AdMaster Knowledge Base

• What You Need to Know BEFORE You Start
• The Recommended Order of Steps (The "Golden Path")
• Understanding the "Mind" of the Algorithm
• The Power of Segments
• The "Butterfly Effect": How One Campaign Affects All Others
• Why Pre-Broadcast Airtime Reports Don't Exist
• The Role of the Desktop Client
• Troubleshooting: An Ad Didn't Air as Expected
• Troubleshooting: Log Reconciliation Isn't Working

1. What You Need to Know BEFORE You Start

AdMaster is a powerful tool, but it's important to understand what it is and what it isn't.

• What is AdMaster?
  It's a professional, cloud-based software for traffic scheduling and billing, designed for radio and TV stations. Its job is to consider all the campaigns and create the traffic schedule that provides the same level of service to all your advertisers. The legacy traffic tools would simply add the new spot to the bottom of the playlist and eventually do some shuffling for damage control.
• Who is it for?
  AdMaster is for radio and TV stations of all sizes, from any country in the world, who need a modern, simple and affordable, yet powerful solution for traffic (commercial breaks) management.
• How does it work?
  Based on the data you enter, AdMaster creates a schedule for all the ads your station airs, in a format compatible with your playout software. It strives for balance and optimal distribution, to provide the same quality of service to all advertisers.
• What do you need?
  You need one or more people in charge of sales and advertiser relations. Technical knowledge isn't crucial.
• Don't have the time or resources for this?
  If you're looking for a turnkey solution, our sister company, IT4RADIO, offers a complete remote traffic management service using AdMaster. You send an email with the campaign description, and they do all the rest. They can be your outsourced traffic manager.

2. The Recommended Order of Steps (The "Golden Path")

To avoid frustration and make the most of your trial period, follow this sequence. Don't skip steps.

• Watch, Don't Touch:
  First, just watch our two key video tutorials: "Getting Started" and "Scheduling a Campaign". Just watch them. Don't install anything or create an account yet. The goal is to get a general impression.
• Assign the Right Person:
  If you are a station owner, test AdMaster personally only if you will be using it personally. If not, decide who on your team will work with it (the number of user accounts per station is unlimited). It should be someone from sales or administration, not a technician. You'll only need a technician at the very end, for about 15 minutes, to connect the software to your playout system. If you don't have such a person, consider the services of IT4RADIO.
• Create a Trial Account:
  Now is the time to go to admaster.cloud and create your free 60-day trial account.
• Enter REAL Campaigns:
  Forget "test1" and "demo2". Start entering average campaigns - the kind you're already airing. Start with simpler ones. Crucially: Enter at least 10-15 campaigns before you start analyzing the schedule. The algorithm can't show its strength with only 2 or 3 spots scattered across the day; it needs enough material to work with properly.
• Test the Limits:
  Now, enter a few of the most complex campaigns you've ever dealt with. If something seems impossible, write to our support with a specific example. It's highly likely you just need to approach the problem in a different, "AdMaster way".
• Playout Integration (The Final Step):
  Only when you are directly familiar with the software's operation, campaign creation processes and capabilities, it's time for integration. Integration is a one-time job that takes just a few minutes. Contact us if you get stuck along the way.
• After the Trial:
  If you decide to purchase a license after your trial expires, you can do so quickly and easily directly from your account. You will keep all the data and campaigns entered during the trial period and continue working right where you left off.

3. Understanding the "Mind" of the Algorithm

To use AdMaster effectively, you need to understand how its algorithm "thinks". It's like an extremely intelligent but very literal assistant.

• It respects your rules above all else.
  If you tell it a spot must run 3 times in a specific hour, it will honor that, even if it means the schedule is less than ideal. It will never proactively move a spot to an adjacent, emptier hour because it assumes you had a good reason for setting that specific rule.
• Example:
  You have 2 ad breaks in an hour. You've instructed a spot to run 3 times within that hour. The algorithm only has 4 possible combinations (3+0, 0+3, 1+2, 2+1). It will choose the best possible one, but it cannot avoid repeating the spot in one break because you gave it the rule "3 times in this hour," and there are only two breaks. 

4. The Power of Segments

Think of segments as "mini-campaigns" within a larger campaign. Each segment can have its own rules, its own time slots and even its own spots. They can run in parallel (e.g., one segment airs in the morning, another in the afternoon) or in sequence (e.g., one spot airs for the first 15 days, another for the next 15). This is an extremely powerful tool for complex campaigns.

5. The "Butterfly Effect": How One Campaign Affects All Others

Every campaign, especially one with strict rules, affects the schedule of all others. This is called the "chain effect."

• A Simple Example:
  
  Imagine you have two ad breaks per hour.
  Client A (e.g., a car dealership) has a spot in the first break.
  Client B (e.g., a furniture store) has a spot in the second break.
  
  Now, Client C, another car dealership, arrives and needs to be scheduled in the same hour. Normally, the algorithm would place it to the second break. 
  
