2014 DFP Small Business releases archive

These release notes are archives provided for your convenience only--they may not reflect current product functionality.

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Q4 2014

December 8 Query Tool launch

Updated feature

Query Tool launch: The Query Tool is now available to all networks. The Query Tool provides publishers with better insight into the performance of their ad inventory. To help you identify new opportunities and make smarter decisions, use the Query Tool to create customized reporting with only the data you need. Learn about the Query Tool.

December 1 Future Query Tool launch / Render creatives using SafeFrame in GPT

Highlight

Reporting

Query Tool launch: On December 8, 2014, Query Tool will replace legacy reporting for all networks. The Query Tool provides publishers with better insight into the performance of their ad inventory. To help you identify new opportunities and make smarter decisions, use Query Tool to create customized reporting with only the data you need. Learn about Query Tool.

Updated feature

GPT

  • Render creatives using SafeFrame in GPT: SafeFrame is an IAB standard which provides API-enabled iframes that prevent external access to sensitive data, while still allowing transparent and rich interactions between page content and ads. You can now configure your creatives to use SafeFrame in GPT. Learn more
November 24 Future Query Tool launch / IMA HTML5 SDK supports Internet Explorer 11

Highlight

Reporting

Query Tool launch: On December 8, 2014, the Query Tool will be available for all DFP Small Business publishers. The Query Tool provides publishers with better insight into the performance of their ad inventory. To help you identify new opportunities and make smarter decisions, use the Query Tool to create customized reporting with only the data you need. Query Tool will become the primary reporting solution for DFP Small Business, replacing the legacy reports.

Updated feature

Video

  • IMA HTML5 SDK now supports Internet Explorer 11: Our SDK is now compatible with the desktop versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer, as well as the mobile versions of Chrome, Safari, and the default Android browser. Learn more at the Ads Developer Blog.
November 17 Improved creative "start time" / New API release / Future Query Tool launch

Updated features

Creatives

  • Improvement to creative "Start time": When a creative is uploaded after a line item has started to serve, the creative's "Start time" is now considered the date and time on which it was uploaded. Previously, a creative's "Start time" always equalled that of the line item, even if the creative was uploaded after the line item started to serve.

Reporting

  • Query Tool launch: On December 3, 2014, the Query Tool will be available for all DFP Small Business publishers. The Query Tool provides publishers with better insight into the performance of their ad inventory. To help you identify new opportunities and make smarter decisions, use the Query Tool to create customized reporting with only the data you need. Query Tool will become the primary reporting solution for DFP Small Business, replacing the legacy reports.

API

November 12 An Update on DFP

As you are aware, our DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) ad server experienced a global outage on Wednesday, November 12, 2014 from 5:45am to 7:31am PST. This was the first DFP outage of this significance for many years and we take it very seriously. Our team’s first priority was restoring service and making sure the immediate issue would not recur. We are writing now to explain what happened and what we are doing to protect against future incidents.

The details:

  • The DFP ad server relies on an internal service that began degrading in performance. This caused a cascading failure on DFP ad servers, leading to the outage.
  • We designed our systems to gracefully handle performance degradation from dependent services. However, due to a misconfiguration, we were unable to prevent the outage.
  • To restore ad serving and prevent cascading failures, we restarted the services by provisioning additional resources.
  • We reproduced the failure in a test by degrading the availability of the internal service, proving the misconfiguration caused the cascading failures. We have since rolled out a fix to the configuration globally.
  • We are conducting a complete review of all our processes and production configurations to prevent this from happening again.

As always, our goal is to provide a best-in-class product and the unmatched global scale and reliability you’ve come to expect from Google and DoubleClick. We value your partnership deeply and apologize for the disruption this incident caused to your business.

Best,

Neal Mohan - VP, Display & Video Advertising
Scott Silver - VP, Engineering

November 10 Import and export creative templates / GPT responsive ads

Highlight

Updated feature

Import and export creative templates: You can now export creative templates, work on them offline, and then import them as new templates or updated user-defined templates. Learn more about importing and exporting creative templates.

