Flipkart Commerce Cloud Ads Manager

Product Documentation v1.0 Built By Retailers, For Retailers

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Confidential — For Publisher and Partner Use Only © 2026 Flipkart Commerce Cloud

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About This Document

This document is the complete product reference for Flipkart Commerce Cloud (FCC) Ads Manager. It covers platform architecture, ad products, campaign management, measurement, and technical integration guidance for publishers, advertisers, and engineering teams.

Audience: Network publishers, advertiser account managers, and integration engineers.

Prerequisites: Familiarity with digital advertising concepts (impressions, clicks, CPM, CPC) is recommended but not required.

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Platform Architecture and Key Concepts
3. Account Structure and User Roles
4. Display Ads
5. Sponsored Product Ads
6. Product Contextual Ads
7. Audience Manager
8. Keyword Targeting Suite
9. Wallet and Payments
10. Catalog Ingestion
11. Attribution
12. Reporting and Analytics
13. Forecasting
14. API Reference Overview
15. Tracking Events
16. Onboarding Checklist

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1. Introduction

Overview

Flipkart Commerce Cloud (FCC) is a retail media advertising technology platform purpose-built for e-commerce publishers. Originally developed as Flipkart's internal ad stack — powering one of India's largest ad revenue ecosystems — FCC has been externalized as a SaaS product available to retailers, marketplaces, and commerce platforms globally.

FCC is a non-programmatic, closed-loop retail media platform. Unlike programmatic ad networks (DSPs and SSPs), FCC gives publishers full control over demand and supply, ensuring ad experiences that integrate seamlessly with organic commerce results and maximize both advertiser ROI and publisher revenue.

Who This Platform Is For

Persona	Description
Network Publishers	Retailers and marketplaces wanting to monetize owned digital real estate through a fully managed ad platform
Brand Advertisers	Brands seeking awareness and conversion among high-intent shoppers
Sellers	Individual vendors wanting to boost product visibility in search and browse results
Integration Engineers	Technical teams integrating FCC APIs into publisher apps, websites, and data pipelines

Why Retail Media

Users on e-commerce platforms are high-intent buyers — significantly more likely to convert than users on social or search platforms. This makes retail media inventory uniquely valuable:

• Higher ROAS. Ad spend converts more efficiently when shown at the point of purchase intent.
• Closed-loop measurement. The entire customer journey from impression to order lives on one platform.
• First-party data advantage. Publishers own rich behavioral and transactional signals for precise targeting.
• Native ad experience. Ads blend with organic results, improving engagement without disrupting the user journey.

Ad Products at a Glance

Product	Type	Funnel Stage	Pricing Models	Best For
Display Ads	Banner / Rich Media	Awareness	CPM, vCPM, CPT, BPVS	Brand visibility, new product launches
Sponsored Product Ads (SPA)	Performance / Listing	Conversion	CPC	Sales uplift, product discovery
Product Contextual Ads (PCA)	Hybrid Rich Media	Consideration	CPC	Category engagement, product collection promotion

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2. Platform Architecture and Key Concepts

Overview

FCC operates on a server-to-server (S2S) integration model. The publisher's app or website calls FCC's ad serving API in real time for every page load, and FCC returns the most relevant, highest-value ad to fill each slot.

Note: FCC does not use client-side JavaScript tags or ad pixels for serving. All serving is handled through server-to-server API calls, giving publishers maximum control over ad rendering and user experience.

Supply Side: Real Estate Structure

Supply refers to the ad inventory — the physical locations where ads appear on a publisher's digital properties. FCC organizes supply in the following hierarchy:

Network
  └── Publisher Group
        └── Publisher
              └── Page
                    └── Slot

Level	Description
Network	Top-level entity. Defines currency, timezone, country, and global configurations. All networks are fully isolated from each other.
Publisher Group	Logical grouping of publishers. Used for reporting segregation, access control, and shared user IDs across properties.
Publisher	A distinct digital property (for example, walmart.ca). Has its own catalog, rate card, and KVP configuration.
Page	A page type on the publisher site (for example, Homepage, Search, Category, PDP).
Slot	A specific ad placement on a page (for example, Top Banner, Fold-2 Banner, Carousel Slot 1).

