For overbooking to occur it must be enabled in both campaign and when the loop template is created. This dual requirement ensures that overbooking cannot occur accidentally but is always an option.
The loop is oversold. Meaning more spots have been sold than can be played in the loop length. For example, the loop has six ten second spots and seven are sold.
To effectively overbook a loop, the following conditions must be met:
- Overbooking must be enabled in both the campaign and the loop template creation process.
- Sales exceeding the loop capacity must involve segment bookings with either "Sold" or "Guaranteed Bonus" purchase types.
Note: The availability value (Available, Maybe Available or Not Available) set for the purchase types used is not a factor in overbooking. Only bookings with "Sold" or "Guaranteed Bonus" purchase types will contribute to overbooking the loop.
Any booking with an availability type of Not Available is considered when determining if a loop is fully booked. Setting bookings from specific purchase types to Not Available enforces the maximum number of spots allowed in a loop. This ensures that each booked spot delivers the expected number of plays. It is best practice to set bookings from Sold segments to Not Available.
Bookings from Sold and Guaranteed Bonus segments are guaranteed to play in every loop. However, bookings from Non-Guaranteed Bonus segments may be automatically undersaturated or completely skipped if all spots in the loop are filled by Sold or Guaranteed Bonus bookings. This occurs regardless of the Allow Overbooking setting on the Loop Template. For example, in a loop with eight fixed spots of 8 seconds, if there are eight Sold bookings and two Non-Guaranteed Bonus bookings, only the Sold spots will play.
In this scenario, if one Sold spot is removed, the loop will then play the seven remaining Sold spots and alternate between the two Non-Guaranteed Bonus bookings for the eighth spot. This alternating behavior ensures that both Non-Guaranteed Bonus spots have a chance to play within the loop.
