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Ad stacks may seem overwhelming at first glance, their inherent flexibility leads to a magnitude of configuration options, but we can assure you they are very easy to grasp and use! So let’s explore some real-world examples from simple to complex.

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The minimalist

The minimum you need to get up and running with digital ads is an ad server! Ours is available by default, and if you have connected in your own, then that will be available too. You can have a fully working setup with this simple ad stack.

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A sprinkle of client-side demand

Enabling Prebid is as simple as dragging in a Prebid SSP into your stack, if the SSP supports it, you can set it to run server-side via our Fusion Prebid Server. The same goes for Amazon UAM/TAM, just drag it in to enable it!

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The works

The final block in ad stacks is Fallbacks. These serve when nothing else has, and take the form of either simple image creatives (image & link) or advanced script creatives (created and hosted by you). You can create fallbacks from within an ad stack and drag it in to enable it. More than one can be used too, and will be cycled through at random.

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Second-Look Ad Server

It is possible to have a primary ad server in the stack, that passes back to a “second-look” ad server when it fails to fill a request. This is typically used as a hybrid SaaS setup, where your ad server gets first look with all your connections and direct campaigns, and then upon an unfilled impression, passes back to Content Ignite. Unlike days of the past, there is no need to mess around with passback tags and configuration in your GAM account. The Content Ignite Publisher Tag orchestrates the entire ad request process, so can efficiently trigger the second ad server as needed. All of that boils down to you simply dragging a second ad server into the ad stack:

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Understanding the flow of events

If you have ad demand partners included in your ad stack, these partners will be called again before sending the ad request to the second ad server. As you can include a mix of ad-demand relationships, it is important to note that your integrations can remain in the mix even when calling our ad server and vice-versa, if your integration wins, then normal SaaS logic applies for that impression. Note that both servers need to be set up as applicable to the ad demand you have dragged in. For example, APS and Prebid require certain line-items to be present as a one-time setup task, so if using our Prebid demand and your ad server, this setup will need to be completed, or any bids from those SSP’s will always fail at auction. If your ad server was first-look, and failed to load an ad, the flow may look something like this: