Baffled By Ad Creation Glitch

Please Help!

[Heartlander]

When creating an ad with their software, it asks for the destination URL- with a text box to insert this into.
However, if I add the entire url, it shows in the box at the bottom of the page as [myurl.com,...] for example.
I created another ad unit by leaving the http:// out and it does at least show correctly after that.

Does this mean I have to go back and change all of my previous ads so as to make sure they point to a working URL?
How do I know the software doesn't fix it by default?

If this is the case- MSN needs to put wording into this to let people know to leave the http:// out of that text box.

[Heartlander]

WARNING to newbies using this application....

Indeed, I had to go back and change all of my previous ads by removing the http:// from the text box- as it is automatically inserted already.

Helps to proofread your ad unit on the right and ACTUALLY CLICK your ad title to make sure it points to your correct page.

So all the clicks I paid for in the last 24 hours did me no good whatsoever because of this system.
Nice.

Hopefully the support system answers my email or thier support forum gives an answer.
I fully intend to get credited for any clicks that did not point to a valid URL.
This needs to be fixed.
All it takes is a small bit of wording on their part.

[edited by: Heartlander at 3:05 pm (utc) on Nov. 26, 2006]

[Receptional]

But is this really MSN's fault? They have a list of things to fix, longer than the Amazon River... but my guess is that this is not a user usability issue and not (technically) a fault as much as a UI problem. They are WAY off fixing the UI problems ;)

Once we know how to do it right, we're unlikely to make the same mistake again. I would always recommend testing your ad anyway - there are so many other ways a URL can get messed up - especially in cut and paste.

[Heartlander]

You are right- this is a minor annoyance compared to what I have just posted regarding some major issues.
So far, looking at our figures we have to assume that they mean absolutely nothing- as they are going to change "at some point during the day".
Ouch.
I'm a businessman, and need a little more transparency than this.

Oh- and if you are to delete any of your campaigns- be sure to keep records of whatever figures were showing, as there is no way to look back on them anywhere in this UI.
....that isn't to say those figures were the right ones anyway- because they probably were not.

[edited by: Heartlander at 11:35 pm (utc) on Nov. 27, 2006]

[adCenter411]

Hi Heartlander,
We're unable to repro this issue - could you let me know if you're using the Content Ads beta environment, or the standard adCenter environment?

Is this happening for anyone else? We'd like to either resolve this issue or, as you suggest, possibly make a change in the UI to make this more clear.

Thanks!
adCenter411

[mitchy231]

The same thing happened to me as well. When you add a link in the 'Destination URL' if you add the link with http:// the ad will not work since your system will add an additional http:// giving us an error. I had to go back and redo the whole category.

Also, I was using the Standard AdCenter, not Beta.

[Heartlander]

Exactly.
All we are asking is that you either change the way the UI functions or get your programmers to use their HTML skills to add a small line of code telling users NOT to use http:// as it is already added by the system.