Q1 2018
January 8 Deprecation of Ad Exchange UI tags and Audience Explorer; changes to iTunes app blocking and Yield group dimension names; Chrome enforcement of Better Ads StandardsTraffic and deliver ads
Deprecation of Ad Exchange UI tags in DFP Ad Exchange line items
Over the last few months, we've been deprecating Ad Exchange UI tags in DFP Ad Exchange line items for remaining publishers. As of 12/15, this deprecation is complete for most publishers, with a few exceptions.
For all traffic from DFP, you can no longer use Ad Exchange UI tags in rules, deals, and reporting in Ad Exchange, but you may replace them with DFP targeting (ad units, key-values, and placements). Use our guide to restructure your Ad Exchange configuration and remove the Ad Exchange UI tag.
If you haven't made any changes, Ad Exchange UI tags will no longer be included in your DFP ad requests. Any rule or deal that targets an Ad Exchange UI tag will no longer be matched with ad requests from DFP. Monetization will continue, but will do so via other rules and deals, as Ad Exchange tags associated with DFP line items will no longer be sent.
This doesn't impact Ad Exchange tags placed directly on website pages or on third-party ad servers.
Manage inventory
How Chrome plans to enforce the Better Ads Standards
The Coalition for Better Ads, of which Google is a member, developed the Better Ads Standards. The Ad Experience Report reviews the ad experiences on sites and flags those that research shows annoy your visitors. Starting on February 15, 2018, Chrome will stop showing all ads on sites that have been in "Failing" status for more than 30 days, as reported in the Ad Experience Report. To learn more, visit the Google Developers site or the Web Tools help center.
Deprecation of Audience Explorer
As of the end of 2017, we've deprecated Audience Explorer in DFP. Audience segment data in Audience Explorer is no longer available.
- Use the "Audience segments" page to view data on total, mobile web, AdID, and IDFA sizes for each segment.
- Use forecasting to view data for 30-day impressions and clicks, and 15-day active user metrics. You can estimate how many users are targeted by your third-party lists. Learn more
Block an iTunes app with one URL
You can now enter one URL in Ad Exchange to block an iTunes app from advertising on your property. There are often several versions of URLs that point to the same app, such as itunes.apple.com/app/id12345 and itunes.apple.com/us/app/id12345. Now, when you enter any of the URLs, the app will be blocked entirely -- you no longer need to add all of the URLs. This matches the existing functionality for Google Play Store URLs. Learn more
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Update to Yield group dimension names
To ensure consistency with the DFP UI, we are changing the name of the "Yield group partner" and "Yield group partner tag" dimensions in DFP Query Tool. These will now appear as simply "Yield partner" and "Yield partner tag".
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Deprecation of Google Mobile Ads (GMA) SDK versions lower than 7.0.0
Starting January 23, 2018, Android and iOS Google Mobile Ads SDK versions lower than 7.0.0 will be deprecated. To continue serving mobile ads from AdMob, Ad Exchange, or DFP after this date, upgrade to the latest iOS or Android version of the Google Mobile Ads SDK.
Ad refresh on AMP
You can now set up refresh events for
<amp-ad>tags that use the Fast Fetch request method, enabling you to expose users to a greater volume of ads while maintaining high viewability. Add a metadata tag to the head of your AMP page to indicate the refresh interval. Learn more
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Sort your report results
You can now click report column headings to sort results for reports created using the flat table structure that fit on a single page.
Publisher University
What's new in DFP + Ad Exchange
The January 2018 edition of What's New in DFP + Ad Exchange is now live on Publisher University. Topics covered include changes to video content source sync options, AMP Fast Fetch for canonical AMP pages, Delivery Inspector for AMP pages, policy violation notification update, how to block an iTunes app with one URL, and details around how Chrome plans to enforce the Better Ads Standards.
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Review buyer changes in programmatic proposals
DFP now highlights changes to negotiable fields. Highlighting changes helps you identify how campaign terms have been modified before accepting or finalizing a proposal. Learn more
Traffic rewarded ads for apps
You can now traffic video ads on apps, and allow users to voluntarily watch the ads in exchange for an in-app reward. Rewarded ads can be set up directly in Ad Exchange or DFP, or using Ad Exchange in DFP. They also need to be requested through the Google Mobile Ads SDK (Android | iOS). Learn more
New AMP IMA Video component
The amp-ima-video component for AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) provides a streamlined, lightweight video player with video ad support to help improve monetization. It currently supports VMAP, skippable ads, ad podding, VPAID JavaScript, and Active View. The player is already integrated with the IMA SDK; to embed it, just insert the tag on your AMP page and provide an ad and video content URL. Learn more
Placement policies for iPhone X are now required
With the launch of the iPhone X, app developers must plan for new design considerations, such as rounded corners, notch, and home screen indicator on the extended screen. These can obscure content and lead to bad ad experiences for users when ads are placed in these areas. You can refer to the iPhone X ad rendering guide to help you shift placement of mobile app banner or native ads to designated "safe areas" for this new device.
Back in October 2017, we announced an update to our Ad Exchange open auction policies that would become active starting November 20. Our policies indicate that ads must not be placed where objects may interfere with the user's typical interaction with the ad, app, or website, such as under the home screen indicator on the iPhone X. Compliance with these policies is now required.
