Channels, integrations, and connection methods
The three terms that Data Center uses for your data sources, how they relate, and why the same channel can arrive in different ways.
A channel is what you measure. A connection method is how the data of that channel reaches Prescient. An integration is one kind of connection method: a warehouse or a file location that carries many channels on one credential. Data Center uses more words than these three, so this page gives each word one meaning.
- You addChannelA platform, a store, or a media type that you measure. A new channel has the status Not connected.
- You connectConnection methodHow the data arrives: a hosted connect card, a sign-in with the provider, Google Sheets, or a warehouse or file integration.
- Data Center showsStatus and datesThe state of the connection, the date of the most recent data, and the Data QA approval.
- You labelTacticsA tactic for each advertising campaign, so that Attribution can group campaigns by tactic.
What is a channel?
Section titled “What is a channel?”A channel is one thing that you measure, for example an ad platform, a store, a retailer, or a web analytics account. Each row of the Channels tab is one connection of a channel, and most channels have one row.
These docs use the word source for the place where the data of a channel comes from: the platform, the sheet, the table, or the file location.
Each channel has a type, and the type decides what Prescient uses the data for. An advertising channel gives spend and campaigns. An e-commerce, retail, or conversion channel gives the outcome that your models explain. A web analytics channel gives sessions.
What is a connection method?
Section titled “What is a connection method?”A connection method is the way that the data of one channel arrives. You do not pick it. Prescient selects the method when you add the channel, and the setup dialog shows the form for that method.
| Connection method | What you do |
|---|---|
| Hosted connect card | Select Connect, sign in to the platform in the hosted card, and return to Data Center. |
| Sign in with the provider | Select Connect with {Provider} and approve access at the provider. |
| Google Sheets | Share the sheet, paste its address in Google Sheet URL, select Find ranges, select a Named range, then select Connect. Three checks run. |
| BigQuery | An Admin enters one shared credential for the workspace. Each channel then needs its Dataset ID and Table ID. Select Save dataset. Three checks run. |
| Snowflake | An Admin enters one shared credential for the workspace. Each channel then needs its Database, Schema, and Table. Select Save table. Three checks run. |
| SFTP | An Admin enters one shared credential for the workspace. Each channel then needs its Base path. Select Save base path. Three checks run. |
| Azure Blob Storage | An Admin enters one shared credential for the workspace. Each channel then needs its Base path. Select Save base path. Three checks run. |
| Snowflake data share | Fill in Account identifier, Share name, Schema, and Table, then select Connect. This method has no shared credential. |
| API key or other credential | Fill in the fields of the form and select Connect. The fields depend on the source. |
| No credentials | The dialog says that the source needs no credentials and that your Prescient team will finish the setup. |
A word in braces stands for a value from your account or your plan.
The methods divide into two groups.
- Prescient reads the platform. With a hosted connect card, a provider sign-in, or an API key, you give access and Prescient reads the data in the shape that the platform has. You do not prepare columns.
- You supply the data. With Google Sheets, BigQuery, Snowflake, SFTP, or Azure Blob Storage, you put the data in a table or a file with the columns that the channel type needs. Data Center checks the columns before the channel is connected.
What is an integration?
Section titled “What is an integration?”An integration is the service or the location that carries the data. In the product, the word has two uses.
- On the Channels tab, the line below the title of the setup dialog names the integration of the channel.
- The Integrations tab lists only the four integrations that share a credential: BigQuery, Snowflake, SFTP, and Azure Blob Storage. You enter the credential one time, and each channel that arrives through the integration uses it.
Why does the page say Connector?
Section titled “Why does the page say Connector?”The first column of the Channels tab has the header Connector, and some product text uses the word connector for an integration. These docs do not use the word. The table shows how the words on screen map to the terms of these docs.
| Word on screen | Where | Term in these docs |
|---|---|---|
| Connector | Header of the first column of the Channels tab | Channel |
| Channels | Tab, and the Add channel button | Channel |
| Integration | Header of the first column of the Integrations tab | Integration |
| Direct connector | Text of the Add integration dialog | Warehouse or file integration |
| Powered by | Column of the two tabs | The service or the method that carries the data |
What does Powered by tell you?
Section titled “What does Powered by tell you?”The Powered by column names the service or the method that carries the data of the row. For some channels, the value is the name of a sync service that Prescient uses. For other channels, the value is the name of the integration or of the method. On the Integrations tab, the value is always Direct (Prescient).
The value tells you which form you will see when you connect the channel.