Get started with native ads

This article describes how to get started trafficking native ads.

1. Identify the ad units you’ll target for native
2. Create a native style
3. Apply a native style to a specific line item
4. Add native creatives

Native concepts: Formats and styles

Before you get started with native ads, it’s important to understand the concept of native formats and styles, components that aren’t used elsewhere in Ad Manager.

• Native formats define the variables/assets–such as Headline, Image, and Body Text–that make up an ad. A native format provides consistency in the look of a certain type of ad.
  Example: You may want all ads that contain a video to have the video advertiser’s name above the video. You can have a native format that specifies this, and a different format for ads that don’t have a video.
  • Four pre-defined, standard formats (Native content ad, Native video content ad, Native app install ad, and Native video app install ad) cover many use cases for trafficking native ads, while custom formats allow you to define your own variables.
  • A native format can consist of a collection of native styles, where all the styles in one format have the same variables/assets.
• Native styles allow you to shape native ads using the variables from the format. With native styles, you use a guided workflow or code updates within Ad Manager to determine how your native ads will look in different situations, such as on web vs. apps.

At a high-level, creating a native ad involves the following:

1. Create a native style.
2. To apply the native style created in step 1 for a line item, when creating a line item:
   1. In the “Expected creatives” field, select the native format that the native style belongs to.
   2. In the “Add targeting” section, make sure the line item’s targeting setting is the same as the native style’s targeting.

See detailed steps below.

1. Identify the ad units you’ll target for native

You can either create new ad units or use existing ones to represent the spaces on your website or app where you want to show native ads. These are the ad units you’ll target in the native style in the next section.

1. Sign in to Google Ad Manager.
2. Navigate to InventoryAd units.
3. Choose whether to:
   • Create a new ad unit: Click New ad unit.
   • Edit an existing ad unit: Click the name of one of the ad units in the table and then click Settings.
4. In the “Sizes” section:
   • Select Fixed Size in the “Size mode” dropdown.
   • In the “Sizes (optional)” field, select pixel sizes, or Fluid if you want to enable responsive slots for native ads.
5. Enter/update the remaining settings as needed and click Save.

2. Create a native style

There are three different ways to create native styles. Choose the option that’s best for you and then complete the remaining steps accordingly.

1. In Ad Manager, navigate to DeliveryNative.
2. Above the table, click New native style.
3. Select one of the following options:
   • Guided design editor: Use this option if you:
     • Prefer to have UI controls walk you through building and styling a native ad without the need to write code. Get started using templates or let Google design the native ad to get started on native quickly. You still have the option of modifying these styles using HTML and CSS.
     • Prefer to use one of the four standard formats:
       • Native content ad for display ads that will appear on your site/app (this is the most common scenario, so we highly recommend you have a style for the native content ad format).
       • Native video content ad for video ads that will appear on your site/app. If you don’t want video ads on your site/app, you don’t need to add a style with this option.
       • Native app install ad for app install ads that will appear on your site/app. If you don’t want app install ads on your site, you don’t need to add a style with this option.
       • Native video app install ad for video app install ads that will appear on your site/app. If you don’t want video app install ads on your site, you don’t need to add a style with this option.
       • If you want all types of ads to appear on your site/app, create a style for each of the four standard formats. If you don’t need to customize a style for each format, you can use the Use Google-designed native styles option, which allows one style to be applied to all formats.
     • Want to use native ads for traditional and programmatic transactions.
     Follow these steps next.
   • HTML & CSS editor: Use this option if you:
     • Prefer to have full control over the styling of your native ads on websites. This option lets you create a style entirely on your own, using HTML & CSS code that you specify.
     • Prefer to create custom native formats that allow you to define new variables for ad content.
     • Want to use native ads for traditional transactions and for Publisher-managed creatives for Programmatic Guaranteed (this is the only type of supported programmatic transaction).
     Follow these steps next.
   • Android & iOS app code: Use this option if you:
     • Prefer to have full control over the content and styling of your native ad on apps. You don’t need to create a style in this option; you create custom native formats that allow you to define new variables for ad content.
     • Want to use native ads for traditional transactions and for Publisher-managed creatives for Programmatic Guaranteed (this is the only type of supported programmatic transaction).
     Follow these steps next.

