You need to send a single ad request in real time every time you have an open spot for an ad placement. 

You can send an ad request up to 15 minutes ahead of time of the actual ad play 

• Example: You can send an ad request at 11am for an 11:15am spot 

The ad server typically responds in milliseconds. We can take up to 60 seconds to timeout on an ad request. 

The ad server returns a single creative in every ad response. 

You have 15 minutes from the display time passed in the ad request to hit the PoP URL.

• 1 to many impressions - You can only hit the PoP URL after 75% of the ad is displayed. We prefer the logic to be at 100% completion. 
• 1 to 1 impressions (Interactive Inventory) - According to IAB measurement guidelines, both static and video ads count as an impression as soon as the ad begins to render on a screen. Therefore you are allowed to hit the PoP url after the creative has been on the screen for 2 seconds. 
  • Types of 1 to 1 Inventory:
    • Work Out Equipment 
    • Tablets
    • Interactive kiosks 

This allows the ad to be leased out to another requesting screen to help ensure the campaign delivers in full. 

The PoP and expiration URL becomes invalid after 15 minutes from the indicated display time in the ad request. 

• If your inventory is static (does not move), do not pass a lat/long. A lat/long is associated with your venues in the trafficking UI and Vistar uses that data for geo targeting purposes. 
  • Examples of static inventory: Billboard, charging station, bar screen 
• If your inventory is moving you have to pass a lat/long in the ad request so our ad server knows the location of the screen when requesting.  
  • Examples of moving inventory: Taxis and rideshares. 

You can append the display time at the end of the PoP URL string. 

You can plug into as many SSP’s as you would like. We expect you to implement waterfall logic for your SSP integrations. We do not allow you to host a secondary auction. 

• We recommend making a call to the Vistar creative caching endpoint once a day.
• We recommend using the creative ID metadata to identify new creatives and map creatives from the ad response to the pool of cached creatives. 
• If you receive a creative that is not already cached, we highly recommend you download the creative in real time and add to the pool of cached creatives. 
• You can delete a creative if it’s not used for 30 days. 

• Creatives qualify to be returned if all of the below requirements are met:
• Approved in the trafficking UI
• Targeting your inventory 
• Campaign is live or will be live within 30 hours 

This depends on the level of demand targeting your inventory. 

Creative files range in size depending on the file type (jeg, png, mp4, etc.) For more detail, see “how much storage should I allocate for creative caching” at the bottom of our creative caching endpoint KB article. 

• You determine how long static creatives are displayed for. 
• You also determine what video duration(s) you support. The average video durations buyers upload are 15 and 30 seconds. 

This varies campaign to campaign. Some campaigns only run for 3 days while others run for a quarter or longer. 

Vistar pulls creative specs from the ad request and populates that data to our DSP so buyers know what creatives they must upload in order to run on your inventory. 

• We do not allow partners to run multiple ads at once. Buyers purchase ad space through Vistar assuming they are the only advertiser on the screen. We also do not want competitive ads displayed at once. Example: Pepsi and Coca-Cola 
• We do allow partners to have multi-zone screens if the other content on the screen is not ad related. Example: Weather, traffic, news, etc. 

Unfortunately we are unable to cache creatives. The creative is downloaded in real time.

The web redirect skips the spot to avoid a black screen. 

No - We need you to actively request in order to show avails on the DSP side. If you are not sending us requests we assume your inventory is sold out and limit avails for buyers to purchase. 

We support creative caching using an FTP server but it is not a requirement. 

The HTML5 asset skips the spot to avoid a black screen. 

No - We need you to actively request in order to show avails on the DSP side. If you are not sending us requests we assume your inventory is sold out and limit avails for buyers to purchase. 

We support category restrictions at the network and venue level. You indicate what creative categories you cannot play and the ad server will block any creative in that category from running on your screens. 

We support advertiser restrictions at the network and venue level. You indicate what creative advertisers you cannot play and the ad server will block any creative with that advertiser from running on your screens. 

We allow you to upload impression data that is sourced from a third party impression body. For a full list of approved impression audit companies, see here. 

Vistar is willing to review first party impression data. If approved, you can upload your first party impression data. If not approved, your inventory will be set up with a 1 to 1 impression multiplier. 

Buyers can purchase your inventory through Private marketplace deals (PMP) or open exchange campaigns. Buyers create campaigns using our DSP or a 3rd party DSP that Vistar is integrated with. The buyers apply targeting to see what venues qualify and are available for purchase. 

Buyers can see your account name, network name and venue names. If you wish to be non-transparent we can change your display name so buyers are not aware of the media owner they are targeting. Buyers prefer to purchase transparent inventory so being non-transparent can affect revenue potential. 

Vistar pulls creative specs from ad requests into our DSP. This tells buyers what creatives they must upload in order to run on your inventory. 

Typically it takes 6-8 weeks to onboard. However this is dependent on how quickly you can provide Vistar with data and resources to launch the integration. 

• You must meet our integration health requirements:
  • 90%+ spend rate 
  • Valid request volume
  • Approved integration logic (Native integrations only)
• You must provide the requested data:
  • Billing information 
  • Media owner profile 
  • Onboarding form 
  • Impression data 

Once your network is activated, you receive training. If you are a SaaS partner, training may be conducted during onboarding to help transition direct campaigns over to the Vistar trafficking UI.

We process payments every 2 weeks. We perform account reconciliations throughout the month but based on the timing of funds received and sequential liability, we issue payments. As soon as we collect the funds from the demand side, they are included on the next payment cycle.