Demand Side: Campaign Structure

Demand refers to ad campaigns created by advertisers. FCC organizes demand in the following hierarchy:

Network Account
  └── Business Account
        └── Ad Account
              └── Campaign
                    └── Ad Group
                          └── Creative / Banner

Level	Description
Network Account	The publisher's top-level admin account.
Business Account	Umbrella entity for an advertiser organization (for example, HUL or P&G).
Ad Account	Sub-account per brand or seller. Has its own wallet, users, and campaigns.
Campaign	Defines objective, budget, duration, and publisher. Contains one or more ad groups.
Ad Group	Defines targeting, placement, bidding, pacing, and creatives or products.
Creative / Banner	The actual ad unit served to the user.

Ad Serving Flow

The following steps describe how an ad is served for every page load:

1. User loads a page on the publisher's app or website.
2. Publisher's backend sends a GetBids API request to FCC, including slot IDs, user ID, device info, query (for search pages), and KVP signals.
3. FCC retrieves candidate ads from the Solr index.
4. FCC applies relevance scoring and ranking.
5. FCC returns the top-ranked ad response with tracking URLs.
6. Publisher renders the creative in the appropriate slot.
7. Publisher fires impression, view, and click tracking events as user interactions occur.

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3. Account Structure and User Roles

User Roles

Role	Access Level	Key Capabilities
Network Admin	Full network	User management, network configuration, PO approval, free credits, campaign management on behalf of advertisers
Business Account Admin	Business account and all child ad accounts	Campaign creation and editing, reporting, user management across all ad accounts in the business
Business Account Analyst	Business account and all child ad accounts (read-only)	View campaigns and reporting across all ad accounts
Ad Account Admin	Single ad account	Campaign creation and editing, reporting, user management within their ad account
Ad Account Analyst	Single ad account (read-only)	View campaigns and reporting
FCC Ops	Extended support	Permissions granted by Network Admin on a request basis

Ad Account Types

Type	Who Uses It	Key Difference
Brand Account	Brand advertisers (for example, Nike, P&G)	Requires brand selection per publisher. Can run Display Ads and SPA. Supports preferred seller targeting.
Seller Account	Individual sellers or vendors	Requires Seller ID per publisher. Can run SPA only. One Seller ID per publisher per ad account.

Network-Level Configuration

Network Admins configure the following parameters, which apply to all advertisers within the network:

Configuration	Description
CPC Range	Minimum and maximum CPC per publisher, defined in publisher currency with daily conversion to advertiser currency
Minimum Budget	Minimum campaign and ad group budget per publisher
Blacklist Queries	Search queries on which no ads are shown. Uses exact match, case-insensitive logic. Maximum 2,000 queries per publisher.
Free Credits	Promotional credits assigned to specific ad accounts with mandatory expiry dates
Monthly PO Limit	Maximum PO upload amount per ad account per calendar month

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4. Display Ads

Overview

Display Ads are rich media banner campaigns designed for brand awareness and audience engagement. They appear across high-traffic pages — homepage, category pages, search pages, and product pages — and are priced on impression or view-based models.

Image placeholder: Display Ad format examples — homepage carousel, category banner, search page banner.

Supported Pricing Models

Model	Full Name	Description	Best For
CPM	Cost Per Mille	Charged per 1,000 impressions (ad loaded on page)	Maximum reach campaigns
vCPM	Viewable CPM	Charged per 1,000 views (at least 50% visible for at least 1 second, IAB standard)	Viewability-guaranteed campaigns
CPT	Cost Per Time	Reserved slot for a fixed time period — no other ad serves in that slot for any user	High-impact takeovers, launch events
BPVS	Budget Per View Share	Proportional view share model	Balanced delivery across multiple advertisers

Note: When multiple ads compete for the same slot, FCC ranks them in the following priority order: CPT > BPVS > BPVSi > vCPM > CPM. Within each pricing model, the highest bid wins.

Campaign Creation

Display Ad campaigns are created through the following steps:

1. Campaign details. Enter campaign name, select ad format, choose publisher, set campaign budget, and define campaign duration.
2. Ad group details. Select slot (page, placement, and device), configure targeting, set ad group budget, define bid, and select pacing type.
3. Creative upload. Upload banner images or configure rich media templates. All creatives require Network Admin approval before serving.
4. Review and submit. Campaign moves to Scheduled or Live state depending on the start date.

