Equativ

DirectionBidirectional

Environment

Web

Capability

Event CollectionCohort Activation

SDK RequiredYes

Product(s) RequiredCore Platform

Equativ (formerly Smart AdServer) provides publishers with an independent ad server and SSP for managing and monetizing inventory.

Setup

Troubleshooting

Overview

Equativ (formerly Smart AdServer) is an independent advertising technology platform providing publishers with ad server and SSP functionality for managing and monetizing their digital inventory. Our integration with Equativ enables real-time cohort activation and impression event collection. This integration is Bidirectional:

Source: Permutive collects impression events from Equativ ad server, enabling cohort creation based on campaign delivery data.
Destination: Permutive cohorts are activated in Equativ as keyword targeting options, with cohort IDs stored in local storage and passed as key-value pairs in ad requests to Equativ.

Use cases include:

Activate Permutive cohorts in Equativ for real-time audience targeting across display and video inventory.
Collect impression data from Equativ campaigns to build cohorts based on ad exposure and campaign performance.
Target campaigns using first-party data segments from Permutive.
Enable publishers to monetize inventory more effectively with data-driven targeting.
Leverage Equativ’s keyword targeting capabilities with Permutive cohorts for flexible campaign configuration.

Environment Compatibility

Environment	Supported	Notes
Web	Yes	—
iOS	No	—
Android	No	—
CTV	No	—
API Direct	No	—

Prerequisites

Equativ Network ID: Your unique Equativ network identifier. See How to find the Network ID in Equativ’s documentation.
Equativ Username and Password: API credentials with permissions to create and manage keyword targeting in your Equativ account.
Permutive SDK: The Permutive SDK must be deployed on your web pages where Equativ ad requests are made.
Access to Equativ Campaign Setup: Ability to configure keyword targeting in your Equativ campaigns and insert creative scripts for impression tracking.

Setup

Primary Setup Steps
Web

Configure Integration in Permutive Dashboard

Navigate to the integrations page in the Permutive dashboard (Settings → Integrations) and add the Equativ integration.

Click the Add Integration button
Select Equativ from the list of available integrations
Enter your Equativ credentials:
- Network ID: Your Equativ network identifier
- Username: Your Equativ API username
- Password: Your Equativ API password
Click Save

Once configured, Permutive will automatically create a keyword group in your Equativ account and push activated cohort names as keywords for targeting.

Verify Setup

After configuring the integration, verify that:

The integration appears as active in your Permutive dashboard integrations page
A Permutive keyword group has been created in your Equativ account
You can see activated cohorts appearing as keywords in the Equativ targeting interface

Optional: Set up Impression Tracking

If you want to collect impression events from Equativ campaigns for cohort building and analytics, discuss this with your Customer Success Manager first.This requires:

A new event schema to be set up within Permutive
Additional Web code implementation (documented in the Web tab below)

Once the event schema is configured, you can proceed with implementing the impression tracking code.

Cohort Activation on Web

To pass Permutive cohorts in your Equativ ad requests, include the cohort data from local storage in the request’s target parameter:

<!-- Equativ Smart Setup -->
<script type="application/javascript" src="https://ced.sascdn.com/tag/[NETWORK_ID]/smart.js" async></script>

<script type="application/javascript">
  var sas = sas || {}
  sas.cmd = sas.cmd || []

  sas.cmd.push(function () {
    sas.setup({
      networkid: [NETWORK_ID],
      domain: 'https://www.smartadserver.com',
      async: true,
      renderMode: 0
    })
  })

  // Retrieve Permutive cohorts from local storage
  var permutive_cohorts_for_smart = JSON.parse(window.localStorage.getItem('_psmart')) || []

  sas.cmd.push(function () {
    sas.call('std', {
      siteId: [SITE_ID],
      pageId: [PAGE_ID],
      formatId: [FORMAT_ID],
      target: `permutive=${permutive_cohorts_for_smart.join(',')}`
    })
  })
</script>

