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Ad Relevancy Setup

Relevancy ensures that ads are only displayed in contexts where they make sense for the user.
It is especially critical for:

  • Sponsored Product campaigns (relevance between advertised products and the page context).
  • Creative campaigns with Connected Products (image/video ads linked to specific products).

Key Concepts​

Category Relevance Level​

  • Defines how many nodes of the category path must match between the advertised product and the page context.
  • Example: If Level = 3, then the first 3 levels of the product’s category path must align with the category path of the page.

Category Relevance Threshold​

  • Specifies the minimum number of organic products on the page that must match the advertised product’s category (at the defined level) for the ad to be eligible.
  • Ensures that ads are only returned when the page has enough organic content in the same category.

Example Walkthrough (Detailed)​

Let’s assume a marketplace with the following category tree:

Electronics > Computers
Electronics > Computers > Desktop Computers
Electronics > Computers > Laptops
Electronics > Computers > Laptops > Gaming Laptops
Electronics > Computers > Handheld Devices > E-Book Readers

and a campaign is promoting a product in the category:

Electronics > Computers > Laptops

Marketplace relevancy settings:

  • Category Relevance Level = 3 → The first 3 nodes of the category path must match.
  • Category Relevance Threshold = 4 → At least 4 organic products must exist in that category for ads to be eligible.

Step 1 – Organic Page Context​

A user visits a Computers search page. The organic products listed are:

  • 4 products → Electronics > Computers > Desktop Computers
  • 3 products → Electronics > Computers > Laptops
  • 2 products → Electronics > Computers > Laptops > Gaming Laptops
  • 1 product → Electronics > Computers > Handheld Devices > E-Book Readers

Step 2 – Apply Relevance Level (Level = 3)​

Compare the campaign product category (Electronics > Computers > Laptops) with the organic product categories:

  • Desktop Computers → Only first 2 nodes match (Electronics > Computers), 3rd node differs → ❌ Not relevant.
  • Laptops → First 3 nodes fully match → ✅ Relevant.
  • Gaming Laptops → First 3 nodes fully match (Electronics > Computers > Laptops) → ✅ Relevant.
  • E-Book Readers → Only 2 nodes match, 3rd differs → ❌ Not relevant.

Result after Level check:
Relevant categories = Laptops, Gaming Laptops

Step 3 – Apply Threshold (with paths)​

Campaign product category path:
Electronics > Computers > Laptops

Relevant organic categories after Level check:

  • Electronics > Computers > Laptops → 3 products
  • Electronics > Computers > Laptops > Gaming Laptops → 2 products

Both categories share the first 3 nodes:
Electronics > Computers > Laptops ✅

Threshold calculation:

  • Laptops (3) + Gaming Laptops (2) = 5 products
  • Threshold = 4 → ✅ Condition met

Step 4 – Final Outcome​

Since the combined total of products under
Electronics > Computers > Laptops (including subcategories) ≥ 4,
the campaign ads are eligible.

✅ Result: Ads for products in the Laptops category will be served on this page.​

Application in Campaign Types​

  • Sponsored Products

    • Relevance is applied between the campaign’s selected products and the organic page context.
    • Ads only appear if relevancy conditions are satisfied (level + threshold).

  • Creative Campaigns with Connected Products

    • For Display/Video ads that have linked products, relevancy is checked using the connected product’s category.
    • Example: If a video ad is linked to a Running Shoes product, it can only be served when the page context matches “Shoes → Running” (and threshold conditions are met).

Why Relevancy Matters​

  • Prevents ads from appearing in unrelated contexts.
  • Improves user experience by showing ads that match browsing intent.
  • Helps advertisers maximize ROAS by targeting relevant traffic only.

Notes for Testing​

During integration or QA, if no ads are returned in the response, consider the following:

  • Relevancy Settings

    • Check the configured Relevance Level and Threshold.
    • Ads will not be served if the page context does not satisfy these conditions, even if the campaign is active.

  • Page Context

    • Relevancy applies only on pages that have a context, such as Search Results or Category Pages.
    • On context-less pages (e.g., Homepage), relevancy rules do not apply.

  • Testing Best Practices

    • Always validate on pages where the context matches the campaign’s targeting (e.g., test category campaigns on category pages, keyword campaigns on search pages).
    • Use organic listings that actually contain enough relevant products to meet the Threshold.
    • If Threshold is not met, the system correctly returns no ads — this should not be mistaken for an integration error.

✅ In short: When debugging empty ad responses, always verify category relevance and threshold conditions first.