Forecast display

See inventory availability, contending line items, forecasting breakdown targeting, and more. #forecasting #forecastdisplay

The delivery forecast display for standard or sponsorship line items provides you with the following:

An intuitive summary of inventory availability. This summary includes an at-a-glance forecast bar that combines delivered impressions (for saved line items) with projected delivery, so you can quickly see whether a line item is likely to meet its delivery goal, and whether or not it's likely to affect other line items along the way.
A link to a contending line items list, which is divided into two parts: (1) Higher- or same-priority line items that share targeting with, and could potentially take inventory from, the prospective line item, and (2) Lower- or same-priority line items that share targeting with the prospective line item, and from which that line item could potentially take inventory.
A link to a breakdown by targeting section that shows impression information for each value of targeted criteria.
A button to export forecast details to an Excel spreadsheet.

An example of forecast display in Ad Manager.

Forecasts for viewable inventory: Forecasting for standard line items booked for vCPM (viewable) impression line items looks and works just like the display and metrics described throughout this article, except for a few differences described here.

Forecast summary

The Forecast summary section includes the forecast bar, which provides a quick look at whether a line item is likely to meet its delivery goal, if it's likely to impact other line items along the way, and information about other impressions or clicks.

Details above the forecast bar

Here are the possible details that can be displayed above the bar.

Summary above the bar	Description
Your goal is likely to deliver	The line item should fully deliver on its goal without causing any other line items to underdeliver.
Your goal is likely to deliver but may impact lower- or same-priority line items	The line item should fully deliver on its impression or click goal, but it might cause other line items to underdeliver.
Your goal is unlikely to deliver	The line item is unlikely to meet its goal because inventory is reserved for higher- or same-priority line items. Inventory might also be limited because of frequency capping, competitive exclusions, or other restrictions. This line item will also likely displace other line items as it serves.
Not enough matched impressions to reach goal	The total number of matched impressions or clicks is less than the impression or click goal, so it's impossible to reach the goal. You might need to set a smaller goal.
Maximum of x are available for the selected targeting criteria	(For forecasts with a Max available goal) The percentage or number for x represents the impressions or clicks that match the line item's targeting criteria and are currently free of obligations to other line items of any priority.

Numbers below the forecast bar

Below the bar, the numbers provide the details that are illustrated in the bar. The metrics vary depending on the type of forecast. For example, "Available" appears only for forecasts with a "Max available" goal. Here are the possible forecasting metrics.

Metrics below the bar	Description
Delivered	Impressions or clicks that have already served.
Likely to deliver	Impressions or clicks that should fully deliver without causing any other line items to underdeliver.
Likely to deliver but may impact lower- or same-priority line items	Impressions or clicks that should fully deliver but might cause other line items to underdeliver.
Unlikely to deliver	The remainder of the line item's goal that will likely not deliver. This could be because inventory is reserved for higher- or same-priority line items; inventory might also be limited because of frequency capping, competitive exclusions, or other restrictions.
Available impressions	Impressions or clicks that match the line item's targeting criteria and are currently free of obligations to other line items of any priority. This metric appears for forecasts with a Max available goal because there's no specific numeric goal; the publisher wants as many impressions or clicks as it can get.
Remaining unreserved impressions	Impressions or clicks that meet all of the following requirements: Match the line item's targeting criteria. Are currently free of obligations to other line items of any priority. Remain after the goal has been achieved. When you run a forecast for a line item with a Max available goal, the Remaining unreserved value is always 0. In this situation, the goal is limitless, so it's impossible to have any remaining impressions or clicks.
Reserved by lower- or same-priority line items	It's possible these impressions or clicks could serve to this line item, but they're currently reserved by lower- or same-priority line items. Booking this number of impressions or clicks might cause some of these lower- or same-priority line items to underdeliver, or they might move safely to other inventory. Example You set a goal of 8,000 impressions, and the forecast indicates: There are 5,000 available impressions for the forecasted line item. There are 1,000 impressions likely to deliver, but may impact lower- or same-priority line items There are 3,000 impressions reserved by lower- or same-priority line items. This means that 1,000 of the 3,000 impressions reserved by lower- or same-priority line items are likely to be taken by the forecasted line item, but some of those 1,000 impressions might move safely to other inventory.
Unavailable impressions	Impressions or clicks that might be unavailable to this line item for the following reasons: They're reserved for higher- or same-priority line items. Restrictions apply, such as frequency capping for the prospective line item, competitive exclusions, ad exclusion labels, max creatives per page, roadblocking, and possibly others.
Total capacity	The total number of projected impressions, including those that have been reserved by existing line items. For sponsorship line items, the percentages reflect the share of overall matched capacity for each number in the list. Ad Manager does consider delivery restrictions (as described in the definition for Unavailable impressions) when calculating this number.

Contending line items list

Click View contending line items. Line items will be displayed as contending with the prospective line item if each of the following is true:

They compete for the same impressions (in other words, they have overlapping targeting criteria and campaign dates).
They're forecasted to receive at least 100 impressions.
They're a standard or sponsorship line item.

Note that, because of the 100-impression minimum, not all line items that share targeting criteria and campaign dates will appear on the contending line items list. Therefore, if you deactivate, pause, or re-target line items from the list to clear some impressions for your prospective line item, there may be still be other line items that will take those impressions instead. Also, a maximum of 3000 contending line items can appear.

The list is broken into contending line items that are:

Higher or same priority: These line items with matched or overlapping targeting criteria are likely to take impressions from the prospective line item. By adjusting the targeting criteria of these line items, you'll likely be able to free up inventory for the prospective line item.
Lower or same priority: These line items with matched or overlapping targeting criteria are likely to have impressions taken from them by the prospective line item. By adjusting the targeting criteria of these line items, you'll likely be able to free up inventory for them.

Breakdown by targeting section

Click View breakdown by targeting. The Breakdown by targeting section shows impression information for each value of targeted criteria: how many impressions are "Available" and how many are "Matched". Each targeting selection (Geo, Inventory, Key-values, Ad size, etc.) is constrained by all the other selections. This means that if you're viewing the targeting breakdown for a line item that's targeting 5 ad units, those ad units are restricted by your choices for ad size, geo, and any other targeting criteria you select.

You can use the results in the Breakdown by targeting section to help you adjust the targeting of a line item. If not enough impressions are available for the line item, check the Breakdown by targeting section to see whether one of the targeting selections is the limiting factor (the targeting criterion that causes there to be too few impressions available to the line item). A criterion can be a limiting factor if the sum of impressions available for each targeted value of that category is less than the total number of impressions for which you want to book the line item.

The following criteria can appear in the breakdown:

Ad size
Inventory
Geography
Key-values
Browser
Ad units, placements
Countries, States/Provinces, Cities
Creative restriction

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