<!-- Render ad format -->
<div id="sas_[FORMAT_ID]"></div>
<script type="application/javascript">
  sas.cmd.push(function () {
    sas.render('[FORMAT_ID]')
  })
</script>

Important Notes:

Replace [NETWORK_ID], [SITE_ID], [PAGE_ID], and [FORMAT_ID] with your actual Equativ configuration values
The Permutive SDK automatically populates the _psmart local storage field with activated cohort IDs
See the Equativ Tagging Guide for details on extracting your configuration values

Advanced: Enable Impression Event Collection

To collect impression events from Equativ for cohort building and analytics:

Add Creative Script: In your Equativ ad server, add the following script to the Creative Section of campaigns you want to track:

<script>
;(function () {
var data = {
  advertiserId: "[sas_advertiserId]" || "[sas_rtb_advertiserId]" || null,
  campaignId: "[sas_campaignId]" || "[sas_rtb_campaignId]" || null,
  creativeId: "[sas_creativeId]" || "[sas_rtb_creativeId]" || null,
  insertionId: "[sas_insertionId]" || null,
  dealId: "[sas_rtb_dealId]" || null,
  cpm: "[sas_cpm]" || "[sas_rtb_clearedPricePublisherCurrency]" || null,
  tagId: "[sas_tagId]" ||  null,
  creativeHeight: "[sas_creativeHeight]" || null,
  creativeWidth: "[sas_creativeWidth]" || null,
  keywords: "[sas_keywordTargeting]" || null
}
window.parent.postMessage({
  origin: 'permutive',
  type: 'smart-ad-impression',
  arguments: data
}, "*")
})()
</script>

This script uses Equativ macros to capture impression metadata and send it to Permutive via postMessage.

Add Event Queue Script (Optional but Recommended): To handle impressions that fire before the Permutive SDK has fully initialized, add this script alongside your Permutive deployment tag:

;(function () {
var messageDataQueue = []
var sdkReady = false
var listener = function (event) {
  if (typeof event.data === 'object' && 'origin' in event.data && event.data.origin === 'permutive') {
    if (event.data.type === 'sdk-init') {
      sdkReady = true
      window.removeEventListener('message', listener)
      messageDataQueue.forEach(function (msgData) {
        window.postMessage(msgData, '*')
      })
      return
    }
  }
  if (!sdkReady) {
    messageDataQueue.push(event.data)
  }
}
window.addEventListener('message', listener, false)
})()

This ensures all impression events are captured and processed, even those that occur during page load.

Data Types

With your Equativ integration setup, you’ll see the following additional event types collected in Permutive:

Equativ Impression

Fired when an ad impression is served through Equativ ad server. This event captures campaign, creative, and targeting metadata for cohort building and analytics.

advertiserId

string

The ID of the advertiser associated with the impression. May come from direct campaigns (sas_advertiserId) or programmatic campaigns (sas_rtb_advertiserId).

campaignId

string

The ID of the campaign associated with the impression. May come from direct campaigns (sas_campaignId) or programmatic campaigns (sas_rtb_campaignId).

creativeId

string

The ID of the creative that was displayed. May come from direct campaigns (sas_creativeId) or programmatic campaigns (sas_rtb_creativeId).

insertionId

string

The ID of the insertion order (equivalent to line item ID in other ad servers). Used for campaign reporting and analysis.

dealId

string

The deal ID for programmatic transactions (sas_rtb_dealId). Available only for programmatic impressions.

cpm

string

The CPM value for the impression. May be the standard CPM (sas_cpm) or the cleared price in publisher currency (sas_rtb_clearedPricePublisherCurrency) for programmatic impressions.

tagId

string

The Equativ tag ID associated with the ad placement.

creativeHeight

string

The height of the creative in pixels.

creativeWidth

string

The width of the creative in pixels.

keywords

string

The keyword targeting parameters applied to the impression, including Permutive cohort IDs if cohort activation is enabled.

Impression events require additional setup in the Equativ Creative Section. See the “Advanced: Enable Impression Event Collection” section in Setup for implementation details.

