Openads Web Hosting

Openads Web HostingOpenads; formerly known as phpAdsnew; is an open source and highly advanced adserver software which is available under the GNU General Public License. It uses PHP language and the MySQL database and comprises of an integrated banner management interface and tracking system for gathering statistics. It offers all the features required to generate revenue for site owners from their web sites. It also gives you the ability to rotate paid banners and in-house advertisements as well as show banners from third party advertising companies.

It is the most widely used online advertising software and offers an enriching user experience. Openads can be used to enhance revenue of websites or even extend and efficiently manage an online advertising portfolio. Openads offers user-friendly products which are backed by advanced expertise from the world’s largest ad space community.

Formerly known as phpAdsNew; it was originally a fork of phpAds and was created by Tobias Ratschiller in 1998. The features set of phpAdsNew 2.0 were also integrated into the new Openads 2.3 software.
The latest stable version is the Openads 2.4 with which the user wields complete control over their ad space. It can easily be upgraded and with its advanced features it is possible to serve billions of ads each month. Before installation; the users need to make sure that their server meets the following requirements:

• Web Server: Openads should be able to run on any web server which is supported by PHP. Openads has been tested with Apache running on Linux; other servers might also work as long as PHP is supported, but they are currently untested and unsupported by Openads 2.4.
• PHP: Openads 2.4 is written in PHP and requires that PHP is installed on the server. For security reasons the use of PHP 4.4.2 or higher is highly recommended, but Openads supports PHP 4.3.10 or higher. Openads is also compatible with PHP 5. A minimum of 16MB of memory is required for PHP4 installations and 24Mb for PHP5.2 and higher. If using Apache, it is not recommended to run PHP as a CGI binary. It is recommended to use the Apache module as it is much faster as well as inflicts less load on the server thereby improving the number of impressions the server can handle. If the user is using Microsoft IIS 5.1 or 6, Fast-CGI is recommended because the ISAPI module is not yet declared stable. If using Microsoft IIS 5.0 or earlier it is advised to upgrade to the latest version. If upgrade to IIS 5.1 or 6 is not possible, then it is advisable to use the less stable ISAPI module. IIS 5.0 or earlier are affected by a serious bug which interferes with the correct operation of CGI applications. Openads is fully compatible with PHP 4.3.10 and higher, including when the register_globals setting is turned off. Openads requires the following PHP configuration settings:

1. magic_quotes_runtime must be off
2. safe_mode must be off
3. register_argc_argv must be on if you want to run maintenance via command line
4. file_uploads need to be turned on to allow HTTP file uploads.

The ZLib extension is required in order to convert hard-coded links inside compressed Flash files which are generated by Flash MX. Without the ZLib extension Openads is not able to decompress the Flash file and won’t detect any hard-coded links.

• MySQL: Openads requires a MySQL database to store the banner inventory and statistics. Use of MySQL 5.0.41 is highly recommended and MySQL 4.0.18 is the minimum supported version. Openads is compatible with all table types, but it is recommended to use MyISAM tables for quicker access. If the conversion tracking feature is used, InnoDB tables, which support row locking should be used.

The latest stable version is the Openads 2.4 with highly advanced, robust and flexible feature list. Its key features include:

1. Enhanced power and simplicity in terms of:

• Optimized delivery engine increases number and speed of ads delivered – Openads is now capable of serving billions of ads each month.
• Improved installation process makes new installations easy and upgrades on existing systems seamless and consistent.
• Better ad campaign prioritization.

2. Easy Integration with Industry Leading Applications:

• Ability to track clicks sent to Google AdSense & Yahoo! Publisher Network
• Enhanced click tracking of Flash ads and support for backup GIFs
• Documented code for easy customization

3. Enhanced Targeting & Campaign Management:

• Targeting statistics screen gives users an idea of the functional relation of ad campaigns to determine which are performing well or not meeting required impressions.
• Direct selection allows publishers to specify keywords against tags, providing better targeting across the entire site
• Campaigns can be capped like the banners
• Zones can be capped in the same way as a campaign
• The ads are automatically taken from a linked zone if here are no ads to be shown for a particular zone.

4. Improved Reporting:

• The reports are automatically generated at pre-determined times when publishers, admins and advertisers need information
• The revenue can be increased by tracking visitor statistics and behavior from click-through to transaction and reports produced using real-time information.
• The basic reports in this version are more simplified including the graph creation.
• Support for third party ad tags.

5. Agency Level management Log-in

6. Plug-in and rich media support

Installation and upgrading Openads is fairly simple and a straightforward process. After making certain that all system pre-requisites are in place, the user needs to then create a database specifically for Openads use and configure their web server. Then download Openads and save the file to a convenient place, as preferred. Extract the downloaded Openads file to the web server and the installer. Openads 2.4 uses a special maintenance script to activate campaigns, recalculate priorities, clean up statistics and send out advertiser reports. The maintenance script needs to run every hour for the application to function correctly. The new version comprises of an automatic maintenance feature. However, this can also be manually typically using a cronjob, to suit individual preferences. Users can then start loading ad banners to the system.