Report and optimize
Report dimension and metric retirements
To reduce complexity and provide better support, we've retired some report dimensions and metrics. Learn more
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Preferred Deals are now in DFP
Ad Exchange Preferred Deals will be deprecated at the end of 2018. Preferred Deals in DFP (Beta) allow you and the buyer to negotiate non-guaranteed campaigns. Preferred Deals in DFP vary from the preferred deals you may have used in Ad Exchange and provide several key advantages:
- DFP key-value targeting
- Targeting presets
- Integrated forecasting
- Creative preview and review
- DFP troubleshooting tools
Contact your account manager to enable Preferred Deals in DFP. Learn more
Roadblocks for DFP Programmatic
You can now specify a count for each size in a programmatic proposal line item. Specifying count when there's inventory of the same sizes on a single page (roadblock campaigns) ensures that DFP requests the correct number of creatives from buyers. Prior, DFP was unable to capture multiple inventory of the same sizes in proposal line items. Learn more
Mix native and banner ad requests for Custom rendering
You can now use the Custom rendering feature to have banners compete with native ads on apps to maximize performance. Advanced developers can use the Google Mobile Ads SDK to increase revenue in inventory usually reserved for native- or banner-only by allowing both ad types to compete against each other in real time. Learn more
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Target and report on connected TV devices
Formerly classified as desktop inventory, connected TV devices (e.g. Roku, Xbox, Chromecast, and smart TVs) are now a separate device category which can be targeted or excluded. They are also now broken as a separate "Device category" in Query Tool reports. Devices must use an applicable user agent to be classified as a connected TV.
Native and rewarded ad formats now available for yield groups
In the past, yield groups were only available for banner and interstitial ad formats. Now, yield groups can also be used with native and rewarded ad formats. Yield groups are used to manage and optimize the inventory they target. Learn more
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Yield group report dimension includes overlapping events
In the past, impressions and other events were attributed to one of the yield groups eligible for an ad request. Now, the Yield group dimension includes overlapping metrics when the same yield partner and targeting exist for multiple yield groups. Use the Demand channel and Yield partner dimensions for a more accurate breakdown of delivery. Learn more
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GPT no longer supporting IE version 10 or below
As of March 5, 2018, we no longer support ad serving with Google Publisher Tags (GPT) for Internet Explorer versions 10 and below. This may result in ads rendering incorrectly or failing to appear in these browsers, and impressions may not be counted.
SafeFrame exposed to creatives on AMP pages
The SafeFrame API is now exposed to standard HTML ads that serve on AMP pages using DoubleClick AMP ad tags. SafeFrame replaces the functionality that was previously offered by the
window.contextAPI, allowing creatives to retrieve data from and interact with the parent page. This feature is being released in preparation for Delayed Fetch Deprecation, because Fast Fetch will no longer allow access to thewindow.contextAPI. Learn more
Manage inventory
Analyze past and future impressions for 18 months (Beta)
We have increased the timeframe when you can view historical traffic and future impression opportunities to 18 months. This provides even more data to find better ways to segment and package inventory. This data can help coordinate your sales organizations on how best to sell in the future. Note that there’s a limit of 90 days of historical data when filtering by Requested ad size or Key-values. Learn more
New Programmatic Guaranteed research
New research from The Boston Consulting Group found that using Programmatic Guaranteed to set up and manage direct deals saves publishers 57% more time versus traditional reservations. Get the report and learn more about DFP Programmatic in the Help Center.
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Custom creatives and creative wrappers available for AMPHTML ads
We've added support for the following creative features for AMPHTML ads, enabling you to deliver faster, lighter, more secure ad experiences:
- Trafficking custom creatives in DFP built in AMPHTML. These creatives are particularly well-suited for AMP pages, because they are rendered faster than standard HTML ads. Learn more
- Adding an AMPHTML variant to creative wrappers, including existing standard HTML wrappers This allows you to serve third-party tracking pixels or other code that's useful to you, whether the delivered ad is standard HTML, or AMPHTML. Learn more
Updates to Ad Exchange video policies for muted autoplay video ads
We've updated our Ad Exchange video and games policies and Ad Exchange video requirements for muted autoplay video ads.
- For skippable ads, muted autoplay video ads are not permitted.
- For non-skippable ads, muted autoplay video ad placements can only serve ads via preferred deals, programmatic guaranteed deals or when properly declared as muted autoplay inventory. Muted autoplay video ad placements should only play when the ad is in the viewport on page load; autoplay below the fold is prohibited.
- For Open Auction or Private Auctions, all inventory must be properly declared. For example, muted autoplay video ad placements must be declared as muted autoplay.
- Scroll-to-play and hover-to-play implementations are not allowed for in-stream content.
Limiting Google Publisher Tag SRA requests to 30 ad slots (Action required)
As of March 19, 2018, DFP accepts a maximum of 30 slots per SRA (single request architecture) request. If you are using SRA with Google Publisher Tags, you may need to retag your pages to limit the number of ad slots in your requests, and ensure that you only call defineSlot() when you also call display(). Learn more about SRA syntax
View and resolve your Ad Exchange policy violations
Google reviews the sites and pages where your Ad Exchange ads appear for policy violations. The new Policy center (Beta) was launched on February 28 and allows you to easily access detailed information about violations that have been found, as well as the steps required to resolve and request additional reviews after you've addressed them. Learn more
Three notifications disabled by default
Three notifications are to be disabled by default. These are:
- Proposal needs review
- Line items updated
- Workflow messages
Notifications for these events will no longer appear in the notifications panel by default. Email notifications for these events still continue to be sent. Disabling notifications in the panel simplifies your experience and removes underutilized notifications. You can re-enable them by opening the notifications panel in the upper right, clicking the gear icon (
) and re-selecting Proposal needs review, Line items updated, or Workflow messages.