Targeting Options

Targeting Type	Description
Key-Value Pairs (KVP)	Target users based on publisher-defined attributes passed in the GetBids request, such as gender, age group, location, and device type
Audience Segments	Target or exclude users belonging to segments defined in the Audience Manager
Device	Target by device type: Android, iOS, Msite, Website, or Tablet
Keyword	Target display ads against specific search keywords (exact match)
Geo	IP-based country and state targeting, plus region-code based city targeting
Frequency Cap	Limit ad exposure per user within a defined time period (hours, days, weeks, or months)
Custom Scheduling	Define specific days and time windows for ad delivery

Note: KVP targeting uses AND logic between different keys and OR logic between values within the same key. Campaigns with no KVP targeting are eligible for all users (open targeted).

Budget Pacing

Pacing Type	Behavior
Fast Burn	Deliver impressions as quickly as possible. Available at daily or hourly level.
Even Pacing	Distribute budget evenly across campaign duration. Daily cap auto-adjusts based on remaining budget and remaining days. Requires a campaign end date.

Creative Approval Workflow

All Display Ad creatives go through the following approval process before serving:

1. Advertiser uploads creative.
2. Creative status changes to Pending Approval.
3. Network Admin reviews creative for compliance.
4. Network Admin approves or rejects the creative.
5. Approved creatives are ingested and begin serving (approximately 5–10 minutes).

Important: Creative approval typically takes up to 10 minutes for status to change. Dashboard data may take up to 1 hour to reflect after a campaign goes live. For time-sensitive campaigns, submit creatives well in advance.

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5. Sponsored Product Ads

Overview

Sponsored Product Ads (SPA) — also referred to as Product Listing Ads (PLA) — are performance-based ads that blend with organic product listings on search, browse, and other commerce pages. They are designed to drive direct sales by connecting high-intent shoppers with the most relevant sponsored products.

Image placeholder: SPA in search results — sponsored product cards blended with organic listings.

How SPA Works

When a user searches for a product, the SPA serving engine performs the following steps:

1. Receives the user's search query via the GetBids API.
2. Finds relevant products from the advertiser's catalog using text-based relevance (Solr inverted index).
3. Applies keyword targeting filters if configured.
4. Ranks eligible products using the following formula: Ranking Score = α × CPC + β × Relevance Score
5. Returns the top-ranked sponsored products with tracking URLs.

Supported Placements

Placement	Description
Search Page	Sponsored products in search results (TOP_OF_SEARCH, REST_OF_SEARCH)
Browse / Category Page	Sponsored products on category listing pages
Product Detail Page (PDP)	Similar sponsored products shown as recommendations on product pages
Homepage	Sponsored product widgets on the homepage

Campaign Setup

Setting	Options and Details
Pricing Model	CPC only — pay per click
Product Selection	Manual selection, bulk CSV upload (Product ID or SKU ID, maximum 2,000 per file), or rule-based (future release)
Keyword Targeting	Optional. Supports exact match, phrase match, and broad match. Up to 50 keywords per match type per ad group.
Negative Keywords	Up to 50 negative exact match keywords per ad group
Bid	Set at ad group level. Keyword-level bidding is available in a future release.
Seller Selection	Brand accounts can restrict ads to preferred sellers only

Keyword Match Types

Match Type	Definition	Example Keyword	Matches	Does Not Match
Exact	Query must match keyword exactly, including close variants (plurals, misspellings, filler words)	"shoes for men"	"shoes men", "shoe for men"	"men's running shoes"
Phrase	Query must contain all keyword tokens in any order, including synonyms and close variants	"blue jeans"	"buy blue jeans", "jeans blue", "denim trousers"	"blue pants"
Broad	Widest reach — matches synonyms, related variations, and any word order	"running shoes"	"jogging sneakers", "athletic footwear"	"dress shoes"
Negative Exact	Prevents serving when query matches the negative keyword. Takes priority over all positive matches.	"cheap"	Blocks: "cheap running shoes"	N/A

Important: Negative match takes priority over positive match. If the same keyword appears in both positive and negative lists, it is treated as negative.

Fill Rate Protection

FCC's SPA serving uses a soft intersection approach rather than hard filtering. Products from keyword-matched ad groups receive a 1.2× relevance score boost, but non-keyword-targeted relevant products also remain eligible to serve. This approach protects fill rate for clients with smaller demand pools.

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6. Product Contextual Ads

Overview

Product Contextual Ads (PCA) is FCC's hybrid ad format that bridges the gap between Display Ads (awareness) and SPA (conversion). A PCA creative consists of two components: a banner section for brand messaging and a product cards section for direct product promotion.