Updated features

GPT

  • Responsive ads in GPT: Responsive ads now allow you to suppress (not show) ads for certain browser sizes. For example, you can show 1 ad on a mobile browser and 3 on a desktop browser, or you can create an ad slot that's only shown on tablets. You can also control the position of ads on different devices by limiting which slots are available to which browsers. Learn more about building responsive ads.
November 3 Batch edit line items

Workflow improvement

Batch edit line items

  • Select multiple line items within an order and make the same change across all of them: You can now select multiple line items at once and bulk edit their priority, labels, frequency caps, and custom fields.
October 20 Target the latest Apple operating systems

Updated feature

Targeting picker

Q3 2014

September 29 Export forecast results / Suggestions for verifying advertisers / Single-escaped video title macro

New feature

  • Export forecast details: When you check the available inventory for a new line item (using the Check inventory button) or an existing line item (using the Delivery forecast tab), you can now export the forecasting details to an Excel spreadsheet. You can then share this spreadsheet with clients or use it internally to keep a record of your forecasts.

 

Updated features

Network administration

  • Suggestions for verifying advertisers: If you use Ad Exchange, you can add verified advertisers to your list of companies and report on the revenue between DFP and Ad Exchange, broken down by advertiser. Now DFP will provide suggestions for existing DFP advertisers that might match a verified advertiser. Learn more about verifying advertisers

DFP Video

  • Video title macro is now single-escaped: The %%VIDEO_TITLE%% macro now expands to the single-escaped version of the video title, making it possible to safely pass along the title in a redirect URL. Learn more about video macros.

September 15 Add API service account access from the Admin tab

Updated features

API access

  • Service accounts: You can now add a service account user directly to DFP in the "Admin" tab. These are special Google Accounts that can be used by applications to access DFP through the API. Learn more

September 2 Unified advertiser blocking / Ad exclusions without tag modifications / Preview creative templates / Notifications about shared query tool reports / VAST 3

Highlight

Unified advertiser blocking

You can now use DFP to block verified advertisers from selected inventory, including ads trafficked directly in DFP, ads that are delivered from Ad Exchange through dynamic allocation, and ads trafficked in DCM or a different DFP network. Learn more

You can also now choose whether to consider the impact of advertiser blocking and ad exclusions when checking available inventory. Learn more.

 

Updated features

Ad exclusions

  • Ad exclusions without tag modifications: When you need to block ads with an ad exclusion, it's often an emergency situation where you need to act quickly. To make that easier, DFP now lets you apply ad exclusions directly to your inventory, without modifying your ad tags. The old system of tag modifications still works, but the new ad exclusion workflow is simpler, easier, and handled completely within DFP. Learn more

Creatives

  • Preview creative templates: You can now click Preview while creating or editing a creative template, making it easier to confirm that your template is set up correctly without having to traffic a test campaign. Learn more about creative templates

Reports

  • Notifications about shared query tool reports: When you try to disable a user who has shared scheduled query tool reports with other users, you'll now see a warning that the scheduled reports will no longer be delivered. If you then go ahead and disable the user, DFP will send an email to the other users to let them know which scheduled reports will no longer be delivered.

    This feature is for query tool reports only. Query tool is currently in beta, so it might not yet be available for your network.

DFP Video

  • VAST 3: The third version of the IAB’s video ad serving template represents the latest video ad serving standards. VAST 3 contains a multitude enhancements, including standardized support for multiple ads in a single VAST response, granular VAST 3 error codes, enhanced support for adaptive bitrate creatives, and many others. Learn more

August 25 Improved Inventory tab navigation

Updated feature

Workflow improvements

  • Inventory tab navigation: To make the Inventory tab easier to navigate, we've improved the left-hand navigation panel. Click on a heading in the navigation panel to see a list of related pages.

