1. Summary
2. Symptoms
3. Cause
4. How Email Ad Serving Works
5. Example
6. Does This Affect Geo-Targeting?
7. Why Reports Differ
8. First-Party AdButler Reporting
9. Third-Party Reporting
10. Best Practices

Summary

When using Email Ad Serving in AdButler, third-party impression pixels (such as Campaign Manager 360/DoubleClick) are fired server-side from the AdButler edge data center that processed the ad request.

Because of this, third-party reporting platforms may report the location of the AdButler edge server rather than the recipient viewing the email.

This is expected behavior and does not affect campaign targeting or the advertisement the recipient sees.

Symptoms

You may notice one or more of the following:

Third-party reporting shows impressions from unexpected countries or regions. Campaign Manager 360 (formerly DoubleClick) reports impressions from a different location than AdButler. Geo-targeted email campaigns appear to contain impressions outside the targeted region. AdButler reporting and third-party reporting do not perfectly align geographically.

These reporting differences are expected when using server-side impression tracking for email advertising.

Cause

Unlike traditional web advertising, email clients do not always allow third-party impression pixels to execute directly within the recipient's email client.

Instead, AdButler:

• Evaluates the recipient's IP address.
• Applies your campaign targeting rules.
• Selects the appropriate advertisement.
• Fires any configured third-party impression pixels server-side from the AdButler edge data center.

Because the impression pixel originates from the edge server rather than the recipient's device, some third-party platforms record the server's location instead of the recipient's location.

How Email Ad Serving Works

Example

Suppose you create an email campaign with the following targeting rule:

Exclude:

United States

Include:

Canada

A subscriber opens the email in Toronto, Canada. AdButler evaluates the subscriber's IP address and correctly determines that the advertisement should be displayed. However, the edge data center that processed the request is located in Seattle, USA.

As a result:

System: AdButler
Reported Location: Toronto, Canada (recipient)

vs.

System: Third-party reporting
Reported Location: Seattle, USA (edge server)

Although the reporting locations differ, the recipient still received the correct advertisement based on your campaign targeting rules.

Does This Affect Geo-Targeting?

No. Campaign targeting continues to work exactly as configured. Recipients are still evaluated using:

• Geo-targeting rules
• Inclusive targeting
• Exclusive targeting
• Campaign eligibility

The reporting discrepancy occurs after the ad-serving decision has already been made.

Why Reports Differ

First-Party AdButler Reporting

AdButler reporting:

• Evaluates the recipient's IP address
• Applies campaign targeting rules
• Confirms advertisement delivery
• Provides the most accurate view of campaign targeting

Third-Party Reporting

Third-party reporting platforms:

• Record the server making the tracking request
• Measure server-side impression execution
• May report the location of the edge data center
• Provide independent measurement that may differ geographically from AdButler reporting

Best Practices

When validating email campaigns:

• Use AdButler reporting to verify campaign targeting and advertisement delivery.
• Use third-party reporting for independent measurement and verification.
• Expect some geographic differences when using server-side impression tracking.
• Compare reporting trends rather than expecting identical geographic reporting between platforms.