PCA Creative Structure

Component	Function	Click Destination
Banner Section	Brand logo, headline, CTA, background image	Product collection page or custom URL
Product Cards Section	Selected product images, names, and prices	Individual product detail pages

Relevance and Ranking

PCA serving uses a two-stage scoring process:

• L1 Score (Relevance). Combines Category Match Score, Brand Score, Product Score, and Position Score based on the user's search intent or browse context.
• L2 Score (Ranking). Combines the L1 relevance score with normalized CPC to determine the final winning creative.

Supported Placements

The following placements are supported in the current release:

• Search page
• Browse / category page

Additional placements — homepage, category landing pages, and product detail pages — are planned for future releases.

Campaign Setup

Setting	Details
Pricing Model	CPC (current release). CPM and vCPM planned for future releases.
Product Collection	Manual selection or bulk upload. Advertiser selects top product cards to display. Rule-based selection planned for future release.
Landing Page	Custom URL (current release). Dynamic product collection page planned for future release.
Creative Template	Network-configured templates only. Advertisers can only select from templates enabled by the network.
Attribution	Banner-level attribution (not individual product card level). Last-touch model with click priority over view.

Important: All PCA creatives require Network Admin approval before serving. Last-mile checks confirm that product cards are in-stock and active before the creative is returned in the ad response.

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7. Audience Manager

Overview

The Audience Manager enables publishers and advertisers to create targeted user segments based on behavioral, demographic, and transactional data. Segments can be used for inclusion or exclusion targeting in any ad campaign.

Audience Types

Type	Visibility	Use Case
Universal	Available to all ad accounts in the network	Common segments such as "all users", "mobile users", or demographic groups
Local	Restricted to a specific ad account	Brand-specific retargeting, custom cohorts, CRM audiences

Audience Creation Methods

Method	How It Works
User-Defined Logic	Define conditions using AND or OR logic. Example: "Users who viewed category X in the last 30 days AND have not purchased in the last 7 days." Requires publisher to pass event data continuously to FCC.
File Upload (CSV)	Upload a list of user IDs directly. Useful for CRM audiences, loyalty program members, and lapsed users.

Audience Refresh Types

Refresh Type	Description
Ad Hoc	One-time audience, not refreshed. Short validity. Used for single campaigns or one-time targeting.
Recurring	Automatically refreshed at a defined frequency (daily, weekly, or a specific day of the week). Requires a continuous event data feed from the publisher.

Audience Lifecycle

An audience segment moves through the following states:

Creation → Draft → In Approval → Approved → Processing → Live → Expired / Archived

Note: If an audience is edited, the lifecycle restarts from the beginning. When a new version of an audience goes live, the previous version is automatically archived.

Targeting Logic

The following logic applies when using audiences in campaign targeting:

• Multiple segments selected. OR logic — the union of all selected audiences is targeted.
• Exclude segments. Users in excluded segments will not see the ad even if they qualify on other targeting criteria.
• User consent. If the consent flag in the GetBids request is false, only open-targeted campaigns (no audience targeting) are eligible to serve.

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8. Keyword Targeting Suite

Overview

The Keyword Targeting Suite gives advertisers precise control over which search queries their Sponsored Product Ads appear on. The suite consists of three components: Keyword Targeting, Keyword Suggestions, and Keyword Bidding.

Keyword Limits

Match Type	Limit Per Ad Group
Exact Match (Positive)	50 keywords
Phrase Match (Positive)	50 keywords
Negative Exact Match	50 keywords
Maximum keyword length	40 characters

Keyword Suggestions

The platform provides keyword recommendations during campaign creation. Suggestions are:

• Derived from actual search query volume on the publisher platform (7-day trailing volume)
• Mapped to L3 product categories for relevance
• Sorted by descending search volume
• Tagged as branded or unbranded
• Limited to approximately 30 suggestions per ad group

When an advertiser selects a keyword suggestion, it is added to the positive keyword list with a default match type of phrase. The advertiser can change the match type to exact.

Keyword Reports

Report	Description	Applicable To
Search Term Report	Performance metrics on actual search queries that triggered ads. Shows the top 2,000 terms by view count.	All campaigns (keyword and non-keyword)
Keyword Performance Report	Performance metrics per targeted keyword, including attributed keyword and match type used.	Keyword-targeted campaigns only
Adoption Metrics Report	Summary of which ad groups are using which match types and which keywords.	Network-level

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9. Wallet and Payments

Overview

Every ad account has a dedicated Wallet. The Wallet holds funds from Purchase Orders and Free Credits, which are used to power ad campaigns. Funds are consumed based on actual ad spend, with redemption occurring on a T-2 day basis.

