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Native Ads

Introduction

This guide details how to utilize Google Ad Manager's native advertising features with the API. Before you begin, make sure you understand the basics of native advertising with Ad Manager.

Retrieve a native ad format

Native ad formats are represented by a CreativeTemplate in the Ad Manager API. To retrieve native formats from your network, use the CreativeTemplateService. To differentiate between creative templates and native ad formats, use the isNativeEligible field. When this field is true, the creative template represents a native ad format.

Java

StatementBuilder statementBuilder = new StatementBuilder()
    .where("isNativeEligible = :isNativeEligible")
    .orderBy("id DESC")
    .limit(StatementBuilder.SUGGESTED_PAGE_LIMIT)
    .withBindVariableValue("isNativeEligible", true);;

CreativeTemplatePage page = creativeTemplateService.getCreativeTemplatesByStatement(
    statementBuilder.toStatement());

Python

query = 'WHERE isNativeEligible = :isNativeEligible'
values = [
    {'key': 'isNativeEligible',
     'value': {
         'xsi_type': 'BooleanValue',
         'value': 'true'
     }},
]
statement = ad_manager.FilterStatement(query, values)

response = creative_template_service.getCreativeTemplatesByStatement(
    statement.ToStatement())

PHP

$pageSize = StatementBuilder::SUGGESTED_PAGE_LIMIT;
$statementBuilder = (new StatementBuilder())
    ->where('isNativeEligible = :isNativeEligible')
    ->orderBy('id ASC')
    ->limit($pageSize)
    ->withBindVariableValue('isNativeEligible', true);

$page = $creativeTemplateService->getCreativeTemplatesByStatement(
    $statementBuilder->ToStatement());

.NET

StatementBuilder statementBuilder = new StatementBuilder()
    .Where("isNativeEligible = :isNativeEligible")
    .OrderBy("id ASC")
    .Limit(StatementBuilder.SUGGESTED_PAGE_LIMIT)
    .AddValue("isNativeEligible", true);

CreativeTemplatePage page = creativeTemplateService.getCreativeTemplatesByStatement(
      statementBuilder.ToStatement());

Ruby

query = 'WHERE isNativeEligible = :isNativeEligible'
values = [
  {
    :key => 'isNativeEligible',
    :value => {
      :xsi_type => 'BooleanValue',
      :value => 'true'
    }
  },
]
statement = AdManagerApi::FilterStatement.new(query, values)

page = creative_template_service.get_creative_templates_by_statement(
  statement.toStatement())

Create a native creative

Native creatives are backed by TemplateCreatives in the Ad Manager API. They are not a distinct entity. To create native creatives, create a TemplateCreative for a CreativeTemplate that is native eligible. The components of the native creative are stored in CreativeTemplateVariable objects.

Native creative

Use 1x1 pixels as the size for native creatives. The size of the rendered ad can be set on the NativeStyle or defined by custom rendering.

Java

// Use the system defined native app install creative template.
long nativeAppInstallTemplateId = 10004400L;

// Use 1x1 as the size for native creatives.
Size size = new Size();
size.setWidth(1);
size.setHeight(1);
size.setIsAspectRatio(false);

TemplateCreative nativeAppInstallCreative = new TemplateCreative();
nativeAppInstallCreative.setName("Native creative #" + new Random().nextInt(Integer.MAX_VALUE));
nativeAppInstallCreative.setCreativeTemplateId(nativeAppInstallTemplateId);
nativeAppInstallCreative.setSize(size);

List<BaseCreativeTemplateVariableValue> templateVariables = Lists.newArrayList();

// Set the star rating.
StringCreativeTemplateVariableValue starRatingVariableValue =
    new StringCreativeTemplateVariableValue();
starRatingVariableValue.setUniqueName("Starrating");
starRatingVariableValue.setValue("4");
templateVariables.add(starRatingVariableValue);

Python

# Use the system defined native app install creative template.
native_app_install_template_id = '10004400'

creative = {
    'xsi_type': 'TemplateCreative',
    'name': 'Native creative',
    'creativeTemplateId': native_app_install_template_id,
    'size': {'width': 1, 'height': 1, 'isAspectRatio': false},
    'creativeTemplateVariableValues': [
        {
            'xsi_type': 'StringCreativeTemplateVariableValue',
            'uniqueName': 'Starrating',
            'value': '4'
        }
    ]
}

PHP

// Use the system defined native app install creative template.
$nativeAppInstallTemplateId = 10004400;

// Use 1x1 as the size for native creatives.
$size = new Size();
$size->width = 1;
$size->height = 1;
$size->isAspectRatio = false;

$nativeAppInstallCreative = new TemplateCreative();
$nativeAppInstallCreative->name = 'Native creative #' . uniqid();
$nativeAppInstallCreative->creativeTemplateId = $nativeAppInstallTemplateId;
$nativeAppInstallCreative->size = $size;

$starRatingVariableValue = new StringCreativeTemplateVariableValue();
$starRatingVariableValue->uniqueName = 'Starrating';
$starRatingVariableValue->value = '4';
$nativeAppInstallCreative->creativeTemplateVariableValues[] =
    $starRatingVariableValue;

C#

// Use the system defined native app install creative template.
long nativeAppInstallTemplateId = 10004400L;

TemplateCreative nativeAppInstallCreative = new TemplateCreative();
nativeAppInstallCreative.name =
    String.Format("Native creative #{0}", new Random().Next(int.MaxValue));
nativeAppInstallCreative.creativeTemplateId = nativeAppInstallTemplateId;