) and re-selecting Proposal needs review, Line items updated, or Workflow messages.Report and optimize
Update to policy about linked Ad Exchange account information shared in DFP reports
As of March 7, 2018, some configuration information related to impressions filled by the DFP network through new and existing linked Ad Exchange accounts can appear in DFP reports. For example, a new "Programmatic Channel" report dimension will soon be added to the DFP Historical report type so publishers can report on all channels, such as Programmatic Guaranteed and Ad Exchange deal types, sold through their linked Ad Exchange accounts. Learn more
Data transfer for Exchange Bidding (Beta)
A new file type with details about each Exchange Bidding auction for your inventory is now available in DFP Data Transfer. Learn more
Q2 2018
April 2 Optimized competition, deprecation of delayed fetch on AMP, muted and autoplay video in Ad Exchange tags, improved Network Partner Management, reporting changesLatin American Spanish is now available as a display language in DFP and Ad Exchange. Additionally, Publisher University videos and our most popular help center articles are also available in Latin American Spanish. Look for more articles to be added in the coming months.
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Optimized competition now available for DFP Premium
Optimized competition allows you to improve overall yield on inventory that is eligible for dynamic allocation across DFP and Ad Exchange. Yield improvements are realized through increased competition between direct and indirect sales in an easy, fully automated manner. When enabled, DFP remnant line items, Ad Exchange buyers, and Exchange Bidding buyers should have a better opportunity to compete when they are willing to pay high prices relative to reservations.
Learn more about how optimized competition works and how to enable optimized competition in your network.
Deprecation of Delayed Fetch on AMP (Action required)
As of March 29, 2018, we've deprecated Delayed Fetch as an ad request method for AMP. It has now been fully replaced by Fast Fetch for all
<amp-ad type="doubleclick">ad slots. You can read more about Fast Fetch and its benefits. You may need to make tagging changes to AMP pages using DoubleClick tags to ensure they continue to function correctly with Fast Fetch. Without those changes, AMP pages that rely on data from third parties may not monetize correctly or may fail to render ads correctly, resulting in lost revenue. Learn more
Specify muted or autoplay video playback in Ad Exchange tags
You can now specify whether you'd like Ad Exchange video ads to begin in a muted state or to automatically play. These options can be manually defined in your ad tag parameters, or by selecting the options when you generate an Ad Exchange video tag.
Manage network settings
Improved Network Partner Management (Beta)
We have improved the feature that gives smaller publishers the opportunity to make revenue off their ad inventory with the help of larger, more established publishers like you. You can now more easily scale your business while gaining more control of your relationship with network partners.
This improved version of Network Partner Management (NPM) is in open beta, and the new UI is only available on DFP. This replaces the legacy NPM UI, which is available on Ad Exchange and will be deprecated after May 1, 2018.
Learn how to get started with the new Network Partner Management UI on DFP.
Report and optimize
Optimization type dimension now available (Beta)
You can add the "Optimization type" dimension now to DFP historical reports in order to help you understand the impact of optimization features. The new dimension allows you to view a breakdown of the optimization types First Look and optimized competition.
Placement reports now use current ad unit associations
DFP reports on placements now include data based on the current ad unit associations. Previously, the ad units associated with a placement when the impression or click occurred. Learn more
Mediation traffic is now included in "Total" revenue metrics
Starting April 2, 2018, DFP mediation for mobile apps revenue is included in the "Total" revenue metric totals. Previously, impressions were included in "Total impressions," but revenue metrics, such as "Total CPM and CPC revenue," did not include mediation traffic.
New Data Transfer fields for Ad Exchange events
See information about Ad Exchange advertisers, buyers, and more in DFP Data Transfer. Learn more
Data Transfer for Exchange Bidding auctions
A new file type with details about each Exchange Bidding auction for your inventory is now available in DFP Data Transfer. Learn more
Report on non-content video ads with content-related dimensions
Video ads not targeted to specific content using cmsid and vid parameters are now categorized in reports as "Not applicable" when you use the content, content bundle, or metadata key dimensions. You can limit your report to only content-specific traffic by setting the "Request type" filter to "Video tag" when using these dimensions.
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Mute ads on websites that partner with Google
Users can now control the ads they see and signal which ads aren’t interesting to them for ads delivered via DFP. The feature benefits users by giving them greater control over their ad experience, advertisers who no longer pay to show ads to people who aren’t interested, and publishers who can show more relevant ads for users. Learn more
Increase demand with Exchange Bidding
Any premium DoubleClick for Publishers network can now invite third-party exchanges to compete with Ad Exchange and DFP in a unified real-time auction. Learn more
Create fluid-sized ad units for AMP pages
You can now monetize your AMP pages with fluid-sized native DFP reservation ads. Fluid sizes enable native ads to fill the space available to them, meaning they look more natural and adapt to nearly all mobile screen sizes. Learn more
Traffic and deliver ads
Lazy loading for publishers using the Ad Exchange tag
As of April 25th, 2018, we've enabled lazy loading for publishers using the legacy Ad Exchange tag (publishers using the Google Publisher Tag will not be affected). Lazy loading enables pages to load faster, reducing latency and CPU consumption by pausing ad requests for any slot that is far from the user’s viewport. Those ad requests are subsequently sent when the slot is closer to the viewport and more likely to become viewable.
In the long term and in aggregate, we expect that publishers will see a neutral revenue impact due to a reduction in non-viewable impressions, and a subsequent increase in viewability rates. If your pages have a large number of down-screen, low-viewability slots, you may see a decrease in queries, impressions, and revenue.
Troubleshoot
Line item event history for troubleshooting (Beta)
The "Troubleshoot" tab of DFP line items now shows how recent changes might be affecting delivery.
Report and optimize
Optimized competition for DFP Small Business
Optimized competition allows you to improve overall yield on inventory that is eligible for dynamic allocation across DFP and Ad Exchange. Yield improvements are realized through increased competition between direct and indirect sales in an easy, fully automated manner. When enabled, DFP remnant line items, Ad Exchange buyers, and Exchange Bidding buyers should have a better opportunity to compete when they are willing to pay high prices relative to reservations.