Wallet Operations

Operation	Trigger	Description
Add (Top-up)	PO approved or Free Credits granted	Funds credited to available wallet balance
Block	Campaign created	Campaign budget amount reserved from available balance. Reserved funds cannot be used for other campaigns.
Redeem	Daily on T-2 basis	Actual spend deducted from the blocked amount
Release	Campaign ends or is aborted, plus T+2 days	Unspent blocked funds returned to available balance
Expire	PO or Free Credit past end date	Unused funds marked as expired. Refunds are not supported.

Funding Sources

Source	Who Adds It	Approval Required	Expiry
Purchase Order (PO)	Advertiser Admin, Business Admin, or Network Admin	Yes — Network Admin must approve (unless added directly by Network Admin, which auto-approves)	Optional end date. Funds expire if end date is passed.
Free Credits	Network Admin only	No — credited immediately upon grant	Mandatory expiry date set at time of grant

Fund Consumption Priority

When campaign spend occurs, funds are consumed in order of earliest expiry date across both POs and Free Credits. This is managed automatically by the platform. Advertisers can also select manual allocation if they require granular control over which funding source is used.

Monthly PO Limit

Each ad account has a network-defined monthly cap on total PO uploads. If the monthly limit is ₹50,000 and ₹10,000 has already been approved for the month, the next PO cannot exceed ₹40,000 for that calendar month. The Network Admin can adjust the monthly limit, and the updated limit applies to all future months.

PO Approval Workflow

1. Advertiser or Business Admin uploads PO document with PO number, amount, and duration.
2. PO status is set to Pending.
3. Network Admin reviews the PO document and validates each field against the submitted document.
4. Network Admin approves or rejects the PO with a reason.
5. If approved, funds are credited to the advertiser wallet immediately.

Wallet Transaction Summary

The Wallet screen shows all transactions, including:

• Money added (PO or Free Credits)
• Money blocked (per campaign)
• Money redeemed (per campaign, per day)
• Money released (from ended campaigns)
• Money expired (from lapsed POs or credits)

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10. Catalog Ingestion

Overview

The FCC catalog is the foundation for Sponsored Product Ads and PCA. Advertisers can only run ads on products that exist in the catalog. Publishers are responsible for keeping the catalog current and accurate.

Catalog Entities

Entity	Description	Key Fields
Brand	Brand identity associated with products	id, name (multi-lingual), isActive
Category	Hierarchical product taxonomy (supports up to L5 depth)	id, name, child categories (nested)
Seller / Vendor	Entity that sells products on the platform	id, name, isActive
Product	Core catalog entity. One product can have multiple SKUs.	id, title, brandId, categoryId, imageLink, searchFilters, isActive
SKU / Listing	A specific seller's listing of a product at a defined price	id, sellerId, price, availability, inventory, isActive

Ingestion Methods

Method	Endpoint / Location	Latency	Use Case
Real-Time API	POST /v2/catalogs/products/{id}	Near real-time	Individual product updates, price changes, inventory updates
Batch (Azure Blob)	Publisher-specific Azure Storage directory	Approximately 3 hours (cron schedule)	Full catalog loads, bulk updates

Search Filters

Search filters are custom product attributes stored as typed key-value pairs that improve ad targeting and relevance. The following filter types are supported:

Type	Description
BOOL	Boolean value (true/false)
INT	Integer value
FLOAT	Floating-point value
STRING	Text string value
INT_ARRAY	Array of integers
FLOAT_ARRAY	Array of floats
STRING_ARRAY	Array of strings

Important Behaviors

• Soft deletes. To remove an entity, set isActive: false. Setting a field to null or empty does not delete the entity.
• Duplicate IDs. If duplicate IDs exist in a batch file, the last entry wins.
• Attribute updates. The attributes object does not support partial updates — any attribute not included in an update request will be overwritten with empty values.
• Filter deletion. To delete a search filter, send the filter with value: "DELETED" and type: "STRING".

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11. Attribution

Overview

Attribution is the process of crediting an ad interaction (impression, view, or click) for driving a downstream conversion (purchase, add-to-cart, product page view, or add-to-wishlist). FCC uses a last-touch attribution model.

