Get started with video ad rules (2024)

Only available in Google Ad Manager 360.

You can set up a standard ad rule to define when and how ads appear within a single video stream, or a session ad rule for multiple video streams.

Requirements to use video ad rules

• Google Ad Manager 360 with an advanced video contract
• Use of the IMA SDK 3or a player that uses VMAP for ad insertion (learn more aboutsupported environments)
• Content ingestionis not required to serve mid-rolls through ad rules. However:
  • If you use content ingestion,you must include the cmsid and vid parameters in your video tags, or
  • Serve mid-rolls without content ingestion by including the vid_d and allcues parameters in your tags

Activate video ad rules

You can begin using video ad rules by activatingthem for your entire Ad Manager network, so that all video ad requests become ad rules requests. If a line item is not targeted to specific video positions (pre-rolls, mid-rolls, post-rolls, or bumpers), it is considered eligible to serve in any position that your ad rules specify.

To activate ad rules:

1. Sign in to Google Ad Manager.
2. Click Admin, thenVideo and audio, thenVideo and audio settings.
3. Activate "Ad rules".
4. ClickSave.

Learn how to use the ad_rule parameter to control individual ad requests.

Video ad rule priority and the default rule

When you turn on ad rules for your network, a default ad rule is created automatically with the following settings:

• Shows one 30-second pre-roll video ad, with no podding
• Targeted to the run of network, with no specific targeting
• Mid-rolls, post-rolls, and other types of ads are deactivated

Every video ad rule has an assigned priority. When your rules have conflicting settings, Ad Manager chooses from the rule with the highest priority. The default ad rule always has a lower priority than ad rules you create.

You can click Video, thenAd rulesto open a list of your ad rules, ordered by priority. Since the default rule has the lowest priority, it's located at the bottom of the list of active ad rules.*

From the list of rules, you can change a rule's status to inactive to pause the rule, or update the priority. When you change the priority for one ad rule, all other ad rules automatically update accordingly.

If all of your rules are set to "never show" ads of a certain type, those ads will never show. Configuringa more inclusive default rule is recommendedso that you don't unintentionally deactivate an entire ad type.

_{* If you don't filter your ad rules by those with the "Active" status, the default ad rule appears between your active and inactive rules.}

Export video ad rules^(Beta)

You can export all your video ad rules to a spreadsheet, which may be helpful to share with users outside your Ad Manager network, for things like trafficking, revenue operations, and forecasting.

1. Sign in to Google Ad Manager.
2. Click Video, thenAd rules, thenExport ad rules.
3. A file is then generated and downloaded, which includes columns for individual ad rule settings, like pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll settings, and targeting configurations.