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Flash click counting — the clickTag method
When creating flash banners it is necessary that the banner's destination (click-through) url is not physically hard coded into the SWF file, otherwise click counting will not be possible. Instead, the "clickTag" variable should be used. The value of this variable can then be handed over to the flash banner by the ad server.
Advantages
- Both sides can count clicks via the ad server
- It isn't necessary to return the Flash file to the designer if the destination url needs to be changed
- The destination url can easily be checked
- There's no need for the Flash designer to know the destination url
Implementation
To implement the clickTag click counting method in your flash creative, simply insert a new top-layer button in the clickable area and add the following action:
on (release) {
getURL (clickTag, "_blank");
}
It should look something like the below :-
Ensure that :-
- The URL box is set as an expression
- clickTag is lower case, except for the 'T' which must be upper case
- The target window is set appropriately
Multiple click-throughs
The process is almost the same for flash creative which contains multiple clickable zones with different destination urls. Follow the procedure outlined above, but instead of clickTag use clickTag1, clickTag2, clickTag3, etc for each clickable area.
...and finally
Remember that when you send us your clickTag'd .swf, we'll also need to know the URL(s) for the click-through.
Note: Please don't be tempted to use on (press) in place of on(release); this action is often masked by pop-up blockers.
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