Troubleshooting

Cohorts not appearing in Equativ keyword targeting

Symptoms: Activated cohorts don’t appear as available keywords in Equativ campaign targeting interface.Solutions:

Verify the Equativ integration is properly configured in the Permutive dashboard with correct Network ID, Username, and Password
Check that cohorts have been activated for Equativ in the Permutive dashboard (either via cohort settings or cohort activations page)
Confirm that a Permutive keyword group has been created in your Equativ account (this should happen automatically upon integration setup)
Allow a few minutes for newly activated cohorts to sync to Equativ - keyword creation is not instantaneous
Verify your Equativ API credentials have permissions to create and manage keyword targeting

Cohorts not being passed in ad requests

Symptoms: Permutive cohorts are not included in the target parameter of Equativ ad requests, or targeting doesn’t work as expected.Solutions:

Verify the _psmart local storage field is being populated by the Permutive SDK - check browser developer tools → Application → Local Storage
Ensure your Equativ ad request code is correctly reading from localStorage.getItem('_psmart') and parsing the JSON
Confirm the target parameter in your sas.call() includes the Permutive cohorts: target: 'permutive=' + permutive_cohorts_for_smart.join(',')
Check that the Permutive SDK loads before the Equativ ad request is made
Verify the cohorts are activated with an Equativ activation (not just other activations)

Impression events not being collected

Symptoms: Equativ impression events are not appearing in Permutive analytics or event stream.Solutions:

Verify the impression tracking script has been added to the Creative Section in Equativ ad server
Check that the permutiveEventSmart postMessage is being sent - use browser developer tools → Console to check for errors
Ensure the Permutive SDK is loaded on pages where Equativ ads are served
If using the optional event queue script, verify it’s placed alongside the Permutive deployment tag (not inside the creative)
Check browser console for any cross-origin or security errors that might block postMessage communication
Confirm the creative script is using the correct Equativ macros (e.g., [sas_advertiserId], [sas_campaignId])

Equativ keyword targeting uses OR logic instead of AND

Symptoms: When targeting multiple Permutive cohorts, Equativ treats them as OR conditions rather than AND conditions.Solutions:

This is expected behavior - Equativ’s keyword targeting uses OR logic by default when multiple keywords are selected from the same keyword group
To create AND logic or more complex targeting combinations, you must manually enter cohort IDs in the Equativ targeting interface rather than selecting them from the dropdown
See Equativ’s keyword targeting documentation for details on advanced targeting syntax
Consider building more specific cohorts in Permutive that combine your desired conditions, then activate those single cohorts to Equativ

Unable to add Equativ integration in dashboard

Symptoms: Error when trying to add or configure the Equativ integration in the Permutive dashboard.Solutions:

Verify you have the correct Equativ Network ID - see How to find the Network ID
Confirm your Equativ API credentials are correct and have not expired
Check that your Equativ user account has API access and permissions to create keyword groups
If the issue persists, contact Permutive support with the error message

Changelog

January 2022

Added support for Equativ impression event collection via creative pixel
Enabled Equativ Campaign Insights dashboards for customers with integration configured

For detailed changelog information, visit our Changelog.

Integrations

Identity

Contextual

Advertising

Marketing

Data Collaboration

Video

Social Media

Survey

Equativ

Equativ

Setup

Troubleshooting

Overview

Environment Compatibility

Prerequisites

Setup

Cohort Activation on Web

Advanced: Enable Impression Event Collection

Data Types

Troubleshooting

Changelog

January 2022

Integrations

Identity

Contextual

Advertising

Marketing

Data Collaboration

Video

Social Media

Survey

​Equativ

Setup

Troubleshooting

​Overview

​Environment Compatibility

​Prerequisites

​Setup

​Cohort Activation on Web

​Advanced: Enable Impression Event Collection

​Data Types

​Troubleshooting

​Changelog

​January 2022

Equativ

Overview

Environment Compatibility

Prerequisites

Setup

Cohort Activation on Web

Advanced: Enable Impression Event Collection

Data Types

Troubleshooting

Changelog

January 2022