Working With Creatives


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A creative combines one piece of creative media, such as an image or a video, with details of how the content behaves when it is shown. The behavior details include a click-through URL, tracking pixels, and VAST events.

If you're using ad tags, a creative corresponds to a single ad tag.

Hosting

Image, audio, and video files can be uploaded directly to Basis DSP. Alternatively, you can use ad tags to point to media hosted by other providers. No matter where your media is hosted, you can set up a creative for it in the DSP.

See Adding New Creatives for information about uploading creatives to the DSP.

Testing Creatives

After uploading new creatives, it's important to test them to make sure that they function correctly. See Previewing Creatives to find out how to view and test your ads.

Ad Quality

All ads uploaded to the DSP go through an ad quality review processes to ensure that they're compliant with creative policies. See Ad Quality Review Status for more information about this process and how to check the status of your ads.

Creatives and Tactics

Tactics and creatives work together to show media to users. The tactic controls the targeting (where and when the creative will show), and the creative controls the content and behavior (what the user sees when the ad appears and what happens when the user clicks the ad).

A tactic can be linked to one or more creatives. The tactic shows the description, status, and flight dates for all linked ads. See Linking Creatives to a Tactic for more information.

Creative Status

A creative's status controls its availability for delivery.

  • On: The creative is ready for delivery and can be used by any tactic linked to it. When the creative passes the ad quality review, it can go live.

  • Off: The creative is offline. You can link the creative to tactics, but the creative will not be delivered.

  • Archived: The creative is no longer in use. When you archive a creative, it does not appear on Creative panel.

  • Expired: The ad expired due to inactivity. An ad expires if it has $0.00 total spend over the last 18 months. To use this creative, you must re-upload it.

Changing a creative's status affects any tactics that it is linked to.