FAQs

Q: At what cadence is data uploaded in a feed?

A: Data is uploaded on a daily basis to Amazon s3, early in the morning in EST time. Each morning, the data of the previous day will be added into Amazon s3. For example on the morning of January 2^nd 2019, the data from January 1^st 2019 would be added to Amazon s3.

Q: Why do I see rows in the data with timestamps that are on different days from the date listed on the folder in Amazon s3?

A: Cuebiq processes data at 12AM UTC and there can also be a certain amount of lag in the data as it is first batched on device before being sent to our servers, therefore the timestamps in each dated folder may not represent only that day and could potentially include some data from additional dates.

The rule of thumb is that 90+% of data for a given day can be found by looking at the data for that day and the following day. So for example, to find the data for January 1 2019, the best practice is to look at the folders named:

2019010100 - meaning the data was processed on January 1, 2019

2019010200 - meaning the data was processed on January 2, 2019

Q: Why do I see some rows in the data with timestamps located in the far future or far past?

A: Cuebiq collects date/time as it’s stored on the user’s device, without additional modification. So if a user has set a date/time in the far future/past, Cuebiq would represent it in the data as such.

Q: What unit of time is dwell time expressed in?

A: Dwell time is represented in minutes, with a max of two decimal points.

Q: What format is the timestamp in?

A: Timestamps in Visit Feed are stored as ISO-8601. Times are expressed in local time, together with a time zone offset in hours and minutes. A time zone offset of "+hh:mm" indicates that the date/time uses a local time zone which is "hh" hours and "mm" minutes ahead of UTC. A time zone offset of "-hh:mm" indicates that the date/time uses a local time zone which is "hh" hours and "mm" minutes behind UTC.

Q: What is the Cuebiq PlaceID?

Cuebiq creates an internal identifier for each POI in the Cuebiq POI database. This identifier can be used to distinguish between visits to specific POIs within a brand.

Q: How does Cuebiq source its placeID info?

A: Cuebiq utilizes a proprietary database of POI info, containing data on most major brands that can be found in the United States.

Q: What kind of geographic information can Cuebiq provide on the POIs in Visit Feed?

A: Cuebiq can provide a Places mapping file to be used in conjunction with the VI feed. This mapping file will allow a customer to map each POI in their VI to a state/zipcode.

Q: If I have a list of custom POIs, not specific to any brand, can Cuebiq still provide a feed of Visit Feed?

A: Yes, Cuebiq can incorporate these custom POIs into our database in order to then utilize in Visit Feed.

Q: Can additional columns such as DMA, state, or zip code be added to Visit Feed?

A: Cuebiq’s place_name column in Visit Feed can be customized to any value. Therefore, placeName can assume the role of a value such as DMA, state, or zip code of the POI.

Q: What time is a feed in production uploaded each day?

A: Upload times can vary by day, but often occur in the early morning everyday in EST, and will always be uploaded within 24 hours.

Q: How many files are uploaded per day? What is the size per file?

A: File count and file size can vary per feed, and can also vary per day for each feed. However in general, customers can expect a few hundred part files to be uploaded per day, with no individual file greater than 250MB compressed.

Q: I’m not able to access data stored in Cuebiq’s s3. What’s causing this?

A: Please confirm that access keys that were delivered in order to access Cuebiq’s feed are configured correctly. If issues persist, please contact your Cuebiq rep.

Q: Can the Visit Feed be delivered to a storage location outside of Amazon s3?

A: At the moment, Cuebiq primarily supports Amazon s3 as the main method of creating and storing feed data. Utilizing Amazon s3 ensures the fastest turnaround time for a feed set-up and the most technically feasible option.  If an alternative solution is required, please consult with your Cuebiq representative.