Create YouTube & partners line items

In Display & Video 360, you use YouTube & partners line items to purchase YouTube inventory.

Nuances of YouTube & partners line items

Compared to other types of line items in Display & Video 360, YouTube & partners line items have an additional layer, the ad group level:

• One YouTube & partners line item contains…
  • One or more ad groups, where each ad group contains…
    • One or more YouTube ads

The YouTube ad level is where you pick the YouTube videos you want to use for your line item and set the ad's landing page.

This article describes setting up a Product and brand consideration line item for skippable and in-feed video ads. 

Create a YouTube & partners line item

1. Start in an existing insertion order or create a new one. You can also duplicate an existing insertion order that contains YouTube & partners line items and then edit the copied line items. 

2. In your insertion order, click New line item.

3. Pick YouTube & partners video. For YouTube audio line items select YouTube & partners audio and follow the steps for creating YouTube audio line items.

4. Enter the following information for your line item:

   • Name for your line item.

   • Select Product and brand consideration as the line item type.

     • For website conversion line items, follow the steps for creating YouTube video action campaigns. 

     • For brand awareness and reach line items, follow the steps for creating YouTube reach line items.

     • For ad sequence line items, follow the steps for creating ad sequence line items.

   • Select skippable or in-feed video ads as the Ad format. 

     • If you're using bumper ads, learn more about setting up a line item for this ad format. 

     • If you're using non-skippable ads, learn more about setting up a line item for this ad format.

5. Click Next.

Configure your line item's settings

6. Review the Targeting section, you'll see that the inventory source and device targeting are set automatically. You can click Add targeting to set other line-item level targeting options. Additional types of targeting are available in the line item's ad groups. 

   Device targeting and bid adjustments

   Device targeting allows you to target your ads to people based on the device they're using. Click the pencil icon  to edit, and ensure the box is checked for the devices you’d like to include in targeting. 

   If you want to bid a different amount for views on each device type, click the pencil icon to edit device targeting, then click Advanced settings to set targeted bid adjustments for tablets, smartphones, computers, and connected TVs.

   Example: If your standard bid is $0.10 CPV but you want your bid for smartphone views to be $0.12 CPV, you could set a smartphone bid adjustment of 20%. 

   Line items with advanced operating system, device model, or carrier/network targeting are only eligible to serve on smartphone or tablet devices. 

   Nuances of YouTube targeting

   Unlike other types of line items, targeting for YouTube & partners line items can be set at two different levels: the line item level and the ad group level. Learn more about targeting options for YouTube & partners line items.

   Any default targeting set at the insertion order or campaign level will not be applied to your YouTube & partners line items.

7. Configure your line item's settings:

   • Flight dates: Pick custom dates or use the same dates as the line item's insertion order.

   • Budget and pacing: Set your budget and how quickly it will be spent. After you save the line item, you can't change between daily and flight, but you can update the budget amount. 

   • Bid strategy: Enter the line item's bidding settings based on the ad format you're using.

   • Frequency cap: (Optional) Set the line item's frequency cap. Learn more about frequency caps in Display & Video 360.

8. (Optional) Add related videos to your line item. This adds a list of related videos below a YouTube ad.

9. (Optional) Select the Floodlight activity you want to use to count conversions.

Create your ad group and ads

9. Select Create new ad group to set up an ad group for your line item:

   • Enter a name for your ad group. 

   • Select either the skippable or in-feed video ad format. Learn more about YouTube ad formats. 

   • Click Add targeting to configure ad-group level targeting. Learn more about targeting options for YouTube & partners line items.

   • In the Bidding section, enter a maximum cost per view bid to specify the maximum amount you're willing to pay for an individual view of an ad in your ad group. 

   • Click Create new ad to pick a YouTube video to use as a creative and set the landing page: 

     • Enter a name for your ad.

     • Search for a YouTube video or paste a YouTube URL.

     • Enter the display URL and landing page URL for your ad. The destination URL can be other pages on YouTube or another website.

     • (Optional for Campaign Manager 360 users) For skippable ads use the Campaign Manager 360 tracking ad field to select an existing tracking ad you'd like to use to see enhanced metrics in Campaign Manager 360. Click tracking is automatically included as part of the selected Campaign Manager 360 tracking placement.

     • (Optional) For skippable ads use the Click-tracker URL field to set up third-party click tracking. The click tracker must redirect to the same URL as your landing page URL.

     • For skippable ads, select either an image that's automatically generated from the videos in your YouTube channel (recommended) or an image that you manually upload as your companion banner.

     • (Optional) For skippable ads in brand awareness and reach or product and brand consideration line items, add a call-to-action (CTA) overlay.

       • Enter the text for your CTA, which can contain up to 10 characters including spaces. The CTA should be a compelling action that directs users to the website specified in your landing page URL.

       • Enter the text for your headline, which can contain up to 15 characters including spaces. The headline should promote your product or service.

     • Select Done to create the ad.

   • If you'd like to use multiple ads, click Create new ad again and repeat the steps above. If you use multiple ads, Display & Video 360 will optimize ad rotation based on views.

   • Select Done to create the ad group.

10. (Optional) If you'd like to use multiple ad groups, click Create new ad group and repeat the steps above.

    Reasons for using multiple ad groups

    It can be useful to use multiple ad groups within the same line item if you have one budget that can be allocated across:

    • Different audiences within the same YouTube & partners line item.
    • Different maximum costs per view within the same YouTube & partners line item.
    • Different kinds of targeting without limiting scale.
      Example: You could use audience targeting in one ad group and content targeting in another ad group
    • Different ad formats. 

11. Click Create to save your new line item.