August 18 DFP API release

Updated feature

API

  • DFP API v201408: The new version of the DFP API, v201408, will be available on August 19, 2014. This release features the addition of a new table to the Publisher Query Language service, some changes to the LineItem.Goal object, enhancements to Sales Manager services, and changes to server endpoint and scope URLs. Learn more

August 11 New OS, browser, and device targeting

Updated feature

Targeting

  • New OS, browser, and device targeting: You can now target line items to the following operating systems, browsers, and devices:

    Operating systems

    • Playstation4
    • Xbox 360
    • Xbox One
    • Wii U

    Browsers

    • Firefox (27.x)
    • Firefox (28.x)
    • Firefox (29.x)
    • Firefox (30.x)
    • Firefox (31.x)

    Devices

    • Galaxy S5 (SM-G900A)
    • Galaxy S5 (SM-G900F)
    • Galaxy S5 (SM-G900L)
    • Galaxy S5 (SM-G900P)
    • Galaxy S5 (SM-G900V)
    • URBANO PROGRESSO KYY04 for KDDI (KYY04)
    • Optimus it L-05D for DoCoMo (L-05D)
    • ELUGA V  P-06D for DoCoMo (P-06D)
    • ELUGA power P-07D for DoCoMo (P-07D)
    • Galaxy SIII LTE (SC-06D)
    • Xperia GX  SO-04D for DoCoMo (SO-04D)
    • Galaxy Note II International (GT-N7100)
    • Galaxy Note II USA (SGH-I317)
    • Galaxy Note 10.1 (GT-N8000)
    • Galaxy Note 3 (SM-N900T)
    • Nexus 4
    • LG NX550
August 4 Select multiple items

Updated feature

Workflow improvements

  • Select multiple items: Throughout DFP, you'll find various fields where it's now easier to add multiple items. When you click into a text box and start typing, you'll see a list of suggestions, along with checkboxes. Click multiple checkboxes to select multiple items.

July 28 Google Media Framework for video / Internet Explorer support update

New feature

DFP Video

Updated feature

Browser support

  • Internet Explorer support: Starting today, DFP supports only versions 10 and 11 of Microsoft Internet Explorer. Earlier versions are no longer supported, and you'll get a notification if you're using an unsupported version.

July 21 Geo-targeting enhancements

Updated feature

Workflow improvement

  • Geo-targeting: We've added neighborhoods to geo-targeting for major cities, such as New York City. We've also added new targetable cities, universities, regions, and postal codes.

July 14 Custom fields / GPT API method / Change history redesign

New features

Admin

  • Custom fields: Use custom fields to organize objects in reports, add comments, and for other workflow purposes. You create them from the Admin tab, and they can be applied at the line item, creative, or order level. Learn more.

Google Publisher Tags (GPT)

  • GPT's new API method lets you control the creation of a new correlator ID for ad requests, which effectively allows you to define the start of a new page for dynamic websites. Visit the developers site to learn more.

 

Updated feature

Workflow improvement

  • Change history redesign: The change history has been redesigned to make it easier for you to find the information you need. Columns provide a clearer organization for change history information.

July 7 Impressions limit notifications / Persistent system messages / New video macros

Updated features

Alerts

  • Impressions limit notifications If you have access to see line item alerts in the top-right of your screen, there will now be alerts when publishers are approaching their monthly impression limit. This helps publishers plan their ad serving budget accordingly.

Workflow improvement

  • Persistent system messages: When DFP shows you an error message or a system alert, you no longer have to worry about it disappearing. The message will stay in place until you click Dismiss.

DFP Video

  • New double-escaped video description and video referrer macros

    • Use %%DESCRIPTION_URL_ESC_ESC%% (double-escaped) when the macro is inside a URL, and use %%DESCRIPTION_URL_UNESC%% (unescaped) in other contexts. In redirect ad tags, expands to the description URL parameter from the original GPT ad tag's description_url query parameter.
    • Use %%REFERRER_URL_ESC_ESC%% (double-escaped) when the macro is inside a URL, and use %%REFERRER_URL_UNESC%% (unescaped) in other contexts. This macro expands to the referrer URL (the URL of the page where the video player is located) in redirect ad tags. It does so in the following manner: DFP parses the ad tag's URL query parameter, isolates the referrer URL, and replaces the macro text with that URL.

    Learn more about video macros.

DFP visual redesign

  • Cosmetic improvements: You've probably noticed that DFP looks different lately. We've rolled out a new look and feel to make DFP more consistent with the rest of your Google products. Over the next several weeks, you may notice additional small changes as we complete the visual transition. These changes won't affect functionality. All of your features and workflows will stay the same.

