Understand ad delivery with Google Publisher Console

Learn why your ads delivered or failed

There are a few ways to view the Publisher Console, which can only be used on webpages containing Google Publisher Tag.

Once you open the Publisher Console, click Open in Delivery Tools to review more information about the ad.

In Delivery tools, you can discover why certain ads are delivered and not others, which line item would deliver if you were to request the ad slot again, and more.

Publisher console now supports Multiple Customer Management ad slots with both parent and child network codes.

Open the Publisher Console with bookmarks (recommended)

Create a bookmark that executes a JavaScript function that opens the Google Publisher Console when viewing a page that has the GPT library loaded (that is, any page where ads display using GPT).

Set this function on any browser in desktop or mobile web environments. To create the bookmark in Chrome:

  1. Click More and then Bookmarks and then Bookmark Manager.
  2. In the Bookmark Manager, click More and then Add new bookmark.
  3. Enter a name for the bookmark (for example, "Publisher Console").
  4. Copy and paste this code into the "URL" box:
    javascript: googletag.openConsole()
  5. Click Save.
  6. Navigate to a website where ads are displayed using GPT.
  7. Click your newly created bookmark to open the Publisher Console.
    • The bookmark appears where you placed it in Step 2. For example, it may be in the bookmarks bar under the address bar.
    • For mobile web, you may need to load the bookmark through the address bar.

Other options to open the Publisher Console

Use the JavaScript in-browser console

After loading the page, enter javascript: googletag.openConsole() in your browser’s JavaScript console and run the code.

To access the JavaScript console in Chrome, click More in your browser, select More tools and then Developer Tools. Click Console.

Amend the URL

This option doesn’t work for all websites.

Before loading the page, append one of these query string parameters to your page’s URL in the address bar of the browser:

  • google_console=1: Makes the Publisher Console toggleable using a keyboard shortcut (see below).
    Example: http://www.example1.com?google_console=1
  • google_force_console=1: Causes the Publisher Console to display automatically after the page is loaded.
    Example: http://www.example2.com?p1=AAA&p2=BBB&google_force_console=1

Turn the Publisher Console on or off

After you’ve loaded the Google Publisher Console using any of the above methods, you can toggle it on or off using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+F10 (on a Mac, use fn+control+F10).

To prevent the Google Publisher Console from loading on subsequent page loads, be sure to close out of the Console. Click Close in the upper right corner of the Console.

Understand your ad delivery

The Publisher Console is divided into two tabs: Ad Slots and Page Request. The Publisher Console also provides direct links to inspect the page with Publisher Ads Audits for Lighthouse and Ad Manager Delivery Tools, as well as to open a specific ad unit in Ad Manager.

Developer documentationLearn more about how to troubleshoot in the Publisher Console in the Google Publisher Tag developer documentation.

Ad slots tab

All ad slots on your page are listed in the Ad Slots tab. The following information is listed in each ad slot:

  • Ad slot size
  • Div ID
  • Line Item ID*
  • Creative ID*
  • Query ID - this ID may be used by support to review your ad delivery. When troubleshooting, we recommend you share your session.

* If the ad slot doesn’t list a line item or creative ID, this means the ad served was not through a reserved line item.

Inspect Creatives

Find the ad you wish to inspect and click Inspect Creative.

You are redirected to your Ad Manager network to review the "Creative details" for the ad slot of interest, which lists where the creative served and gives you access to block the ad or report it for policy violations.

You can share these details directly with the Ad Manager support team. Above the delivery details, click Share this session and copy the URL provided. Share this URL with publisher support.

The Creative details tab is only visible for users with View and block permission for Ad Exchange.

Page requests tab

In the Page requests tab, you can review a timeline and status of all of the ad requests made by your page. 

Troubleshoot with the Publisher Console

Learn more about how to troubleshoot in the Publisher Console in the Google Publisher Tag developer documentation.

Share your feedback with us

Click Send feedback button to send feedback about the Publisher Console Tool. If you need more support, review our support options.

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