Optimized competition is enabled by default for all DFP Small Business networks. If you'd like to opt out, learn how to disable optimized competition. Learn more about how optimized competition works.
Lifetime Reach reports now use 63 days of data
Starting this week, Reach reports with the "Lifetime" dynamic date range use 63 days of data. The title of the dynamic date range is updated from "Lifetime" to "Last 63 days" to reflect this change.
Ad technology provider controls for EU User Consent Policy
Under Google's updated EU User Consent Policy, you must make certain disclosures to your users in the European Economic Area (EEA) and obtain their consent for the use of cookies or other local storage where legally required, and for the collection, sharing, and use of personal data for ads personalization. This policy reflects the requirements of the EU ePrivacy Directive and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
To support publishers in meeting their duties under this policy, Google offers new ad serving options for users in the EEA. The options you select will take effect on May 25, 2018. If you don't make any changes, the commonly used set of ad technology providers will be used.
To access from DFP, click Admin 
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Update required for Facebook Audience Network (FAN) automatic data collection credentials
New system user access tokens are now required by Facebook Audience Network (FAN) for automatic data collection used by DFP mediation for mobile apps. Yield groups that include FAN will continue to serve ads, but will not be optimized until credentials are updated. Learn more
Traffic ads with Apple News
If you currently have inventory available on Apple News, you can now use your existing DFP network to traffic direct ads in the Apple News app just as you do with your own inventory, providing a seamless workflow for monetizing content both on your site and with Apple News. Learn more
Ad network integrations with the <amp-consent> component
The DoubleClick and AdSense implementations of <amp-ad> now support <amp-consent>, including non-personalized ad serving. See detailed documentation about when and how to serve non-personalized ads from DoubleClick and AdSense and learn more about amp-consent here.
Display vertical in-stream video
DFP and Ad Exchange now support vertical in-stream video when for VAST responses rendered via the IMA SDK. Vertical video is available for DFP reservation line items, Ad Exchange, and Programmatic.
Manage network settings
Partner with smaller publishers to monetize inventory
The Network Partner Management (NPM) UI in Ad Exchange has been deprecated. Instead, use Scaled Partner Management in DFP to help smaller publishers monetize inventory as you did in NPM. In addition, with Scaled Partner Management, you can now:
- Use an improved form for adding new child publishers that is automatically emailed to the address provided.
- Manage inventory at scale by bulk uploading new child publishers.
- View granular reporting on multiple pages to drive high-quality optimizations.
- Enjoy other improvements that make the UI easier to use.
To access from DFP, click Admin
Scaled Partner Management. If you don't already have access to Scaled Partner Management, please contact your account manager. Learn more
Report and optimize
DFP report type, dimension, and metric retirements
The "Ad request size" report dimension and other deprecated report types, dimensions, and metrics have been removed from the user interface. Learn more
Traffic and deliver ads
Filtering improvements in traffic forecasts
The following updates provide even more flexible insights when analyzing past and future impressions:
- The new targeting preset filter option shows the predicted performance for a saved targeting set.
- We applied feedback from publishers to make the ad unit filter easier to use.
To use traffic forecasting filters in DFP, click Inventory
Manage inventory
Deprecation of SDK-less mobile app mediation in yield groups
Delivery for SDK-less mediation for mobile apps in DFP yield groups for Smaato, Drawbridge, Aarki, and CrossChannel (MdotM) was discontinued on May 25, 2018. All SDK-less line items in DFP yield groups have been automatically archived and stopped delivering.
Manage network settings
Consent SDK to help app publishers comply with the GDPR
Under Google's EU User Consent Policy, you must make certain disclosures to your users in the European Economic Area (EEA) and obtain their consent to use cookies or other local storage, where legally required, and to use personal data (such as AdID) to serve ads. This policy reflects the requirements of the EU ePrivacy Directive and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). To support app publishers in meeting their duties under this policy, Google offers a Consent SDK — an open-source library that provides utility functions for collecting consent from your users. Learn more (Android / iOS)
Troubleshoot
DFP Delivery tools and line item troubleshooting (Beta)
We've released new ad delivery tools to help you understand and troubleshoot how ads are delivering to your webpage, mobile app, or video player. Learn more
Report and optimize
Report on impact of non-personalized ads settings (Beta)
Compare performance based on whether you have elected to show users in the European Economic Area (EEA) only non-personalized ads in an effort to comply with Google's EU User Consent Policy. This can help you determine the revenue impact of selecting non-personalized ads settings. Select the new "Serving restriction" dimension to see these numbers. Learn more
"CreativeSizeDelivered" Data Transfer field now available (Beta)
The new "CreativeSizeDelivered" field is now available for all users in DFP Data Transfer. This field displays the actual size of the creative served from DFP or Ad Exchange, which also matches the creative size reported in Ad Exchange. Learn more
“Browser” and "Domain" dimensions in historical reports (Beta)
The following dimensions are now available in Historical reports in the DFP Query Tool:
Manage inventory
Seasonality in forecasting
To make forecasting numbers more accurate and relevant, we now consider holidays and other yearly patterns in our calculations:
- Holiday seasonality (Beta) : The system accurately predicts an increase or decrease in traffic during major holidays. Holiday seasonality is in beta as we currently offer US holidays; support for holidays in other countries is coming soon.
- Year-over-year seasonality: The system detects patterns that repeat annually. Note that we apply this only when there’s a strong signal of the pattern.