 

Help center improvement

Improved DFP apps documentation

Did you know you can also use DFP for apps? Learn more.

Q2 2014

June 30 Cosmetic improvements

Updated feature

DFP visual redesign

  • Cosmetic improvements: You've probably noticed that DFP looks different lately. We've rolled out a new look and feel to make DFP more consistent with the rest of your Google products. Over the next several weeks, you may notice additional small changes as we complete the visual transition. These changes won't affect functionality. All of your features and workflows will stay the same.

June 23 Export line item data / Capturing unattributed impressions

New feature

Reporting

  • Export line item data to spreadsheets: You can now export data about a filtered list of line items, or all of the line items in an order, to spreadsheets. Learn more

Updated feature

Reporting

  • Capturing unattributed impressions: Sometimes DFP records an impression for your network, but can't attribute it to a particular ad unit. Now, when you run a query on the ad unit dimension, these unattributed impressions will be listed under a "Default" ad unit. Impression totals for ad unit queries will match impression totals without the dimension.

June 16 Workflow improvements / DFP API / Better getting started help

Updated features

Workflow improvements

  • Choose the default tab in line items: When you open a line item, the "Settings" tab is displayed by default. Now you can change that default to the "Creatives" tab if that's more convenient for you by changing your user settings. Learn more

  • Better delivery diagnostics: When you run the Google Publisher Console and visit the "Delivery diagnostics" page, DFP now shows the IP address and geographic location of the browser where the line item under review was served. Learn more

New DFP API release

  • We've launched v201405 of the DFP API. This release brings better OAuth2 standards, consolidates line item goal information, and adds a lot more report fields. Learn more

Help center improvements

  • Better getting started: We've updated and simplified the Getting started section of the help center to ensure that it's focused on the information you need to get new users up and running quickly on DFP.

June 9 Visual redesign / GPT API reference guide

Highlight

DFP visual redesign

DFP Small Business is rolling out a new look and feel. It's part of an ongoing redesign of Google products, including Search, Gmail, and AdWords. With the new design, DFP is more consistent with the rest of your Google products. Functionality hasn't changed. All of your features and workflows will stay the same.

Updated feature

Google Publisher Tag (GPT)

  • Updated GPT API reference guide: The Google Publisher Tag (GPT) API reference guide is now hosted on the Google Developers site. References have been updated, making it easier for developers to work effectively with Google Publisher Tags.

June 2 Mobile app targeting and reporting / Select columns

Highlight

Mobile app targeting and reporting

You can now specifically target and report on mobile apps in DFP. This feature is particularly useful for publishers that use the same ad units for their mobile web and mobile app inventory but want to traffic different campaigns to apps and the web, and also want to see app-specific data in reports.

  • Targeting: From the line item’s settings in the DFP UI, go to the Add targeting section. Select Devices > Device capability > Mobile Apps, and then click Include.

  • Reporting: In targeting criteria reports, app traffic is broken down under DeviceCapability=serves on apps.

Note: Mobile app targeting and reporting work for mobile display but not mobile video.

New feature

Workflow improvement

  • Select columns: On tables throughout DFP, you can click Select columns to choose which columns to show or hide, making it easier to see the information you need, and to hide the stuff you don't need to see.

May 27 Better design for inventory targeting / Pre-release announcement: DFP visual redesign

Highlight

Better design for inventory targeting

We've made it easier for you to include and exclude inventory from line item targeting. Previously, you could only exclude inventory that was already included in a targeted placement or parent ad unit. To make trafficking easier, we've removed that limitation. You can now mark any inventory unit as excluded from a line item. The look and feel of inventory targeting has also been updated. Learn more about inventory targeting.

 

Pre-release announcement: DFP visual redesign

  • On June 9, 2014, DFP Small Business will have a new look and feel. It's part of an ongoing redesign of Google products, including Search, Gmail, and AdWords. With the new design, DFP will be more consistent with the rest of your Google products. Functionality won't change. All of your features and workflows will stay the same.

May 19 Sticky table searches, filters and paging / Make multiple copies of line items / Archived entities removed from search / Sort orders by impressions and clicks

Highlight

Sticky table searches, filters and paging

When you're looking at a list in DFP, you often need to search, filter or scroll through to a particular page. But when you click on an item, then go back to the list, your search, filters and paging are gone.