Attribution Model

Parameter	Value
Model	Last Touch — 100% credit goes to the most recent ad interaction before the conversion
Priority	Click > View — if both occurred within the attribution window, only the click is attributed
View Window	Configurable per client and per ad product (benchmark: 7 days)
Click Window	Configurable per client and per ad product (benchmark: 30 days)

Attribution Types

Type	Definition	Example
Direct	Conversion is for the same brand AND same category as the ad	Nike shoe ad → user purchases Nike shoes
Indirect (Halo)	Conversion is for the same brand but a different category	Nike shoe ad → user purchases a Nike t-shirt

Supported Conversion Events

Event	Display Ads	SPA	PCA
Purchase / Order	Supported	Supported	Supported
Add to Cart (ATC)	Supported	In pipeline	Supported
Product Page View (PPV)	Supported	In pipeline	Supported
Add to Wishlist (ATW)	Supported	In pipeline	Supported

Attribution Ingestion

Publishers send conversion events to FCC using one of the following methods:

Method	Endpoint	Frequency
Real-Time API	POST /v1/event/conversion	Event by event, as they occur
Bulk Ingestion	Azure Cloud Storage directory	Processed every 15 minutes

Important: Attribution data takes up to 6 hours to fully process and reflect in reporting dashboards after ingestion.

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12. Reporting and Analytics

Overview

FCC provides full-funnel performance reporting for all ad products. Reports are available through the UI dashboard for near-real-time campaign monitoring, and through offline delivery for detailed analysis and billing.

Key Metrics

Metric	Definition
Impressions	Ad loaded on the page
Views	Ad was at least 50% visible for at least 1 second (IAB standard)
Clicks	User clicked on the ad
CTR	Click-Through Rate = Clicks ÷ Views
PPV	Product page views attributed to the ad
ATC	Add-to-cart events attributed to the ad
Orders / Units	Purchases attributed to the ad
Revenue	Revenue from attributed purchases
Ad Spend	Total amount spent running the campaign
ROAS	Return on Ad Spend = Revenue ÷ Ad Spend
Direct Revenue	Revenue from same brand + same category attributions
Indirect Revenue	Revenue from same brand + different category (halo) attributions

Report Types

Report	Granularity	Access Method
Campaign Summary	Campaign, Ad Group, Creative	UI Dashboard
Search Term Report	Search query level for all search campaigns	Downloadable CSV from UI
Keyword Performance Report	Per targeted keyword for keyword-targeted campaigns	Downloadable CSV from UI
Billing / Explainability Report	Transaction-level wallet activity	Offline — SFTP or Azure Blob
Network-Level Report	Across all ad accounts, filterable by business account	Offline — SFTP or Azure Blob
Unique Reach Report	De-duplicated user count per campaign	Offline — raw data

Offline Report Delivery

Offline reports are delivered via SFTP or Azure Blob container at a configurable frequency (daily, weekly, or custom schedule). Report schema and format are configurable per client requirements.

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13. Forecasting

Overview

The Forecasting feature helps publishers and advertisers understand available ad inventory before committing campaign budgets. Forecasting is currently available for CPM Display Ad campaigns only.

Forecast Metrics

When creating or editing a Display Ad group, the platform displays the following:

Metric	Description
Total Available Impressions	Predicted impressions for the selected targeting criteria over the campaign period
Exact Matching Ad Groups	Count of live ad groups targeting the exact same dimensions (slot, language, channel, KVPs, custom audiences)
Partial Matching Ad Groups	Count of live ad groups with overlapping targeting on at least one dimension
Win Rate	Probability this ad group will win impressions given current competition (expressed as 0–1)
Available for Booking	Total Available Impressions × Win Rate
Impressions You Are Booking	Calculated from the campaign budget entered by the advertiser
Delivered So Far	Impressions already consumed (shown when editing a live campaign)

Forecast Model

The platform uses machine learning to forecast available impressions:

• Trains on 120 days of historical impression data
• Evaluates two models in parallel — ARIMA and ETS — and selects the model with the lower MAPE (Mean Absolute Percentage Error) on a holdout validation set
• Forecast dimensions: slot, language, channel, KVPs, and custom audiences

Note: Forecast accuracy improves with longer historical data. For new clients or newly configured inventory, forecasts may be less reliable until sufficient traffic data has been collected.

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14. API Reference Overview

Overview

FCC's APIs use HTTPS POST with JSON request and response bodies. All API calls require an authentication token (X-AUTH-TOKEN) provided during onboarding.