Before this release, forecasts didn't reflect seasonal variations, which resulted in predictions based strictly on overall historical averages. With seasonal forecasting, it's easier to maximize your future revenue at the optimal times. Learn more
Improved numbers in Traffic forecasting
The "Historical ad opportunities" numbers in Traffic forecasting now account for the fact that DFP counts ad impressions using the downloaded methodology and mobile app impressions when the creative is displayed on screen. This provides a more accurate picture of missed impression opportunities, and it also matches the way we already calculate "Forecasted ad opportunities". Learn more
Traffic and deliver ads
Create native ads without writing code
You can now create native ads without writing a single line of code. The new Guided design editor:
- Provides simple menu options for choosing the font, color, and layout of each item within a native ad.
- Doesn't require you to edit CSS directly, though power users will still have the ability to complete additional customization through CSS.
- Allows you to use "fluid" or commonly used fixed sizes.
- Supports Ad Exchange auction and direct-sold ads.
Traffic native ads in AMPHTML (Beta)
You can now serve fixed size native AMPHTML ads to AMP and standard content. AMPHTML ads enable publishers, marketers, and technology providers to deliver faster, lighter, and more secure ad experiences across all platforms by applying the principles of Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) to building and serving ads. Learn more
Report and optimize
Creative technology dimension (Beta)
The "Creative technology" dimension is now available in beta in the DFP Query Tool, to help you identify the type of technology used to serve a creative. Possible values are AMPHTML, Standard HTML, Custom rendered, VAST, and Other. Learn more
Q3 2018
July 9 DoubleClick for Publishers becoming Google Ad Manager, control click-through experience of native ads, view change history for Ad Exchange rulesDoubleClick for Publishers is becoming Google Ad Manager
Over the next few months, we'll be updating the DFP UI with new branding and a new look. We're renaming DFP to Google Ad Manager, but there will be no changes to product functionality. Learn more
By the end of July, the Ad Exchange Seller user interface will no longer be available and you'll be redirected to Google Ad Manager instead. Use Google Ad Manager to access the same product features that are available in Ad Exchange. You'll have access to all of your existing deals, and there will be no impact to delivery. Learn more
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Control the click-through experience of native ads
You can now control whether native ads open in the same tab or a new window after they're clicked. Previously, ads created through native styles had the target='top' setting embedded into the HTML, which forced ads to always open in a new window. This launch removes the HTML snippet and adds control of native ad click-through at the ad unit level with the Target Window setting, which is already available to all other ads in DFP.
Troubleshoot
View change history for Ad Exchange rules
You can now view change history data for Ad Exchange rules from May 25, 2018 onwards. Click Admin
DoubleClick for Publishers is becoming Google Ad Manager
Over the next few months, we'll be updating the DFP UI with new branding and a new look. We're renaming DFP to Google Ad Manager, but there will be no changes to product functionality at this time. Learn more
By the end of July, the Ad Exchange Seller user interface will no longer be available and you'll be redirected to Google Ad Manager instead. Use Google Ad Manager to access the same product features that are available in Ad Exchange. You'll have access to all of your existing deals, and there will be no impact to delivery. Learn more
A new look for Google Help Centers
On July 24, 2018, we're launching a redesign of the DFP Help Center, as part of a larger redesign of Google Help Centers. You'll notice a new color scheme; cleaner, more consistent styling and navigation across platforms; and improved support for mobile.
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Priority and Preferred Deals in DFP
The Preferred Deals line item type has a fixed priority value that ensures it wins ahead of the Open Auction and all other line item types except Sponsorship and Standard line items, including those created under Programmatic Guaranteed. Preferred Deals in DFP continues to be in beta. Learn more
Programmatic Guaranteed with Ad Exchange Buyers
Over the past few years, we’ve been partnering with Demand Side Platforms (DSPs) including Adobe, Adform, Amobee, AppNexus, DataXu, Google Display & Video 360, Infectious Media, MediaMath, and TradeDesk to expand Programmatic Guaranteed to more advertisers and agencies. As with any alpha or beta, we carefully review performance and feedback to ensure the best possible experience for our customers. For Programmatic Guaranteed, our goal is to make sure you experience guaranteed and predictable campaign delivery.
We are pleased to announce we will be enabling all seats for Adobe, Amobee, and TradeDesk. You can initiate Programmatic Guaranteed deals with any seats for these buyers directly.
Active Agent, Adform, AppNexus, DataXu, and Infectious Media are in early testing. They can initiate requests for Programmatic Guaranteed deals directly from you, but you cannot initiate deals with them directly. Learn more
Option to create GPT Light tags no longer available
As of July 10, 2018, you can no longer be able to create new GPT Light passback tags using the DFP Tag Generator. Existing GPT Light tags on your pages will continue to function with no changes required, but we recommend using standard GPT passback tags instead. Learn more
Updated policies for in-banner video ads
We've clarified our policies on in-banner video ads for Ad Exchange, including when and where they can be served. Learn more
Troubleshoot
Google Publisher Toolbar deprecation
The Google Publisher Toolbar will no longer provide debugging support for DFP and Ad Exchange as of July 23, 2018. Instead, use DFP delivery tools, accessible in DFP and the GPT Publisher Console. You can open the GPT Publisher Console without having to reload the page you're viewing. Learn more
Report and optimize
New Home dashboards replacing Yield report in DFP (Open Beta)
The new Home dashboards (Overview, Delivery, Advertisers) combine to provide even more insights and functionality than your former Yield report. View daily snapshots of your network's DFP and Ad Exchange revenue performance over time. The new dashboards will become available in phases starting July 2018. You may need to adjust the user role permissions on your account to see all of the data available in these dashboards. Learn more
Native reporting dimensions no longer filter out results
Reports with native dimensions now include data from unrelated requests/impressions. The results are included in the "(Non-native ad)" row for the Native ad format name dimension and the "(No native style)" row for the Native style name dimension.
