Publisher-managed creatives

You can set up a proposal to allow creatives to be managed or hosted by the publisher. This option is set within the details of a proposal line item under the "Creative source" setting. The options are:

• Advertiser provided: Buyers manage and host creatives, instead of them being managed and hosted in Ad Manager. This is the default setting and makes creative management easier for you and the buyer.
• Publisher managed: You host the creative in Ad Manager, which allows you to:
  • Sell custom formats and use existing Ad Manager creative management tools
  • Have more control over the creatives that serve on your site
  • Ensure creatives fall under the same policy as direct reservations
  • Use any Native ad format, including Custom or Standard.

As described below, to use publisher-managed creatives, you must:

1. Ensure buyer agreement
2. Set the creative source in a proposal line item
3. Ensure buyer completes setup
4. Configure creatives in the Ad Manager line item

1. Ensure buyer agreement

Before you set a proposal line item to Publisher managed, ensure that the buyer you're doing business with agrees that creatives are to be managed in Ad Manager.

2. Set the creative source in a proposal line item

1. "Creative source" must be set for each proposal line item in a proposal. Ensure that "Creative source" is set to Publisher managed in all proposal line items.

2. Add sizes to the proposal line items.

   • You may add multiple sizes to a single proposal line item, and multiple creatives for those sizes to the resulting corresponding line item. Make sure to add the right sizes before sending it to the buyer for the first time. When creatives are publisher managed, sizes cannot be changed once a proposal has been sent to the buyer.
   • If sizes have been incorrectly configured in a sent proposal, copy the proposal (and its proposal line items) and edit the sizes to reflect the buyer's creative needs. Be sure to terminate negotiation and archive the proposal with the incorrect sizes. 

3. When terms are agreed in the proposal, request acceptance from the buyer.

   • When the buyer accepts the proposal, Ad Manager creates a corresponding order and line items in Ad Manager for delivery. At the same time, the DSP creates a corresponding line item on their platform. This line item is used for impression and click tracking, either on the deal level or for a specific creative in the deal. Think of this as a tracking pixel line item. Either type of tracking can happen by submitting the expanded impression/click tracking in the bid response.
   • Delivery settings can be configured in proposal line items and will be duplicated to corresponding line items when the proposal is accepted. Settings include how to deliver impressions and display creatives. Creative rotation is set to "Optimized" by default and isn't configurable—you won't find the options in the proposal line item or corresponding line item.

3. Ensure buyer completes setup

Buyers need to complete creative configuration before ad serving can start.

1. Communicate with buyers to make sure they complete configuration of line items after accepting.
2. The buyer creates a tracking creative in the parallel line item when users configure inventory. This creative is a placeholder used for click and impression tracking in the DSP. A valid tracking creative must exist in DSP before ad serving can start.

4. Configure creatives in the Ad Manager line item

1. Add creatives to the corresponding delivery line item in Ad Manager. Creatives in Ad Manager are used for ad serving and to render the ad when creative source is publisher-managed.

   See the creative types and formats that are supported in Ad Manager for publisher-managed creatives.

2. Include the click tracking macro for every creative type (except image creatives) in the creative snippet or template. Image creatives don't require macros since Ad Manager automatically tracks impressions and clicks for them.

   • Click tracking support through the DSP can vary by publisher, based on unique publisher setups.
   • Click-tracking macros include:
     • CLICK_URL_UNESC
     • CLICK_URL_ESC_ESC
     • CLICK_URL
   • Macros come in two types: escaped (which mention "ESC" or "ESC_ESC") and unescaped (which mention "UNESC"). If the macro is inserted at the start of a URL, use unescaped click-tracking macros. If the macro is inserted at the end of a URL, use the escaped macros. Learn more about escaped vs. unescaped URL macros and see examples.
   • Make sure to use the VIEW_URL_UNESC macro only with out-of-page creatives to ensure accurate impression counting. Using “View” macros (VIEW_URL_ESC or VIEW_URL_UNESC) in other situations with publisher-managed creatives could cause double counting of impressions.