EXADS’ Custom Key Value Pairs feature enables ad networks, publishers, and advertisers to activate their own first-party data directly within the ad server.

While EXADS already provides powerful standard targeting options — including Ad Zones, Browser, Contextual, Time Scheduling, Device, GEO, Keyword, Mobile Carrier, Operating System, Domain, IP, and Behavioral Retargeting — Enterprise clients can unlock even greater precision with Custom Key Value Pairs.

This feature allows additional user or contextual data to be passed with each ad request, enabling advanced targeting, enhanced reporting, and landing page tokens.

Custom Key Value Pairs allow businesses to extend the ad request with additional structured data points.

How Custom Key Value Pairs Work

Once configured at the ad server level, publishers can pass these key-value pairs dynamically with each ad request.

Values may be:

  • Static (e.g., site_section=sports)

  • Dynamic (e.g., age=35, user_segment=premium)

  • Numeric or range-based (e.g., income=50000-100000)

  • Predefined lists (e.g., car_brand=BMW)

Custom Key Value Pairs can be activated independently for:

  • Targeting

  • Statistics

  • Tokens (landing page parameters)

Custom Key Value Pairs can also be restricted to specific accounts within the ad server. This allows EXADS clients to control which accounts can use certain key-value pairs and ensures that custom data is only available where it is needed. It also makes it possible to introduce new keys gradually or tailor configurations for different partners.

Targeting: Precision at Scale

Advertisers can use Custom Key Value Pairs as additional campaign targeting options to reach highly specific audience segments.

For example:

  1. If a publisher passes user_segment=premium, advertisers can target only premium users.

  2. If device_type=gaming_console is passed, campaigns can focus on console users.

  3. If age=25 is passed, campaigns can target a defined age range such as 20–30.

Ads will only serve when the ad request contains values that match the campaign’s targeting rules.

*Custom Key Value Pairs can also be restricted to specific accounts within the ad server. *

Benefits of using Custom Key Value Targeting:

  • Higher precision

  • Reduced wasted impressions

  • Improved campaign efficiency

  • Greater monetization of segmented inventory

Example 1: Dating Network Monetizing Declared Interests

Imagine an EXADS client operating a large dating network. During registration, users select interests that help improve match recommendations, such as:

  • Running

  • Yoga

  • Going to the gym

  • Nutrition

  • Meditation

These declared interests are part of the onboarding process and reflect how users describe themselves.

Using Custom Key Value Pairs, the publisher can pass structured signals in the ad request.

For example:

  • interest=running

  • interest=yoga

  • interest=nutrition

  • interest=gym

Advertisers can then align campaigns with relevant segments:

  • A sportswear brand targets interest=running and interest=gym.

  • A wellness app targets interest=meditation.

  • A plant-based nutrition brand targets interest=nutrition.

This increases ad relevance because targeting is based on user-declared lifestyle interests collected during sign-up — not assumptions about purchasing behavior.

Dating network: Custom Key Value Pairs

Instead of selling undifferentiated dating traffic, the publisher monetizes structured interest data through Custom Key Value Pairs, increasing inventory value while maintaining user privacy.

Example 2: Retail Media Ad Network Activating Purchase Signals

Consider an EXADS client operating a retail media-based ad network connected to an e-commerce marketplace.

Because users are actively browsing and purchasing products, the network has visibility into aggregated shopping behavior, such as:

  • High spenders

  • Discount-driven buyers

  • Frequent purchasers

  • Seasonal shoppers

Using Custom Key Value Pairs, the publisher can segment traffic accordingly:

  • spending_level=high

  • spending_level=medium

  • buyer_type=discount

  • buyer_type=frequent

Advertisers can then tailor campaigns specifically for high-value segments.

For example:

A premium fashion brand may choose to target only spending_level=high, while a discount retailer may focus on buyer_type=discount.

This creates:

  • Smarter budget allocation

  • Higher bid competitiveness

  • Reduced wasted impressions

  • Improved return on ad spend

Instead of buying undifferentiated retail traffic, advertisers gain access to segmented audiences based on real shopping behavior signals — activated securely within the ad server through Custom Key Value Pairs.

This increases bid competitiveness, improves conversion potential, and enhances the overall value of retail media inventory.

increases bid competitiveness with Custom Key Value Pairs

Statistics: Turning Data into Insights

When a publisher passes a Custom Key Value Pair, the value is logged together with impression, click, and conversion data. Advertisers and administrators can then segment reports by these custom dimensions.

Example use cases:

  1. Compare CTR between user_segment=premium and user_segment=free

  2. Analyze performance by membership_level (basic, premium, VIP)

  3. Evaluate conversion rate by age range

This provides actionable business intelligence for performance optimization. For example, an advertiser may discover that users with membership_level=VIP convert at twice the rate of basic users. Based on this insight, the advertiser can increase bids for VIP traffic or create a dedicated campaign for that segment.

This level of visibility allows advertisers to refine budget allocation, optimize targeting rules, and maximize return on ad spend.

Tokens: Extending Data to the Landing Page

Custom Key Value Pairs can also be included dynamically into advertiser landing page URLs. For example, an advertiser may configure their landing URL as:

https://advertiser.com/offer?segment={user_segment}&age={age}

If the publisher passes:

  • user_segment=premium

  • age=35

The final click URL becomes:

https://advertiser.com/offer?segment=premium&age=35

This enables advertisers to personalize landing pages, pass segmentation data into analytics tools and improve attribution and performance measurement.

The advertiser receives these values based solely on what the publisher passes in the ad request.

Programmatic Advertising

In programmatic environments, Custom Key Value Pairs can be used to organize and enhance audience or contextual data within the ad server.

This enables more granular inventory segmentation and supports more precise campaign targeting when integrated with programmatic demand sources such as SSPs, DSPs, or Ad Exchanges.

Conclusion

Custom Key Value Pairs enable businesses to activate and monetize first-party data within a secure and controlled ad serving environment.

For advertisers, this means:

  • Greater targeting precision

  • Improved campaign performance

  • Advanced reporting capabilities

  • Higher conversion efficiency

For publishers and ad networks, it unlocks new monetization opportunities by segmenting and packaging audience data.

For EXADS clients operating their own ad server, this feature provides enterprise-level control, precision, and scalability — turning audience data into measurable advertising performance.