox next to it
• select the App/Site domain dimension
• you can now compare the performance of your deal on the charts and check the performance per domain