We've fixed that. Now, when you go back in your browser, DFP will remember your table searches, your filters. You can even bookmark a particular search, filter and paging setup — all of the information is stored in the URL, so you can always find your way back, and you can share your deep links with others as well.

Today we're rolling out these improvements for standalone lists of orders, line items, creatives, creative sets, and creative templates. In the coming weeks, we plan to roll them out for lists of line items within orders and creatives within line items, as well as for audience segments and segment approvals.

New features

Line items

  • Make multiple copies of line items: You can select one or more line items, choose More actions > Copy to, and choose how many copies you want to make of each line item. You can make up to 60 new line items at once. Learn more

Updated features

Workflow improvements

  • Archived entities removed from search: To make search results more relevant, archived orders, line items, ad units, and placements are no longer included in general searches. You can choose to view archived items by using the left-hand navigation panel. For orders and line items, you can also use filters in the table that lists them.

  • Sort orders by impressions and clicks: Click on the Impressions or Clicks column heading to sort orders.

May 12 Editable ad unit names / Bulk upload creatives in zip files / Comma-separated inventory search

New feature

Editable ad unit names

Until now, once you set the name of an ad unit, you couldn't change it because it was used in the ad tags. There were also a lot of restrictions on which characters you could use in the name (no spaces!) because it needed to meet the requirements of an HTML tag.

Today, DFP is separating the ad unit name from the ad unit code.

  • The ad unit name is an editable field that can include spaces and special characters. It's used in targeting and reports. You can change it at any time, even after you've saved the ad unit.

  • The ad unit code is what's used in DFP ad tags. It has limitations on special characters, can't contain spaces, and can't be changed once you've saved the ad unit.

For existing ad units, the ad unit code will be the same as the current ad unit name. You don't have to make any changes or updates, but the ad unit name is now editable. Changing the ad unit name won't affect your tags or ad serving.

Learn more about creating ad units, including rules for ad unit codes and ad unit names

This feature was previously announced on April 21, but is being released today.

Updated features

Workflow improvements

  • Bulk upload creatives in zip files: You can now directly upload zip files to DFP as a way to add new creatives in bulk. Learn more

  • Comma-separated inventory search: When you're targeting inventory in a line item, you can now enter more than one inventory unit in the search box, separated by commas, making it easier to select exactly the inventory you need.

May 5 Automatically refresh mobile app ads / Smarter breadcrumbs

Automatically refresh ads on a mobile app

The new refresh rate setting allows you to have ad units on mobile apps automatically refresh at a specified interval. In other words, the app user will see a new ad every 30-120 seconds. This is useful for apps where users stay on one screen for long periods of time — such as games — to allow you to maximize ad revenue. Learn more

Updated feature

Smarter breadcrumbs: When you click on an advertiser name in the breadcrumbs, you are now taken to the Orders page, filtered to show orders that belong to that advertiser.

Notification

The change to editable ad unit names, announced on April 21, 2014, is not currently enabled. It will be available on May 12, 2014.

April 29 Improved forecasting numbers / Editable ad unit names notification

Updated feature

Forecasting

  • Improved forecasting numbers when the historical data contains large user sessions: When you run a forecast to predict the future inventory of a line item, DFP uses a sample of the last 28 days of your network’s impression activity as a basis to model future traffic patterns. When that sample includes large user sessions with many impressions, we’ve significantly improved the variance for forecasting of line items. In other words, the forecasting numbers are now much more consistent, with fewer unrealistic highs and lows.

Notification

The change to editable ad unit names, announced on April 21, 2014, is not currently enabled. It will be available on May 12, 2014.

April 21 Editable ad unit names / HTTPS support for DFP-hosted assets

Highlight

Editable ad unit names

This feature is not currently enabled. It will be available on May 12, 2014.

Until now, once you set the name of an ad unit, you couldn't change it because it was used in the ad tags. There were also a lot of restrictions on which characters you could use in the name (no spaces!) because it needed to meet the requirements of an HTML tag.

Today, DFP is separating the ad unit name from the ad unit code.

