Set up companion creatives

You can add image or HTML5 assets for Campaign Manager 360 to display around the publisher’s audio or video player. They are delivered in the same VAST tag as your serving files. Companions serve while the primary content is playing and remain after it's completed.

Add these creatives in the Companion creatives section of your creative properties. You can add companions to in-stream audio, audio redirect, in-stream video, in-stream video redirect, and VPAID creatives.

Guidelines

• Currently, the supported companion creative types are display (accepts image and HTML5), image and display redirect. However, you can use redirects to display rich media banner or custom display creatives in your companion. Learn how to use redirects in in-stream.
• Each creative must have a different size from the others. No two companion creatives can have the same dimensions.
• Some publishers don't accept more than 10 companion assets. Since HTML5 creatives have 2 assets (.zip + backup image), you'll exceed 10 assets if you assign more than 5 HTML5 companions.

Add companions to video or audio creatives

1. Open the Companion creatives section in your creative properties.

2. Click the Add companions drop-down. You can assign existing creatives or add new ones. If you’re using dynamic asset selection for in-stream video creatives, you can assign companions to each asset within the creative.

   Assign existing creatives as companions

   1. Choose Assign to assign existing creatives as companions.

   2. Select checkboxes to choose creatives. Your list only includes supported creative types.

   3. You can see the number of creatives and assets you've selected in the righthand pane.

   4. Click Assign.

   Create new creatives and assign them as companions

   1. Choose one of the New options for a new creative.

   2. Set the creative properties, upload your assets, and click Assign. This creates the creative and assigns it to your video creative as a companion.

   3. Click Assign.

   If you're creating a new creative as a companion and don't already have a display image asset of the same size in your campaign, Campaign Manager 360 will create a default ad for the new creative. If you are just using this new creative as a companion, you do not need to set the default ad to active.

3. Save your creative.

4. After you assign your creative to ads, remember to set landing pages for your companions in the ad properties. Set these landing pages for each ad that has your creative. In the ad properties, under Creative assignments, check the "Landing page" and "Companion landing pages" columns.

   • In-stream audio, audio redirect, in-stream video, and in-stream video redirects: companions use the primary asset's landing page by default.

   • VPAID creatives: companions use the backup landing page by default.

You can prevent setting up duplicate creatives per placement by using In-stream video settings at the placement level to control companions creatives, skip button enablement, and transcode settings.

FAQs

Can you apply multiple companion sizes to one in-stream placement?

Yes. The publisher will display only the companion sizes that meet their specifications.

How does a publisher know where to position my companion creatives?

The spaces around your primary asset are all different sizes. The publisher's system matches each companion creative to the space it fits. No two spaces are the same size, so each creative has its own particular place to go.

What happens if a publisher doesn’t accept a companion size?

If a publisher doesn’t accept a companion size, the publisher will not serve the companion creative. The publisher must accept the companion size for it to serve.

How does the companion affect serving of the primary audio or video asset?

Your video or audio file is the primary asset. Even if a companion is unable to serve due to a publisher’s restriction, the primary asset should still be able to serve.