Creating Creatives

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This guide provides detailed instructions for uploading creative assets and creating Display & Video 360 creative objects using the Display & Video 360 API advertisers.assets and advertisers.creatives services.

Prerequisites

Before you start working with Display & Video 360 API services, you'll need to complete the following steps:

  1. Create and authorize an API project as outlined in our Get Started guide.

  2. Ensure your Display & Video 360 user profile, identified by a user or service account email address, has "Read & write" user role permissions for the necessary advertiser. Contact an existing "Admin" user on your team to have these permissions enabled, if necessary.

Create a new creative

Creating a new creative with new assets through the Display & Video 360 API requires at least two distinct API requests. The first uploads creative assets and the second actually creates the creative.

Upload an asset

To upload the necessary creative assets to Display & Video 360, you can invoke the advertisers.assets.upload method.

To learn more about uploading creative assets through the Display & Video 360 API, read our "Upload Media" how-to guide.

Once an asset is successfully uploaded, the API returns a response that includes the asset object. The mediaId of this asset object is used when assigning the asset to a creative. Different creative types may only accept specific file types as assets in particular asset roles. You can reference these Help Center articles for that information.

Here's an example of how to upload an asset:

Java

// Create the asset upload request content.
CreateAssetRequest content = new CreateAssetRequest();
content.setFilename(asset-filename);

// Create input stream for the creative asset.
InputStreamContent assetStream = new InputStreamContent(
   getMimeType(asset-filename),
   new FileInputStream(asset-path));

// Configure the asset upload request.
Assets.Upload assetRequest = service.advertisers().assets()
   .upload(advertiser-id, content, assetStream);

// Upload the asset.
CreateAssetResponse assetResponse = assetRequest.execute();

// Display the new asset media ID.
Asset asset = assetResponse.getAsset();
System.out.printf("The asset has been upload with media ID %s",
   asset.getMediaId());

The example above used the following helper function to find the file MIME type:

import java.net.FileNameMap;
import java.net.URLConnection;

private static String getMimeType(String fileName) {

  // Parse filename for appropriate MIME type.
  FileNameMap fileNameMap = URLConnection.getFileNameMap();
  String mimeType = fileNameMap.getContentTypeFor(fileName);

  // If MIME type was found, return it.
  if (mimeType != null) {
    return mimeType;
  }

  // Otherwise, return a default value.
  return "application/octet-stream";
}

Python

# Create the request body.
body = {
    'filename': asset-filename
}

# Create upload object.
media = MediaFileUpload(asset-path)
if not media.mimetype():
  media = MediaFileUpload(asset-path, 'application/octet-stream')

# Upload the asset.
response = service.advertisers().assets().upload(
    advertiserId=advertiser-id,
    body=body,
    media_body=media
).execute()

# Display the new asset media ID.
print("Asset was created with media ID %s." % response['asset']['mediaId'])

PHP

$body = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_CreateAssetRequest();
$body->setFilename(asset-filename);

$optParams = array(
    'data' => file_get_contents(asset-path),
    'mimeType' => mime_content_type(asset-filename),
    'uploadType' => 'media'
);

// Call the API, uploading the asset file to Display & Video 360.
$result = $service->advertisers_assets->upload(
    advertiser-id,
    $body,
    $optParams
);

// Display the new asset media ID.
printf(
    'Asset was created with media ID %s.',
    $result->getAsset()->getMediaId()
);

Create the creative

After uploading and obtaining the appropriate media IDs for the necessary assets, you’re ready to create a new creative. Currently, there are a limited number of creative types that are supported by the API.

Use the advertisers.creatives.create method to make a new Creative resource. A complete creative object is large; however, each creative type only requires a subset of the fields. In this guide’s annex, you can find tables mapping UI fields to the corresponding API fields for each creative type.

Here are examples of how to create native display, HTML5, and video creatives:

Native Display Creative

Java

// Create a creative object.
Creative creative = new Creative();
creative.setDisplayName(display-name);
creative.setEntityStatus("ENTITY_STATUS_ACTIVE");
creative.setHostingSource("HOSTING_SOURCE_HOSTED");

// Set native creative type.
creative.setCreativeType("CREATIVE_TYPE_NATIVE");

// Create a dimensions object.
Dimensions dimensions = new Dimensions();
dimensions.setHeightPixels(creative-height-pixels);
dimensions.setWidthPixels(creative-width-pixels);

// Add the dimensions object to the creative object.
creative.setDimensions(dimensions);

// Create list for asset associations.
List<AssetAssociation> assetAssociations = new ArrayList<AssetAssociation>();

// Assign the image asset to a role.
AssetAssociation mainImageAssetAssociation = new AssetAssociation();
mainImageAssetAssociation.setAsset(new Asset().setMediaId(image-asset-media-id));
mainImageAssetAssociation.setRole("ASSET_ROLE_MAIN");
assetAssociations.add(mainImageAssetAssociation);