 

  • The ad unit name is an editable field that can include spaces and special characters. It's used in targeting and reports. You can change it at any time, even after you've saved the ad unit.

  • The ad unit code is what's used in DFP ad tags. It has limitations on special characters, can't contain spaces, and can't be changed once you've saved the ad unit.

For existing ad units, the ad unit code will be the same as the current ad unit name. You don't have to make any changes or updates, but the ad unit name is now editable. Changing the ad unit name won't affect your tags or ad serving.

Learn more about creating ad units, including rules for ad unit codes and ad unit names

Updated features

DFP Video

  • HTTPS support for DFP-hosted assets: You can now provide full SSL compliance on your pages while using DFP's hosting and transcoding. Learn more about DFP-hosted linear creatives.
April 14 Auto-name creatives / Creative SSL compatibility / Improved dynamic allocation workflow

New features

Trafficking

  • Auto-name creatives You can now set up a default format so that new creatives will be automatically named. It can include information about the creative, such as the size, the advertiser name, the creative type, and so on.When you add a new creative to DFP, the default creative name format is applied. You then have the option of changing the name manually. Learn more

  • Creative SSL compatibility When you serve creatives to secure pages which use SSL — typically pages whose URLs begin with https:// — it's important to be sure that the creatives are compatible with the pages' security settings. If you use a creative type that can include content hosted on a third-party server, such as custom, third-party, or DoubleClick tag creatives, DFP now checks the creative for SSL compatibility. Learn more

Updated features

Creatives

  • Improved workflow for dynamic allocation creatives: You no longer need to specify size parameters for dynamic allocation creatives in snippets. That information is automatically pulled from the line item and creatives. Learn more about Ad Exchange and AdSense line items

April 7 Improved forecasting

Updated feature

Forecasting

  • Improved consistency across forecasts that cover the same date range: When you run a forecast to predict the future inventory of a line item, the numbers of a forecast with a larger target date range will now more closely match the sum of multiple, smaller forecasts that cover the same date range. For example:

    1. Run a forecast from April 1-14.
    2. Then run 14 forecasts — one for each day from April 1-14 — and add the forecasting numbers.

    The sum of the 14 smaller forecasts will now match the bigger forecast much more closely than in the past.

Q1 2014

March 24 Archived orders

New feature

Orders

  • Archived orders: To ensure that you can find your active orders easily, DFP will now automatically archive orders that haven't delivered any impressions for the last 365 days, if your network has more than 5,000 orders total. Active and pending orders won't be affected. You can always view and reactivate archived orders if you need them. Learn more

March 17 Google Publisher Tag (GPT) event listeners / Flash click tracking / Improved workflow for dynamic allocation creatives / AdMob line item type

New features

Tagging

  • Google Publisher Tag (GPT) event listeners: You can now use the Google Publisher Tags (GPT) API to register an event listener notifying you when an ad slot finishes rendering. This can be used to obtain details of the ad delivered, such as if the slot was unfilled, size of the ad, creative ID and line item ID. Learn more

Creatives

  • Flash click tracking: You can now override the clickTAG in Flash files, ensuring that your Flash creatives click through to the right place and that DFP can track clicks even if the Flash clickTAG is missing or set up incorrectly. Learn more

Line items

  • AdMob line item type: The new AdMob line item type allows AdMob to compete for mobile app inventory via dynamic allocation, potentially improving your monetization. Learn more

Updated feature

Line items

  • Line items now open to the Settings tab by default: Previously, when you navigated to a line item, it would default to the Creatives tab. Most publishers look to update their settings first, and this improvement saves them a click.

March 3 Enhanced dynamic allocation / Targeting presets / "Invite contacts" permission

New features

Monitor delivery

Enhanced dynamic allocation We are changing the way DFP interacts with Ad Exchange and AdSense. Called “enhanced dynamic allocation,” our ad servers now optimize the distribution of Ad Exchange and AdSense impressions throughout goal-based line item delivery, without compromising reservation goals. Prior to enhanced dynamic allocation, DFP did not make a bid request to Ad Exchange or AdSense before delivering a goal-based line item, missing out on potential revenue. Learn more

Targeting

  • Targeting presets: Instead of reentering the same set of criteria again and again, you can save time, minimize errors, and keep your campaigns consistent by saving targeting criteria to a preset. Learn more

User role administration

  • "Invite contacts" permission: A new permission has been added to roles: "Invite contacts." Previously, in order to invite a contact, a user needed the "Edit users, roles and teams" permission plus the "Edit contacts" permission. Now, the "Invite contacts" permission has been separated from "Edit users, roles and teams," giving you more granular control over what users can do.