- Previously, the native dimensions filtered out these results.
- This improvement brings the native dimensions into alignment with other reporting dimensions, which often show unrelated values as "NA."
Manage inventory
Unified Protections (Beta)
View and manage all protections across Ad Manager in one place. This provides a consistent way to protect users, publishers, and advertisers while maximizing inventory availability and demand eligibility in a simple, safe, and transparent system.
With the legacy protections functionality, there are multiple places in the UI where publishers can block advertisers, brands, ad technologies, and categories. During the open beta period, both the legacy functionality and new Unified Protections UI will be available. Once we fully launch Unified Protections, we’ll remove the legacy controls. To get started with your transition now, see a summary of the legacy features and where you can find them in the new Unified Protections.
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Preferred Deals general availability
Preferred Deals in Ad Manager is now generally available to publishers. Preferred Deals allow you and the buyer to negotiate non-guaranteed campaigns. Key advantages:
- Key-value targeting
- Targeting presets
- Integrated forecasting
- Creative preview and review
- Troubleshooting tools
Preferred Deals in Ad Manager vary from the preferred deals you may have used in Ad Exchange. Learn more
Deal ID attribute for Programmatic Direct
A Deal ID attribute has been included for Programmatic Guaranteed and Preferred Deals in Ad Manager campaigns. To add this attribute, select the Historical report type and find Deal ID under the Delivery > Line item dimension. Learn more
Create rich video experiences with native video ads
In addition to native display ads, Ad Manager now allows you to create component-based video ads with native video, including video content ads, video app install ads, or custom formats. All formats can be created and styled in the new Guided design editor. Native video ads support both app and web placements, all of reservations, direct deals, and indirect programmatic. Learn more
Report and optimize
Support for secondary currencies
Cost-per-day (CPD) line items now support secondary currencies. The currency conversion is based on the conversion rate the day that the impression served. This change is retroactive, so you may see different results when comparing data from reports before July 24, 2018.
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Removing the labelIds field in Google Publisher Tag (GPT)
As of August 20, 2018, we've deactivated and removed the
labelIdsfield, part of theSlotRenderEndedEventobject in the Google Publisher Tag. This is a legacy field that had historically been used in conjunction with competitive exclusions, but it's been deprecated since July 2017. You should notice no impact to ad serving.New GPT lazy loading API
We've added an API for lazy loading with GPT. Lazy loading enables pages to load faster, reduces resource consumption and contention, and improves viewability rate by pausing the requesting and rendering of ads until they approach the user’s viewport. Learn more
Traffic video ads with Apple News
You can now traffic video ads in the Apple News app. We've added support for several formats, ad sizes, and third-party vendors used for video ads. Learn more
Report and optimize
Change to Active View creative classification
As of August 20, 2018, ad slots that have zero visible area are being classified by Active View as "Unviewed" rather than "Unmeasurable". If your pages contain such hidden slots, this change may reduce your Active View viewable rates, due to an increase in the number of slots considered measurable. Learn more about viewability in Active View
Change to mobile app impression counting for direct Ad Exchange tag requests
Mobile app ads requested directly from Ad Exchange tags, not through Ad Manager, will soon start counting impressions at the time the ad is displayed. The new counting method will be applied in phases starting August 13, 2018. Learn more
Other product and help center updates
New Google Ad Manager Partner Guidelines
The Google DoubleClick Ad Exchange (AdX) Seller Program Guidelines have been updated and renamed as the Google Ad Manager Partner Guidelines. These updated policies more closely reflect the structure and terminology of the unified Google Ad Manager product. They were first announced July 24, 2018 and became effective on August 24.
You can see an archived version of the Google DoubleClick Ad Exchange (AdX) Seller Program Guidelines for reference purposes only.
AMP newsletter for developers
The AMP project has recently started a monthly newsletter for web developers who want to learn about the latest updates on the AMP Project. The newsletter will contain highlights from the AMP Project blog, videos, social postings, and the AMP developer community. Sign up here
Manage network settings
Measure lift and earn more revenue
Deals now show revenue lift metrics. Revenue lift metics compare two values:
- Actual revenue earned from the deal
- Predicted revenue based on a sample
The sample is used in a simulation that evaluates how inventory would have performed in other deals or in the open auction. Actual and predicted revenue are compared, and the results allow you to identify low-performing deals and stop them. Stopping suboptimal deals means the inventory is free to run in other deals or the open auction, where it can potentially earn more revenue. Learn more
Manage inventory
Ad Exchange UI tags converting to Ad Manager ad units
Ad Exchange UI tags are in the process of being converted to targetable Ad Manager ad units. This change is happening in waves, and will apply to all Google Ad Manager publishers as of September 24, 2018. You can use the Tag Generator to generate both GPT and Ad Exchange tags for them. Each Ad Exchange syndication type (web, mobile in-app, video, or games) is being converted to a top-level Ad Manager ad unit. This change doesn't affect Ad Exchange tags placed directly on a page, or in a third-party ad server, which will continue to work. Learn more
Troubleshoot
Block or report Ad Exchange/AdSense ads while troubleshooting
Block Ad Exchange/AdSense creatives or report a potential issue while using the Ad Manager delivery tools. You no longer need to go to a different page to act on questionable ads; you can do it directly within the troubleshooting flow. When inspecting webpage or mobile app ad delivery, click Inspect for the row corresponding to the unwanted ad, click the Block Creative tab, and next to "Suggestion," click Block ad or Report to policy. These buttons don't appear for other creative types, but we do provide suggestions on next steps.
