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Client Delivery Rules

Owned by Matteo Beccati
Last updated: Dec 16, 2024 by Erik Geurts

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Use client delivery rules to define when banners can display by the client details.

Client details include the user's web browser (or more specifically, their useragent), their domain name, their IP address, their language or their operating system.



Revive Adserver supports the following client delivery rules:

Client - Browser Version

Supported in Revive Adserver 4.0 and greater.

Define when a banner can be displayed based on the user's browser - that is, if the user's browser is (or is not) one of the browser(s) and/or browser version(s) selected from the supported list.

For example (see below), define a banner to only be able to be displayed when the user is using Microsoft IE as a browser:

For example (see below), define a banner to only be able to be displayed when the user is using Microsoft IE 11 or above as a browser:

Client - Browser (Legacy)

A legacy option which provides partial backwards compatibility for the Client - Browser delivery rule for users upgrading to Revive Adserver 4.0 and later from a version prior to Revive Adserver 4.0. Please do not use this delivery rule when creating a new browser-based delivery rule in Revive Adserver 4.0 and later - use the Client - Browser Version type (above) - as this delivery rule type will eventually be deprecated from Revive Adserver.

For users who have upgraded from a version prior to Revive Adserver 4.0, any delivery rules for banners that used the Client - Browser delivery rule (below) will be converted to this type. However, users should be aware that only Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and Opera browser types are supported following on from upgrading to Revive Adserver 4.0.

Any delivery rules for other old and unlikely to be used browser types will be dropped on upgrading.


Client - Domain

Define when a banner can be displayed based on the domain that the user is visiting from - that is, if the user's domain is (or is not) as specified (by exact domain name, simple "contains" search matching, or regular expression). The user's domain is obtained by performing a reverse-DNS lookup of the user's IP address.

For example (see below), define a banner to only be able to be displayed when the user's IP address correctly resolves using reverse-DNS to a domain that contains the string "big-isp" (e.g. "client12345.big-isp.com"):

Client - IP Address

Define when a banner can be displayed based on the IP address that the user is visiting from - that is, if the user's IP address is (or is not) as specified (by exact IP address, by IP address range using wildcards or by IP address range via a subnet mask).

For example (see below), define a banner to not be able to be displayed when the user's IP address is 127.0.0.1:

For example (see below), define a banner to not be able to be displayed when the user's IP address is in the range 127.0.0.1 to 127.0.0.254:

For example (see below), define a banner to not be able to be displayed when the user's IP address is in the range 127.0.0.1 to 127.0.0.254:

Important note: targeting anonymized IP addresses

Starting with the release of Revive Adserver v4.1 in May 2018 (more or less coinciding with the GDPR taking effect), the software can be configured so that IP addresses are anonymized. This means that the last octet of the IP address making a request is always changed into a zero. As a result, with this configuration option enabled, it is no longer possible to target individual IP addresses. To target a user at IP address 127.0.0.128, set the delivery rule for the banner to target Client - IP address is equal to 127.0.0.0. Alternatively you could also target 127.0.0.*.

Client - Language

Define when a banner can be displayed based on the user's configured language - that is, if the user's browser is (or is not) configured to report that the user's language is one of the language(s) selected from the supported list.

For example (see below), define a banner to only be able to be displayed when the user's browser is either configured to report that the user's language is Albania, or Basque:

Client - Operating System Version

Supported in Revive Adserver 4.0 and greater.

Define when a banner can be displayed based on the user's operating system - that is, if the user's operating system is (or is not) one of the operating system(s) and/or operating system version(s) selected from the supported list.

For example (see below), define a banner to only be able to be displayed when the user is using Mac OSX as their operating system:

For example (see below), define a banner to only be able to be displayed when the user is using Mac OSX 10 or above as their operating system:

Client - Operating System (Legacy)

Supported in Revive Adserver 4.0 and greater.

A legacy option which provides partial backwards compatibility for the Client - Operating System delivery rule for users upgrading to Revive Adserver 4.0 and later from a version prior to Revive Adserver 4.0. Please do not use this delivery rule when creating a new operating system-based delivery rule in Revive Adserver 4.0 and later - use the Client - Operating System Version type (above) - as this delivery rule type will eventually be deprecated from Revive Adserver.

For users who have upgraded from a version prior to Revive Adserver 4.0, any delivery rules for banners that used the Client - Operating System delivery rule (below) will be converted to this type. However, users should be aware that only Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris and Mac OSX operating systems are supported following on from upgrading to Revive Adserver 4.0.

Any delivery rules for other old and unlikely to be used operating systems will be dropped on upgrading.

Client - Useragent

Define when a banner can be displayed based on the user's browser "Useragent" string - that is, if the user's browser "Useragent" string is (or is not) as specified (by exact string, simple "contains" search matching, or regular expression). 

For example (see below), define a banner to only be able to be displayed when the user has a browser with "Useragent" string that matches a regular expression of "fire.*" (that is, for example, "fire", "firefox", "firefly", etc.):