Create a line item

Important: Beginning in September 2025, advertisers using Display & Video 360 will be asked to declare if they intend to run political advertising for the European Union (EU). All line items created after September 8th will include options for EU political ads, with mandatory declarations using "Yes” and “No" buttons.

If you declare “Yes”, restrictions will automatically apply after the new policy launches on September 22, 2025, and the line items will not serve in the EU.

About line items

In Display & Video 360, line items (LI) bid on impressions and serve creatives to inventory sources.

Line items consist of a budget, a bid, one or more assigned creatives, and targeting criteria. They may also include fees, a performance goal, and a variety of partner costs.

Types of line items

Display & Video 360 has several types of line items for different media buys:

• Display for image, HTML5 (including rich media), and native ads (both display and video).
• Video for video ads. Learn more
• Audio for audio ads. Learn more
• YouTube & partners for video ads shown on YouTube and Google video partners inventory. Learn more
• Mobile app install for display and video ads that drive installs of your app. Learn more
• Ads in mobile apps for display or video ads that serve on mobile app inventory. Learn more
• Over-the-top for TV content on connected TVs and other digital devices. This line item type can only be created in a TV insertion order. Learn more

Create a display line item

Follow the steps below to create a display line item. Once a line item is activated, it can take up to 24 hours for it to start serving.

1. Open your advertiser in Display & Video 360.

2. In the left menu, click Campaign. Select an existing campaign orcreate a new one.

   You'll need to add your line item to an insertion order in the campaign. You can use an existing insertion order or create a new one

3. From the Combined tab of your campaign, click New > Line item.

4. In the page that opens, choose the insertion order you want to add this line item to.

5. Pick the type of line item you want to create, then:

   • Optional: Select a targeting template to apply settings already defined by the template.

   • Name for your line item.

   • Select a line item status. Use "Draft" if you don't want the line item to be eligible to serve once you've saved it. If you want it to serve as soon as its start date occurs, create the line item as "Active."

   • Select the inventory source(s) you wish to use in your line item by choosing between public inventory, deals and auction packages, and grouped deals.Learn more

     Display & Video 360 gives you the option to select inventory source quality based on Authorized Sellers.Learn more

   • Your line item's targeting.

   • Your line item's flight dates.

   • Your budget and pacing settings.

     Display & Video 360 can automatically adjust your line item's budget if you've turned on automatic budget allocation for the line item's insertion order.

   • Your bid strategy.

   • The line item's frequency cap.

   • Assign creatives you want to use with this line item.

     A line item won't be serveable until one or more creatives assigned to the line item is approved.

   • Complete required disclosures.

   • Your method for conversion tracking.

6. Click Create to save your line item.

Duplicate a line item

To use existing line items as a framework for new ones use the Action menu to duplicate line items.

1. Navigate to the line items you’d like to duplicate in the line item or combined view.
2. Select the checkbox next to the line items you want to copy.
3. Click Action then select Duplicate.
4. Under “Location”, choose a destination for the duplicated line item:
   • Duplicate within the original insertion order
   • Duplicate to a new destination
5. If you choose “Duplicate to a new destination”, select your preferred campaign and insertion order destinations.
   • Note: You may click Narrow to original campaign if you intend to keep your original campaign as the destination.
6. Under “Additional options”, apply the line item settings you’d like to update for the new line item:
   • On the “Number of copies” card, select the number of copies for the selected line items.
   • On the “Line item name” card, you may either keep the current name or click Rename line items.
   • On the “Flight dates” card, you may either select:
     • Keep the current line item dates
     • Specify a new date for all selected items
7. When done, click Save.

To view your duplicate line item, you may need to update the Status filter in the Campaign tab to include paused items.

Note: If the parent line item was associated with a targeting template, the child line item, or duplicated line item, would also be associated with the same targeting template.

If you want to duplicate a line item, insertion order, or campaign, the line items being duplicated must have a valid EU political ads declaration. You can set the EU political ads declaration in multiple ways:

• From the line item level: If your EU political ads declaration is set to either “No” or “Yes” at the line item level, duplicated line items will inherit the declaration from the source line item.
• From the advertiser level: If the source line item lacks a valid EU political ads declaration and if your EU political ads declaration is set to “No” at the advertiser level, all newly duplicated line items will pre-fill the declaration as “No”. You can change this at any time.

Note: Currently, duplication will fail if the source line item declaration is unavailable or if advertiser level declaration is unavailable or set to “Yes”. After September 22, 2025, you will be able to duplicate line items and set an EU political ads declaration in bulk.

About required disclosures

EU Political ads

Starting from September 8th, if you create a new line item in Display & Video 360, you’ll be asked to declare whether you intend to run political ads for the European Union (EU). You must choose “Yes” or “No” to save the line item. If you declare “Yes” for the line item, beginning September 22, 2025, it won’t serve in the European Union (EU).

If you edit location targeting for an existing line item, you’ll be asked to declare if you plan to run European Union (EU) political ads. You must choose “Yes” or “No” to save the line item.

If you want to change your political ads declaration at the line item level after setting it, you can do so at any time. After previously setting it to “Yes” or “No” from “None”, you can’t change it back to “None”, and can only select “Yes” or “No”.

You can also declare if you plan to run European Union (EU) political ads at the advertiser level, from Advertiser settings > Basic details > EU political ads. When "No" is selected, new line items will default "No" for the question that asks if this line item has political ads. If it's the first time you're making a selection at the Advertiser level, selecting "No" will also update all existing line items. If you want to change the political ads declaration at the line item level, you can do so at any time.

Note: It can take up to 6 hours for the setting to be applied to all existing line items.

Frequently asked questions

What happens if I stop a line item from serving?

When you stop your line items from serving, either by pausing your line items directly or by pausing an insertion order, it can take several hours for the system to halt your ads completely. At this point, you won't accrue any more costs.

How do line items handle mobile and desktop inventory?

By default, all new line items will target both desktop and mobile inventory. Line items will use the same bid for all impressions, regardless of if an impression came from a mobile device or a desktop browser, unless you specify otherwise.