Ad Serving APIs

API	Method	Endpoint	Purpose
SPA GetBids	POST	/v1/spa/getBids?client={id}	Request Sponsored Product Ads for a search or browse page
PCA GetBids	POST	/v1/sba/getBids?client={id}	Request Product Contextual Ads

GetBids Request: Key Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
id	Yes	Unique request ID generated by the publisher for each ad request
type / page	Yes	Page type: SEARCH, BROWSE, HOMEPAGE, or PDP
user.id	Yes	Stable unique user identifier. Used for audience targeting and attribution. Must be consistent across ad requests and conversion events.
device	Yes	User agent string, IP address, OS, OS version, and device advertising ID (IFA / AAID)
query	Required for search pages	Raw search query as entered by the user
placement_requests	Yes	Array of placements requested, each with a placement ID and requested ad count
filters	Optional	Product attribute filters (for example, brand_id, category_id)
data.userTargeting	Optional	KVP segments array. Pass key ID and comma-separated value IDs. Omit keys with no applicable value — do not pass empty strings.
app or site	Yes	App object for mobile applications; Site object for websites. Include only one per request.

GetBids Response: Key Fields

Field	Description
placement_responses[].ads[].sku	SKU or Listing ID of the winning sponsored product
placement_responses[].ads[].product_id	Product ID of the winning ad
placement_responses[].ads[].tracking.impressionUrl	URL to fire when the ad loads
placement_responses[].ads[].tracking.viewUrl	URL to fire when the ad meets viewability criteria
placement_responses[].ads[].tracking.clickUrl	URL to fire when the user clicks the ad
last_offset	Solr document index for pagination. Client must increment by 1 and pass in the next request's offset field.

Pagination

The last_offset field in the response enables result pagination for search pages with multiple ad slots or infinite scroll:

• A value of -1 indicates the first page returned no ads.
• For subsequent pages, pass last_offset + 1 as the offset in placement_requests.
• If no new ads are found on a subsequent page, last_offset retains its previous value, indicating the end of available inventory.

Data Ingestion APIs

API	Method	Endpoint	Purpose
Catalog Ingestion	POST	/v2/catalogs/products/{id}	Create or update product catalog entries
Conversion Event	POST	/v1/event/conversion	Send purchase or order events for attribution
Add to Cart	POST	/v1/event/add_to_cart	Send add-to-cart events for attribution
Product Page View	POST	/v1/event/product_page_view	Send product page view events for attribution
Add to Wishlist	POST	/v1/event/add_to_wishlist	Send add-to-wishlist events for attribution

Authentication Headers

Header	Required	Description
X-AUTH-TOKEN	Yes	Authentication token provided by FCC during onboarding
Content-Type	Yes	Must be application/json
X-PERF-TEST	Optional	Set to true for performance testing. Test events are not processed for billing or attribution.
X-Device	Optional	Override the device type detected from the user agent. Accepted values: ANDROID, IOS, MSITE, WEBSITE, TABLET.

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15. Tracking Events

Overview

Tracking events must be fired in real time. They power FCC's budget capping system — late or missing events will cause budget overruns or underspend. Publishers are responsible for firing all three tracking events correctly.

Three Tracking Events

Event	When to Fire	Macro to Replace Before Firing
Impression	When the ad creative loads on the client	[EVENTTIME] → Unix epoch timestamp in milliseconds
View	When the ad meets IAB viewability criteria (at least 50% visible for at least 1 second)	[STARTTIME] → epoch ms when ad enters viewport; [ENDTIME] → epoch ms when ad leaves viewport
Click	When the user clicks the ad	[EVENTTIME] → Unix epoch timestamp in milliseconds

Firing Methods

Method	How	Use Case
Single	HTTP GET to each tracking URL	Standard real-time event firing
Batch	POST /v3/tr/batch with up to 50 URLs	Sending multiple events in one call

Retry Logic

Implement the following retry behavior on tracking failures:

• Maximum 5 retry attempts
• Use exponential backoff starting at 1 second, doubling on each failure
• Formula: retryTime × Uniform[0,1]

Third-Party Tracker Support

FCC supports passing third-party tracker URLs in creative configurations. Observe the following requirements:

• Tracker URLs must be passed through exactly as provided — do not re-encode or modify special characters such as %pi.
• Multiple tracker URLs are supported per event type.
• Current field length limit is 500 characters.

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16. Onboarding Checklist

Overview

This checklist covers the steps required to go live on Flipkart Commerce Cloud. Standard onboarding takes approximately 4 to 6 weeks from contract finalization to first live campaign, depending on integration complexity and catalog size.