    There will be no change in what existing users and roles can actually do. If you could invite contacts before, you still can; if you couldn't, you still can't. That also goes for any new users you add to your existing roles, unless you make changes those roles. If you don't have any concerns about how your users have been inviting contacts (or not inviting them), then there's nothing you need to do. However, if you've wanted to control which of your users and roles can invite contacts, now you can. Learn more about roles and permissions

February 24 New mobile creative types and targeting

New features

More options for mobile

Additional mobile creative types and targeting are now available:

  • New creative types include mobile ad network creatives, click-to-app and click-to-call creatives, video interstitial creatives, and more. Learn about mobile creatives.

  • You now have the ability to target mobile device capability (e.g., "can make calls"). Learn about targeting mobile devices.
February 18 Google Publisher Toolbar

New feature

Google Publisher Toolbar

  • View ads on this page: The "Ads on this page" section, added to the Account Overview popup, provides a summary of all Google ads. Scroll to a specific ad by clicking on the bullseye icon or open an "Ad Details" window directly from the popup. Learn more / Get the Toolbar

February 3 Prevent automatic line item activation / Testing recommendations

New features

Line items

  • Prevent automatic line item activation: To make it easy to traffic line items, DFP automatically activates them once you've added a creative of each specified size. However, if you want more precise control of when line items become active, you can require that all line items be activated manually. Learn more

 

Help center improvement

Testing recommendations: Check out new recommendations on how to test your network and sites as you're rolling out a new network, site, or campaign.

January 27 %%DESCRIPTION_URL%% and %%REFERRER_URL%% macros / Skippable video skip time at the network level / Creative orientation lock

New features

DFP Video

  • DFP now supports the %%DESCRIPTION_URL%% and %%REFERRER_URL%% macros to pass these parameters from the DFP ad tag to third-party ad networks. Google Publisher Tags are required for this feature. Learn more

  • "Skippable video skip time" can now be customized at the network level rather than hard-coded to 5 seconds. This customization requires the use of VAST 3. Ask your account manager for details.

Mobile

  • Creative orientation lock - For creatives that can serve in mobile applications, you have the option to lock the creative’s orientation to ensure images are not cropped when a device is rotated. This is particularly useful for interstitials that need to be displayed in portrait format even when the device is rotated to landscape (or vice versa). Learn more

 

Help center improvement

The DoubleClick for Publishers help center has a new look. With this new design, we've reformatted our content to help you resolve your questions quickly and achieve your goals efficiently.

January 21 Play Services SDK for DFP and Ad Exchange / Line item defaults / Third party tracking for VAST viewability metrics

Highlight

Play Services SDK for DFP and Ad Exchange launches

The Play Services SDK with support for DFP and Ad Exchange brings a couple of benefits to DFP Publishers:

  • Android Ad ID - a privacy-safe, resettable identifier for advertising that has the potential to improve monetization on dynamic allocation via Ad Exchange and AdMob.
  • Automatic updates - all apps on devices with the Google Play Store will always have the latest version of the SDK by virtue of being part of Play Services.

New or updated apps submitted to the Play Store must upgrade to this new SDK by August 1, 2014. Ad serving to existing apps will not be affected. Minor code changes are necessary to take advantage of the new SDK. Visit the Play Services Migration Guide for more information.

 


New features

Trafficking

  • Line item defaults: Specify default settings for line items. When someone creates new line items in your network, they'll start out with the default settings you set. Learn more

DFP Video

  • DFP video now supports VAST 3 in beta, including the IMA SDK. Specifically, if you’re on IMA 3, you don’t need to make any SDK changes. Ask your account manager for details on how to join this beta.

  • Third party tracking for VAST viewability metrics is now available.

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