- Requirement
- Configured value
- Observed mismatch
- Verification
Use this sequence to organize the investigation. Confirm the details in the affected platform and campaign.
Complete each task before reading its explanation. Write the evidence you would request if the packet is incomplete. There can be more than one useful investigation step, but a production change should follow the observed failure.
These are original learning exercises. They do not reproduce a company hiring test or imply that one setting behaves identically in every ad server.
Exercise 1: find the targeting mismatch
Brief: a mobile-web display campaign must run in the UK for ten days with a 100,000-impression goal. The copied setup targets desktop, uses the correct dates, and has an approved 300x250 asset.
Task: identify the confirmed mismatch, what still needs checking, and whether a creative preview is enough to launch.
- Compare every brief requirement with the setup.
- Name the mismatch that is directly evidenced.
- Describe a request-level verification.
Answer 1: correct targeting, then test eligibility
Desktop targeting conflicts with the mobile-web brief. Correct that setting, then inspect a request from the intended placement to confirm geography, size, and other requirements. A creative preview only shows part of the delivery path.
You still need evidence about frequency, tracking, and the platform's eligibility result. Do not declare the entire campaign ready because one copied default was corrected.
Exercise 2: explain a creative exclusion
A 728x90 placement sends requests matching the campaign's geography and schedule. The only associated asset is 300x250. A diagnostic result says no matching creative.
Task: write a two-sentence update for the campaign owner. Include the next action without claiming it has already succeeded.
Answer 2: match the asset to the intended placement
A useful update is: The sampled request is excluded because its 728x90 slot has no matching associated creative. I will obtain the approved asset, associate it, and retest the original placement before confirming delivery.
Do not change the slot size or substitute an asset without checking the brief. The correct resolution depends on which placement and format were actually agreed.
Exercise 3: resolve an ambiguous launch time
The brief says launch Monday at 09:00 but gives no timezone. The advertiser is in New York and the publisher team is in London. The line item is configured for 09:00 in the account timezone.
Task: is there enough information to approve the schedule? What would you record?
Answer 3: clarify before treating a default as the agreement
No. Confirm the intended timezone and date with the campaign owner, then translate that into the platform's scheduling convention. Record both the agreed time and configured value.
A time ambiguity should be resolved before launch. If already live, quantify the affected interval and agree on the correction rather than rewriting the history of the brief.
Review the quality of your answers
For each exercise, check whether you distinguished confirmed evidence from missing information, proposed a relevant correction, and named a verification. If an answer starts by changing priority or budget, ask what evidence makes that action relevant.
Next, practice a complete campaign in Flight Lab. The simulator's related training area contains different situations; these written exercises are not a promise of an identical incident.