Phase 1: Network Setup

Task	Owner
Finalize network details: legal name, currency, timezone, country	Publisher + FCC
Define publisher group and publisher hierarchy	FCC
Configure pages and slots per publisher	Publisher + FCC
Set network configurations: CPC range, minimum budget, blacklist queries	Network Admin
Define KVPs: finalize key names, IDs, and value lists (required within 3 days of kickoff)	Publisher + FCC
Configure creative templates and ad formats per device and channel	FCC + Publisher
Whitelist CDN URLs for creative asset delivery	FCC
Configure rate card: set floor prices per placement	Network Admin
Set up white-label configuration: domain, favicon, invitation email display name	Publisher + FCC

Phase 2: Technical Integration

Task	Owner
Integrate GetBids API for each page type (Search, Browse, Homepage, PDP)	Publisher Engineering
Implement impression, view, and click tracking event firing with correct macros	Publisher Engineering
Set up catalog ingestion pipeline (real-time API or Azure batch)	Publisher Engineering
Set up attribution ingestion pipeline (conversion events)	Publisher Engineering
Test API calls using FCC-provided Postman collection	Publisher Engineering + FCC
Validate KVP passing in GetBids request body	Publisher Engineering + FCC
Verify ad serving across all device types (Android, iOS, Msite, Desktop)	Publisher Engineering + FCC
Confirm CDN is whitelisted for creative delivery	Publisher Engineering

Phase 3: Advertiser Onboarding

Task	Owner
Create Business Accounts and Ad Accounts for advertisers	Network Admin
Invite advertiser users with appropriate roles	Network Admin
Process first Purchase Orders and credit advertiser wallets	Network Admin (Finance)
Create and approve test campaigns	Network Admin + Advertiser
Upload and approve test creatives	Network Admin
Validate end-to-end serving, tracking, and attribution	Publisher + FCC
Set up offline report delivery (SFTP or Azure) with agreed frequency	Publisher + FCC Data Team
Establish SLAs and schedule quarterly business review	Publisher + FCC

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Glossary

Term	Definition
Ad Group	A sub-unit of a campaign that contains targeting, bidding, pacing, and creative or product configuration
Attribution	The process of crediting an ad interaction for a downstream conversion
Banner Group	A group of ad banners associated with an ad group in the serving system
BCAP	Budget Capping System — manages real-time budget enforcement for all campaign types
CPC	Cost Per Click — advertiser pays each time a user clicks the ad
CPM	Cost Per Mille — advertiser pays per 1,000 impressions
CPT	Cost Per Time — advertiser reserves a slot for a fixed time period
CTR	Click-Through Rate = Clicks ÷ Views
Direct Attribution	Conversion matches the same brand and same category as the ad
Endemic Ad	An ad for a brand or product that is native to the publisher's platform
FCC	Flipkart Commerce Cloud
Fill Rate	Percentage of ad requests that result in a served ad
Frequency Cap	Maximum number of times an ad is shown to a unique user within a defined period
GetBids API	FCC's core ad serving API — called by publishers to request ads for each page load
Halo Attribution	Indirect attribution — conversion is for the same brand but a different category
Impression	Counted when an ad loads on the page
KVP	Key-Value Pair — publisher-defined targeting attribute passed in the GetBids request
Last Touch	Attribution model where 100% credit goes to the most recent ad interaction
Non-Endemic Ad	An ad for a brand or product that does not sell on the publisher's platform
Open Targeted	An ad group or banner group with no keyword or KVP targeting restrictions — serves for all eligible requests
PCA	Product Contextual Ads — FCC's hybrid banner + product card ad format
PLA	Product Listing Ads — alternative name for Sponsored Product Ads (SPA)
PO	Purchase Order — the primary funding mechanism for advertiser wallets
ROAS	Return on Ad Spend = Attributed Revenue ÷ Ad Spend
SKU	Stock Keeping Unit — a specific seller listing of a product
Slot	A specific ad placement position on a publisher page
SPA	Sponsored Product Ads — performance-based product listing ads
vCPM	Viewable CPM — charged per 1,000 viewable impressions (IAB standard)
View	Counted when at least 50% of the ad is visible on screen for at least 1 second (IAB standard)
Wallet	The funding account associated with each ad account, used to power campaigns
Win Rate	The probability that an ad group will win impressions given competing demand