Optimization Override service

The Optimization Override service allows clients with sophisticated optimization needs to override a line item's default settings for Discovery, an optimization feature ranks inventory based on its historical CPC and stops your line item from serving on inventory that doesn't perform. Discovery uses a fail criterion to cap amount of budget or number of impressions spent before a section of inventory is "axed" (considered failed and removed from eligibility for this line item).

The Optimization Override service allows you to:

• Turn off Discovery.
• Adjust the Discovery fail criteria.

When you set custom fail criteria, these are the rules followed based on the objective you choose for line item optimization preference:

• When Prefer performance is selected, Xandr axes inventory at 1x the fail criteria value.
• When Prefer delivery is selected, Xandr axes inventory at a dynamic threshold up to 10x the fail criteria value.
• When Prefer margin is selected, Xandr axes inventory at 1x the fail criteria.

For more about selecting to prefer performance, delivery, or margin, see Line Item Service - ALI.

Optimization override can be useful if:

• You're using CPC optimization to value clicks, but do not want to filter the inventory you serve on based on its historical CPC.
• You want to use Discovery, but you want to set a fail criteria at a threshold that's less strict than the line item's CPC goal.
• You want to turn off Discovery altogether and leverage only Xandr click prediction.

REST API

HTTP Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	https://api.appnexus.com/discovery	Retrieve Discovery settings for all customized line items in a member. Note: Information is returned only when the Discovery settings have been customized. If the Discovery settings are the default settings, no details are returned.
GET	https://api.appnexus.com/discovery?line_item_id=LINE_ITEM_ID	Retrieve custom Discovery settings for a single line item. Note: Information is returned only when the Discovery settings have been customized. If the Discovery settings are the default settings, no details are returned.
PUT	https://api.appnexus.com/discovery?line_item_id=LINE_ITEM_ID	Update custom Discovery settings.

JSON fields

Field	Type	Description
discovery_enabled	Boolean	Turn discovery on or off. Note: Discovery can only be enabled on Augmented Line Items where the goal type is CPC or post-click CPA. Default: true
fail_criteria_amount	decimal	The amount of booked revenue (in the local currency set at the advertiser level) to spend on a selection of inventory before the inventory is failed.
id	int	The ID of the Discovery settings profile. Default: auto-generated number.
line_item_id	int	The ID of the line item whose Discovery Settings are being altered.
member_id	int	Member ID.

Examples

View custom discovery settings for a line item

curl -X GET -c cookies -b cookies "https://api.appnexus.com/discovery?line_item_id=LINE_ITEM_ID"
 
[
   {
      "id" : 1,
      "member_id" : MEMBER_ID,
      "line_item_id" : LINE_ITEM_ID,
      "discovery_enabled" : true,
      "fail_criteria_amount" : 3
   }
]

Disable discovery

Check to see if a discovery profile exists.

$ curl -b cookie "https://api.appnexus.com/discovery?line_item_id=LINE_ITEM_ID"

If a profile doesn't exist (a blank is returned instead of a profile), you must create a discovery profile. You can create a discovery profile that is already disabled or disable an existing discovery profile with the same JSON.

$ cat discovery.json
{
    "member_id" : MEMBER_ID,
    "line_item_id" : LINE_ITEM_ID,
    "discovery_enabled": false
}

$ curl -X POST -b cookies -d @discovery.json "https://api.appnexus.com/discovery?line_item_id=LINE_ITEM_ID"

Update discovery settings

$ cat discovery
{
    "id" : ID_VALUE,
    "member_id" : MEMBER_ID,
    "line_item_id" : LINE_ITEM_ID,
    "discovery_enabled": true,
    "fail_criteria_amount": FAIL_CRITERIA_AMOUNT
}

$ curl -b cookie -X PUT -d @discovery "https://api.appnexus.com/discovery?line_item_id=LINE_ITEM_ID"