  However, Client D, from a neutral category (e.g., a supermarket), sends a very long spot (e.g., 60 seconds) that also needs to air in that hour.
  
  To maintain a balance in break durations, the algorithm might decide to place Client C in the same break as their competitor, Client A, to keep another break from becoming too long.
  
  The takeaway: Whenever you see something in the schedule that doesn't look ideal, examine all campaigns, not just the ones directly involved in the conflict. In this case, the "culprit" for the conflict between A and C was actually the long spot from the completely unrelated Client D.

6. Why Pre-Broadcast Airtime Reports Don't Exist

A common question is: "Can we get an exact list of airtimes for the entire campaign before it starts, to send it to the client?"
The answer is no, and for a good reason.

AdMaster is dynamic. It constantly optimizes the schedule and creates a new traffic log each and every time you add a new, or edit an existing campaign. Providing a fixed list in advance would "lock" the schedule and destroy all flexibility.

The math behind this is unforgiving:
Imagine you have 10 different spots in a single ad break. The number of possible combinations for their placement is 10! (10 factorial), which is 3,628,800.
If just 5 of those spots have a fixed position, the number of combinations drops to 5!, which is only 120.

At any given moment, AdMaster is choosing the best of millions of possible combinations. That's why the Live Report is the only true solution -it gives the client a real-time insight into their campaign, which is far more valuable than any pre-determined, fixed plan.

7. The Role of the Desktop Client

You might wonder why cloud software requires a small desktop application. The answer is simple: it acts as a bridge between our cloud server and your local playout computer.

The desktop client has two crucial jobs:

1) Delivery: It automatically downloads traffic logs and new audio/video spots from the AdMaster cloud to your playout computer, ensuring your station always has the latest schedule and materials.

2) Reconciliation: It checks your playout software's logs and reports back to the cloud what actually aired. This feedback loop is essential for creating accurate Proof of Performance reports and invoices.

This two-way communication ensures that what you plan in the cloud is perfectly synchronized with what happens in your studio.

8. Troubleshooting: An Ad Didn't Air as Expected

This scenario is very rare and is almost always caused by improper settings in the playout software or a delayed import of the traffic log. Here is a step-by-step procedure to diagnose the issue:

• 1) Check the Plan: Open the Traffic Log Editor in AdMaster and find the specific ad break that did not air as expected. This is your reference point for what should have happened.
• 2) Check the Connection: Open the AdMaster Desktop Client app on your playout machine. Check the status indicators. Green circles mean everything is working correctly. The status text next to them will show the last time traffic logs were successfully downloaded.
• Find the Log File: On your playout machine, navigate to the folder where traffic logs are stored. Look for the folder location in the AdMaster Desktop Client app Settings. Find the specific log file that matches the date and hour you are investigating.
• Inspect the Log File: Open the log file using a simple text editor like Notepad.
• Compare: Check if the order and content of the spots in the text file are identical to what you see in the Traffic Log Editor for that same break.
• Analyze the Findings:
• If everything matches: The issue is not with AdMaster. The traffic log was delivered correctly, but it was either not imported on time or the import settings are configured incorrectly. Double check your playout software.
• If there is a discrepancy: If the content of the log file differs from what is shown in the Traffic Log Editor, please send screenshots of both the TLE and the corresponding log file to support@admaster.info.
• Red Status Alert: If the Desktop Client app shows a "red" status, it means the connection to the AdMaster server is not established correctly. In this case, please contact our support team immediately.

9. Troubleshooting: Log Reconciliation Isn't Working

This scenario is very rare and is almost always caused by improper settings in the playout software or a delayed import of the traffic log. Here is a step-by-step procedure to diagnose the issue:

• Scenario 1: Reconciliation has never worked:
  AdMaster needs to know where to find the data. In the Desktop Client app, you must set the correct folder containing your playout software's broadcast logs. Crucially, the log file AdMaster monitors must be updated by your playout in real-time.
  
  AdMaster needs to know when the ads were supposed to air. This information comes from the expected start time you set for each commercial break (in Stations > Commercial break settings). The algorithm allows for some deviation (e.g., a break planned for 10:10 airing at 10:16 is not a problem).
  
  Important: If your playout software creates a single daily log at the end of the day, AdMaster will not have the real-time data needed for automatic reconciliation. In this case, your only option is to manually upload the broadcast logs in Station > General settings.
• Scenario 2: Reconciliation was working but has stopped.
  > Check your broadcast logs. These are the log files created by your playout software, not AdMaster. Open the folder containing your playout's broadcast logs.
  > Find the relevant log file for the day AdMaster incorrectly reported that ads were not aired and check the information within it.
  > Investigate the cause. In most cases, the problem is caused by a recent change in the broadcast log format or a corrupted log file.
  
  If all logs seem correct, logical, and as expected, please send us screenshots of the relevant logs so we can investigate further.