Note that the "Block creative" tab appears only if you're enabled for the "Review and block Ad Exchange creatives" user role permission.
Q4 2018
October 1 Ad Exchange UI tags converting to Ad Manager ad units, new geo locations for targeting, third-party creatives for AMPHTML, notifications for deprecated APIsManage inventory
Ad Exchange UI tags converting to Ad Manager ad units
As of September 24, 2018, all Ad Exchange UI tags have been converted to targetable Ad Manager ad units. You can use the Tag Generator to generate both GPT and Ad Exchange tags for them. Each Ad Exchange syndication type (web, mobile in-app, video, or games) is being converted to a top-level Ad Manager ad unit. This change doesn't affect Ad Exchange tags placed directly on a page, or in a third-party ad server, which will continue to work. Learn more
Traffic and deliver ads
New geographical locations now available for targeting
We've added more locations around the world for targeting, including cities, neighborhoods, provinces, and more.
Third-party creatives available for AMPHTML ads
We've added support for third-party creatives for AMPHTML ads, enabling you to deliver faster, lighter, more secure ad experiences. When creating third-party creatives in Ad Manager, you can add an AMP variant of that creative. When the ad is served, Ad Manager retrieves the creative from that other ad server and delivers it to the user. Learn more
Manage network settings
Publisher profiles and Buyer visibility in one place
"Publisher profiles" for the Marketplace and "Buyer visibility" are now in one place. Previously, these settings were on separate pages. Placing them on one page eases management of related settings. Learn more
Troubleshoot
Notifications for deprecated APIs
See monthly notifications for any API applications that used a deprecated Google Ad Manager API version in the last week. If you have API access enabled, the notifications are enabled by default. You can see the notifications by clicking the bell
in the upper right corner. The deprecation schedule is in the developer documentation.
Traffic and deliver ads
Ineligible bids in Private Auctions now submitted to the Open Auction
Bids rendered ineligible due to mismatched inventory sizes or creative restrictions in the Private Auction are now submitted to the Open Auction (abiding to Open Auction pricing and blocking rules) to maximize your overall revenue. Learn more
AdMob deprecated from the yield partner list in yield groups
Starting October 18th, AdMob (Mobile SDK mediation) is no longer available as a yield partner for new yield groups. Existing yield groups that include AdMob as a yield partner will continue to serve ads as intended. Learn more
Report and optimize
Optimized pricing for Private Auctions
Optimized pricing has now been expanded to Optimized Private Auctions. Optimized pricing applies to Private Auctions where Allow Open Auction buyer optimization has been enabled. Optimized pricing was previously released for Open Auction transactions. Expansion of optimized pricing further increases the yield benefits by allowing Open Auction competition with your Private Auctions.
Filter the Overview home dashboard by "Last 7 days"
A new "Last 7 days" filter has been added to the "Overview" home dashboard. You can access it from a drop-down menu at the top of the dashboard. Learn more
Total optimization lift metric (Beta)
You can now report across all automated pricing optimization features. This new metric captures combined lift across optimized pricing, revenue share based optimizations, and optimized competition on a given set of inventory. "Total optimization lift" can be found under the "Total" metrics family within the "Historical" report type. Learn more
Enable Target CPM on Open Auction pricing rules (Beta)
Allow Ad Manager to make automatic adjustments to open auction pricing rules to improve performance. Learn more
Manage inventory
Block the ads of gaming competitors
You can now block your gaming competitors' ads at a more granular level with General Category protections. We added several new sub-categories of games under the "Hobbies, Games & Leisure" General Category. We recommend using the new Unified Protections (Beta) to select the new gaming blocks. Learn more
Use long-lived page views to improve monetization of pages with dynamic content
(Google Ad Manager 360)Long-lived page views extend the lifetime of a pageview beyond the current limit of 30 seconds. Pageviews are a mechanism that enable the ad server to track all ad requests coming from a page, so that it can make fully-informed creative selection decisions. This information is used to enable roadblocking and competitive exclusions, and prevent duplicate ads from serving to the same page.
Long-lived pageviews can improve monetization on pages with dynamic content where requests may be separated by more than 30 seconds, such as infinite scroll pages, pages with lazy loading, Single-Page Applications (SPA) and Progressive Web Applications (PWA).
This feature has now been enabled for all publishers. Most publishers won't need to make any changes to benefit from this improvement, but we recommend some best practices for API calls and structuring your page. Learn more
Traffic and deliver ads
Active View and vCPM metrics general availability
Active View is now available to all Google Ad Manager publishers. Active View determines viewable impressions or impressions on the site that were viewable out of all measurable impressions. Ad Manager reporting accounts for vCPM (viewable impressions) across several metrics:
- Ad server average eCPM
- Ad server CPM, CPC, CPD, and vCPM revenue
- Total CPM, CPC, CPD, and vCPM revenue
Learn more about vCPM and Viewability and Active View.
Ad Exchange Preferred Deals become read only
Starting on October 31, no new Ad Exchange Preferred Deals can be created, and existing Ad Exchange Preferred Deals transition to read-only shortly thereafter. Support for Ad Exchange Preferred Deals ends at the end of March 2019: All Ad Exchange Preferred Deals stop serving. Preferred Deals in Ad Manager replace those in Ad Exchange. Learn more
Deprecation of video content hierarchies
The video content hierarchy feature will be deprecated on October 31, 2018. Once deprecated, existing line items targeted to content hierarchies will be preserved. However, the option to target new line items will be removed. You can continue to target video content with key-values mapped from content metadata or content bundles.