 

Remaining steps for Guided design editor or HTML & CSS option:

4. Name your native ad.
5. Next to “Ad size,” choose sizes that match the ad unit sizes selected above. We recommend selecting Fluid because it provides more flexibility when styling your ad.
6. Next to “Add targeting,” select the inventory you want to target.
   Target the ad units you identified in the previous section.
   To use, for example, native style x for line item y, the line item y's targeting settings need to be the same as the native style x's targeting settings.
7. (“Guided design editor” only) Next to “Styling path,” select one of the following:
   • Start with templates and customize: Use a template to get started quickly and then modify the styles later.
   • Use Google-designed native styles: Allow Google to design your native styles. Google will determine the layout for optimal performance. You can still modify your native style later. 
     • Google-designed native styles can only serve programmatic native ads. To serve native ads from traditional line items, please select the "Start with templates and customize" option.
8. Next to “Native format,” select which native format this native style belongs to:
   • For “Guided design editor”: Choose the standard format that has the right collection of elements for your ad experience.
   • For “HTML & CSS”: Select an existing custom format with the variables that will make up the content of your ad, or create a new custom format and choose your own variables.
9. (“Guided design editorStart with templates and customize" only) Next to “Template,” select the layout template you want to start with.
10. Click Continue.
11. Style your native ad:
    • For “Guided design editor”: Use the UI controls to style your native ad to match the look and feel of your website or app.
    • For “HTML & CSS editor”: Use HTML and CSS to style your native ad to match the look and feel of your website.
12. Save your style:
    • If you click Save and activate, the native style will have a status of “Active” and will be eligible to serve ads.
    • If you click Save, the style will have a status of “Inactive.” You'll need to activate the style later to serve ads. To do this, from the table, select the style and click Activate from the bar that appears.
13. To use the native style you just created for a specific line item, please follow the instructions in the next section.

 

Remaining steps for Android & iOS app code option:

4. Request native ads from your app:
   1. Import the Google Mobile Ads SDK (for Android or iOS), if you haven’t already.
   2. Use the Google Mobile Ads SDK (for Android or iOS) to request native ads from your app. Your mobile developer:
      1. Defines a handler that receives the ads’ fields and can render the content as they choose.
      2. Can pre-fetch native creatives to minimize latency for end users.
      3. Can request multiple native ad formats in a single ad request; Ad Manager will select a native creative from any of the requested formats. 
   3. Review the native ads creative guidelines when editing app code.
5. (Optional) You have the option to create a custom native ad format for traditional ads. However, creating and using a custom format will prevent you from serving programmatic ads.
   1. Enter an internal name and description for the new custom native ad format.
   2. (Optional) In the “Open Measurement Partner” field, enter the identifier that's needed for you to be certified as a partner by the IAB.
   3. Select whether you want to “Serve native video” ads.
   4. Click Add variable.
   5. Select the type and settings for the variable.
   6. In the “Variable” pop-up, click Continue.
   7. Add as many variables as needed.
   8. Click Save and Finish.
6. Skip the section on applying native styles to a specific line item and follow the instructions to add native creatives.

3. Apply a native style to a specific line item

This section only applies to the “Guided design editor” and “HTML & CSS editor” options. For the “Android & iOS app code” option, skip this section and move to "4. Add native creatives."

After you save your native style in the section above, you’ll see a summary of your native settings. In the line item settings, you need to select native formats in the “Expected creatives” field. Next, confirm the native formats contain at least one style whose targeting settings are the same as the line item’s.

1. On the native style summary page, click Go to line item.
   Another option is to navigate to Delivery  Line items and open an existing line item.
2. In the “Expected creatives” field:
   • For an Ad Exchange line item: Select Native Programmatic.
   • For other line items: Select the relevant native formats.
3. Add settings in the “Add targeting” section.
   The line item’s targeting settings need to be the same as one of the native style’s targeting settings from the selected native formats.
   • Click Review targeting to compare the targeting for native styles and the line item.
     If there's a warning that the targeting doesn't match, note that it may not be accurate if the selected inventory segment is only a small fraction of the network's overall traffic. 
   • Under “Eligible active native styles,” select from the list of native styles associated with the native formats you chose in the “Expected creatives” field. You can also click View native style to see its settings page.
   • Update the targeting settings so they match and click Save.
4. Enter/update the remaining settings as needed and click Save. 

4. Add native creatives

Add creatives as you normally would, with the following updates for native ads:

Like native line items, native creatives have no size. Native creatives can deliver to any size for which you have set up a native style (or, you can request a native creative’s components directly with the Android and iOS app code option).

1. From the line item settings, click the Creatives tab.
2. The next step depends on the line item type:
   • Ad Exchange line items: Click Automatically generate creative.
   • Other line items:
     1. Click Add creative.
     2. Click New creative or Existing creative.
     3. Click a native format where you’ve added native styles.
     4. In the “User-defined variables” section, enter settings for the variables, which were defined in the native format you selected.
     5. Enter/update the remaining settings as needed and click Save.