// Use 1x1 as the size for native creatives.
Size size = new Size();
size.width = 1;
size.height = 1;
size.isAspectRatio = false;
nativeAppInstallCreative.size = size;

List<BaseCreativeTemplateVariableValue> templateVariables =
    new List<BaseCreativeTemplateVariableValue>();

templateVariables.Add(new StringCreativeTemplateVariableValue() {
  uniqueName = "Starrating",
  value = "4"
});

Ruby

# Use the system defined native app install creative template.
creative_template_id = 10004400

creative = {
    :xsi_type => 'TemplateCreative',
    :name => "Native creative %d" % Time.new.to_i,
    :creative_template_id => creative_template_id,
    :size => {:width => 1, :height => 1, :is_aspect_ratio => false}
}

starrating_variable_value = {
    :xsi_type => 'StringCreativeTemplateVariableValue',
    :unique_name => 'Starrating',
    :value => '4'
}

creative[:creative_template_variable_values] = [
    starrating_variable_value
]

Create a native style

Native styles can be created using the NativeStyleService. Currently, the API does not perform validation on the CSS and HTML snippets you provide. When setting the targeting information, the only supported fields are inventoryTargeting and customTargeting.

Java

long nativeAppInstallTemplateId = 10004400L;

// Create a native style for native app install ads.
NativeStyle nativeStyle = new NativeStyle();
nativeStyle.setName("Native style #" + new Random().nextInt(Integer.MAX_VALUE));
nativeStyle.setCreativeTemplateId(nativeAppInstallTemplateId);
nativeStyle.setSize(size);
nativeStyle.setHtmlSnippet(htmlSnippet);
nativeStyle.setCssSnippet(cssSnippet);

Python

native_app_install_template_id = '10004400'

# Create a style for native app install ads.
native_style = {
    'name': 'Native style #%d' % uuid.uuid4(),
    'htmlSnippet': html_snippet,
    'cssSnippet': css_snippet,
    'creativeTemplateId': native_app_install_template_id,
    'size': {
        'width': width,
        'height': height,
        'isAspectRatio': False
    }
}

PHP

$nativeAppInstallTemplateId = 10004400;

// Create a style for native app install ads.
$nativeStyle = new NativeStyle();
$nativeStyle->setName('Native style #'. uniqid());
$nativeStyle->setCreativeTemplateId($nativeAppInstallTemplateId);
$nativeStyle->setSize($size);
$nativeStyle->setHtmlSnippet($htmlSnippet);
$nativeStyle->setCssSnippet($cssSnippet);

C#

long nativeAppInstallTemplateId = 10004400L;

// Create a style for native app install ads.
NativeStyle nativeStyle = new NativeStyle();
nativeStyle.name = string.Format("Native style #{0}", new Random().Next());
nativeStyle.creativeTemplateId = nativeAppInstallTemplateId;
nativeStyle.size = size;
nativeStyle.htmlSnippet = htmlSnippet;
nativeStyle.cssSnippet = cssSnippet;

Ruby

native_app_install_template_id = 10004400

# Create a style for native app install ads.
native_style = {
  :name => 'Native style #%d' % (Time.new.to_f * 1000),
  :html_snippet => html_snippet,
  :css_snippet => css_snippet,
  :creative_template_id => native_app_install_template_id,
  :size => size
}

If the style is for a fluid size, set the isFluid field to true and set the size as 1x1 pixels.

Traffic a native ad

When creating a LineItem for a native ad, the CreativePlaceholder should set a CreativeSizeType type of NATIVE, and set the creativeTemplateId of the desired native ad format.

Java

// Create creative placeholder size.
Size size = new Size();
size.setWidth(1);
size.setHeight(1);
size.setIsAspectRatio(false);

long nativeAppInstallTemplateId = 10004400L;

// Create the creative placeholder.
CreativePlaceholder creativePlaceholder = new CreativePlaceholder();
creativePlaceholder.setSize(size);
creativePlaceholder.setCreativeTemplateId(nativeAppInstallTemplateId);
creativePlaceholder.setCreativeSizeType(CreativeSizeType.NATIVE);

Python

native_app_install_template_id = '10004400'

# Create the creative placeholder.
creative_placeholder = {
    'size': {
        'width': '1',
        'height': '1'
    },
    'creativeTemplateId': native_app_install_template_id,
    'creativeSizeType': 'NATIVE'
}

PHP

$nativeAppInstallTemplateId = 10004400;

// Create the creative placeholder.
$creativePlaceholder = new CreativePlaceholder();
$creativePlaceholder->setSize(new Size(1, 1, false));
$creativePlaceholder->setCreativeTemplateId($nativeAppInstallTemplateId);
$creativePlaceholder->setCreativeSizeType(CreativeSizeType::NATIVE);

C#

// Create the creative placeholder size.
Size size = new Size();
size.width = 1;
size.height = 1;
size.isAspectRatio = false;

long nativeAppInstallTemplateId = 10004400L;

// Create the creative placeholder.
CreativePlaceholder creativePlaceholder = new CreativePlaceholder();
creativePlaceholder.size = size;
creativePlaceholder.creativeTemplateId = nativeAppInstallTemplateId;
creativePlaceholder.creativeSizeType = CreativeSizeType.NATIVE;

Ruby

# Create the creative placeholder.
creative_placeholder = {
    :size => {:width => 1, :height => 1, :is_aspect_ratio => false},
    :creative_template_id => 10004400,
    :creative_size_type => 'NATIVE'
}

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Last updated 2024-08-20 UTC.