AdTracker
This is an extension for Chromium browsers. Once installed, visit any page on FT.com displaying Google Ads and open the web inspector
- Ad requests are logged to the console as they are resolved
- The most useful properties are surfaced at the top level
- Further details are available in sub-objects labelled "other"
"ad-1": {...},
"ad-2": {...},
"ad-3": {
prev_iu_szs: "320x50",
prev_scp: "format=stacked&image=hidden&pos=native",
us_privacy: "1---",
cust_params: {
device_spoor_id: "e644be6d-cd8d-4ca6-9711-78a0b40a51f6",
guid: "63c4feab-5de0-4eff-8742-f8a07f8e19d7",
loggedIn: "true",
permutive: "...",
other: {...}
},
other: {...}
}
inspectSlots
A function called inspectSlots
is also added. Invoking it parses the data-o-ads-*
attributes on each slot:
{
"name": "article-native",
"init": "true",
"targeting": {
"format": "stacked",
"image": "hidden",
"pos": "native"
},
"label": "true",
"formats": {
"default": ["false"],
"extra": ["false"],
"large": ["PartnerContent"],
"medium": ["PartnerContent"],
"small": ["PartnerContent"]
}
}
The easiest way to invoke it is via a bookmarklet. A preconfigured one that you can drag to your favourites is available at https://financial-times.github.io/advertising/.
Alternatively you can create a bookmark called "Inspect slots" and edit its address to read
javascript:window.postMessage({ type: "INSPECT_SLOTS" }, "*");
Installation
- Copy the root directory to your machine
- Follow these instructions for side-loading the extension:
Development
- Run
npm i
- Run
npm run dev
:dist/
will now be rebuilt on changes to the source files - Apply your updates by clicking the "reload" button in the extension's settings (you won't see any changes without doing this)
TODO
- Constrain inspection to FT.com pages
- Tie requests back to the slots that triggered them
- Support copying parsed values to the clipboard