Edit targeting inline

You can copy the targeting criteria for an existing line item, edit it offline, and then paste it back into the same or different line item. You can also make edits inline without copying the expression.

This can be useful when you want to quickly add or remove a set of targeting criteria, such as postal codes, to or from a filtered set of line items.

Add the targeting column

Before you can copy and paste targeting criteria, make sure that the "Targeting" column is displayed on the line items page. You only need to do this once.

1. Sign in to Google Ad Manager.
2. Click Delivery, then Line items.
3. Click to modify columns.
4. Make sure that Targeting is selected, which displays this column in the "Line items" table.

Edit targeting inline

1. In the "Line items" table, locate and click to open the line item whose targeting you want to edit. The line item can be an existing one that has already started to serve, or one you just created.
2. Scroll to the "Add targeting" section and update as desired. If you enter text for targeting, keep in mind that you need to escape certain characters.
3. Click Save. The line item targeting is updated and the criteria are reflected in the targeting picker.

Updated targeting takes effect immediately.

Limitations

You can perform inline edits to most criteria created in the targeting picker, but the following are not supported for inline editing:

• DMA (Designated Market Areas) targeting
• Video content targeting (such as pods)
• Line items with video VAST inventory sizes
• Targeting an ad unit without its children
• "Day and time" delivery in the "Adjust delivery" section
• Audience targeting

• For any system-defined criteria (such as geography, browser, device capability), only English names are recognized. For example, if you are targeting the capital of Mexico, "MX/Federal District/Mexico City" is supported, but not "MX/Distrito Federal/Ciudad de Mexico".
• Criteria that are user-defined (such as ad unit and placement names, custom keys and key-values) are referred to by the exact name used to create them. For example, if a placement called "Noticias" is targeted by a line item, it should not be translated as "News."
• System maximum and limits are the same as those entered using the user interface.

Definitions and examples of targeting expressions

• Name: A single piece of targeting: 10011 or NFL
• Path: A full representation of an entity. For example:
  • Postal code targeting: US/10011
  • Inventory targeting: Paper1/Sports/NFL
• Group: A list of paths to include or exclude: geo(US/10011, US/Alabama)
• Expression: A list of groups in an AND relationship: geo(US/10011) and ad_unit(Paper1/Sports/NFL)

Character escaping

The following symbols have special meaning and must be escaped when used as part of a targeting expression: slash (/), comma (,), left parenthesis ((), right parenthesis ()), double-quote ("). Escaping rules are as follows:

• If a name contains a slash, escape with a backslash (\). Result: \/
• If a path contains a quote, escape with a backslash (\). Result: \"
• If a path contains a comma, left parenthesis or right parenthesis, enclose the entire path in quotes.
• All paths can be enclosed in quotes, even if there is no need to escape.

Escaping examples

Excluding targeting expressions

Use an exclamation mark (!=) to exclude criteria within a targeting expression.

For example, geo=(CA) AND geo!=(CA/British Columbia/Vancouver) targets all of Canada other than Vancouver.

The following criteria can be both included (=) and excluded (!=) in the same targeting string:

• ad_unit
• geo
• device
• os

The following criteria can be included (=) only:

• placement
• custom

The following criteria can be included (=) or excluded (!=) in the same string, but not both:

• browser
• browser_language
• device_capability
• device_category
• bandwidth
• mobile_carrier
• user_domain