Report and optimize
Compare demand channels in your Overview Home dashboard
Use the "Demand comparison" card in your Overview Home dashboard to compare how different demand channels are performing. Add "All demand channels" to the chart to view aggregate data across all your channels. Learn more
Policy updates
Update to your online contract terms
Due to the rebrand of the unified DFP/AdX into Google Ad Manager and due to other product updates, we are updating our online platform terms and service-specific terms referenced in the order form governing the use of Google Ad Manager (formerly DFP and Ad Exchange). The updated terms will be effective on November 1st, 2018 for North America, and shortly thereafter for the rest of the world. You can review the updated terms from the applicable links in the order form for the contract that you entered into.
Manage inventory
Unified Protections
View and manage all protections across Ad Manager in one place. This provides a consistent way to protect users, publishers, and advertisers while maximizing inventory availability and demand eligibility in a simple, safe, and transparent system.
Now that we've fully launched Unified Protections, the legacy protections functionality has been removed. See a summary of the legacy features and where you can find them in the new Unified Protections.
To set up protections moving forward, click Protections from the sidebar in Ad Manager. Learn more
Set ad experience protections
Control programmatic eligibility for all ad experiences in one place. Ad Experience Controls provide easy management of all available ad formats. They centralize the protection settings that were previously scattered throughout various Ad Manager pages, which made them difficult to discover, manage, and understand what was eligible.
As part of the migration plan, Ad Experience Controls are available in the UI but not yet live for serving enforcement. Please check your settings before they go live and the legacy rules are removed. Learn more
Enforcement of limits on active line items and active ad units
To help ensure the long-term health and stability of our ad serving platform, we're starting to enforce the limits of 61,000 active line items and 100,000 active ad units.
Traffic and deliver ads
Expand ads to fit device
Some ad slots now automatically expand up to the maximum width allowed on a device. Ads fill a larger amount of the device screen and achieve a more natural fit within the content. Ad slot expansion applies to backfill display and out-stream video ad slots on mobile web. Height expansion is coming soon.
Cox COMET Exchange shutdown
The COMET Exchange has stopped trading as of October 31 and has been removed from the list of available Exchange Bidding partners. You can view COMET's website for more information.
Let Google design your native ads (Beta)
You can now have Google automatically design your native ads to get started with native in just a few minutes. You simply choose a font and color, and we choose the layout — no code necessary.
This feature is now available to all publishers in an open beta. To try it out, click Delivery
Report and optimize
Upcoming Ad Manager report type, dimension, and metric retirements
The "Ad server downloaded impressions" report metric has been deprecated and will be removed from the user interface in December 2018. Learn more
Manage inventory
Rendering of synchronous GPT tags no longer supported
As of today (December 3), we have deprecated the ability for GPT to render ads synchronously. This means that the API methods
enableSyncRendering()andenableAsyncRendering()are no longer supported, but they will continue to function until April 2, 2019. On April 2:
- We’ll completely remove the functionality.
- Calls to
enableSyncRendering()orenableAsyncRendering()will result in a JavaScript error.- GPT will only render ads asynchronously. Asynchronous ad rendering results in a better user experience. Learn more
Control video ad eligibility based on duration
You can now control programmatic video ad eligibility based on video duration, via your video ad tags, creative settings, line item settings, or network settings. Learn more
Traffic and deliver ads
Target, forecast, and run reports on set-top box (STB) devices (Beta)
Set-top boxes (STB) can now be targeted or excluded as a "device category" in targeting criteria. They can also be used in traffic forecasting or with the device category dimension of Query Tool reports. This feature is currently in beta and not available in every network. Contact your account manager for information.
Review Ad Exchange ads with the Ad review center
Based on your feedback, we created the Ad review center as a better way to review Ad Exchange ads on your app or site. The Ad review center replaces Creative review and has several improvements, including enhanced search and filtering, a third tab to help you better manage the ads review process, and a simpler way to interact with ads on the main page. Learn more
Monetize AMP Stories with Google Ad Manager
AMP Stories is an open source ad format for visual storytelling. You can use Ad Manager to traffic custom creatives on AMP Story pages. Initially, this feature will only be available for reservations. Learn more
Report and optimize
Set Target CPM on open auction pricing rules
You can now specify a target CPM on open auction pricing rules to earn more revenue over time. Ad Manager adjusts floor prices to match more bids based on the target CPM indicated. This feature is no longer in beta and is now generally available. Learn more
"Enable Target CPM on open auction pricing rules" opportunity
Apply this opportunity to allow Ad Manager to make automatic adjustments to open auction pricing rules to improve performance. Converting pricing rule floors from fixed floors to Target CPM floors may lead to higher fill rates and increased revenue. We maintain the same (or higher) CPM on average across inventory with Target CPM-enabled rules. This opportunity is no longer in beta and is now generally available. Learn more
Traffic and deliver ads
Create Ad Exchange-only yield groups and target them for backfill
You can now use yield groups instead of line items to target Ad Exchange for backfill. Create a new yield group, assign targeting criteria, and save. No other yield partners are required to save the yield group, and Ad Exchange will be added by default as the only source to backfill ad requests. Learn more
Report and optimize
Improved key-value reporting (Beta)
We made it easier to report on keys in Ad Manager:
Learn more
- Reportable keys: You can now include any targeting key in reporting by marking it as "Reportable." There's a limit of 30,000 reportable key-values.
- Custom dimensions: Transform your most important predefined keys into "custom dimensions." You can then select these custom dimensions when setting up Ad Manager reports.
Historical report core dimensions and metrics
Core dimensions and metrics work together in most situations, making it easier to understand which are compatible with one another. When you use core dimensions and metrics together in your Ad Manager Historical report, you can assume that they'll consistently follow a specific set of rules and produce predictable results. Learn more
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