// Assign the logo asset to a role.
AssetAssociation iconAssetAssociation = new AssetAssociation();
iconAssetAssociation.setAsset(new Asset().setMediaId(logo-asset-media-id));
iconAssetAssociation.setRole("ASSET_ROLE_ICON");
assetAssociations.add(iconAssetAssociation);

// Create and assign advertiser name asset.
Asset advertiserNameAsset = new Asset();
advertiserNameAsset.setContent(advertiser-name);
AssetAssociation advertiserNameAssetAssociation = new AssetAssociation();
advertiserNameAssetAssociation.setAsset(advertiserNameAsset);
advertiserNameAssetAssociation.setRole("ASSET_ROLE_ADVERTISER_NAME");
assetAssociations.add(advertiserNameAssetAssociation);

// Create and assign headline asset.
Asset headlineAsset = new Asset();
headlineAsset.setContent(headline);
AssetAssociation headlineAssetAssociation = new AssetAssociation();
headlineAssetAssociation.setAsset(headlineAsset);
headlineAssetAssociation.setRole("ASSET_ROLE_HEADLINE");
assetAssociations.add(headlineAssetAssociation);

// Create and assign body text asset.
Asset bodyTextAsset = new Asset();
bodyTextAsset.setContent(body-text);
AssetAssociation bodyTextAssetAssociation = new AssetAssociation();
bodyTextAssetAssociation.setAsset(bodyTextAsset);
bodyTextAssetAssociation.setRole("ASSET_ROLE_BODY");
assetAssociations.add(bodyTextAssetAssociation);

// Create and assign caption URL asset.
Asset captionUrlAsset = new Asset();
captionUrlAsset.setContent(caption-url);
AssetAssociation captionUrlAssetAssociation = new AssetAssociation();
captionUrlAssetAssociation.setAsset(captionUrlAsset);
captionUrlAssetAssociation.setRole("ASSET_ROLE_CAPTION_URL");
assetAssociations.add(captionUrlAssetAssociation);

// Create and assign call to action asset.
Asset callToActionAsset = new Asset();
callToActionAsset.setContent(call-to-action);
AssetAssociation callToActionAssetAssociation = new AssetAssociation();
callToActionAssetAssociation.setAsset(callToActionAsset);
callToActionAssetAssociation.setRole("ASSET_ROLE_CALL_TO_ACTION");
assetAssociations.add(callToActionAssetAssociation);

// Create and set the list of creative assets.
creative.setAssets(assetAssociations);

// Create an exit event.
ExitEvent exitEvent = new ExitEvent();
exitEvent.setType("EXIT_EVENT_TYPE_DEFAULT");
exitEvent.setUrl(landing-page-url);

// Create and set the list of exit events for the creative.
creative.setExitEvents(ImmutableList.of(exitEvent));

// Configure the create request.
Creatives.Create request =
   service.advertisers().creatives().create(advertiser-id, creative);

// Send the request.
Creative response = request.execute();

// Display the new creative.
System.out.printf(
   "Creative %s was created.\n",
   response.getName());

Python

# Create a creative object.
creative_obj = {
   'displayName': display-name,
   'entityStatus': 'ENTITY_STATUS_ACTIVE',
   'hostingSource': 'HOSTING_SOURCE_HOSTED',
   'creativeType': 'CREATIVE_TYPE_NATIVE',
   'dimensions': {
       'heightPixels': creative-height-pixels,
       'widthPixels': creative-width-pixels
   },
   'assets': [
       {
           'asset': {'mediaId' : image-asset-media-id},
           'role': 'ASSET_ROLE_MAIN'
       },
       {
           'asset': {'mediaId' : logo-asset-media-id},
           'role': 'ASSET_ROLE_ICON'
       },
       {
           'asset': {'content' : advertiser-name},
           'role': 'ASSET_ROLE_ADVERTISER_NAME'
       },
       {
           'asset': {'content' : headline},
           'role': 'ASSET_ROLE_HEADLINE'
       },
       {
           'asset': {'content' : body-text},
           'role': 'ASSET_ROLE_BODY'
       },
       {
           'asset': {'content' : caption-url},
             'role': 'ASSET_ROLE_CAPTION_URL'
       },
       {
           'asset': {'content' : call-to-action},
           'role': 'ASSET_ROLE_CALL_TO_ACTION'
       },
   ],
   'exitEvents': [
       {
           'type': 'EXIT_EVENT_TYPE_DEFAULT',
           'url': landing-page-url
       }
   ]
}

# Create the creative.
creative = service.advertisers().creatives().create(
   advertiserId=advertiser-id,
   body=creative_obj
).execute()

# Display the new creative.
print("creative %s was created." % creative["name"])

PHP

// Create a creative object.
$creative = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_Creative();
$creative->setDisplayName(display-name);
$creative->setEntityStatus('ENTITY_STATUS_ACTIVE');
$creative->setHostingSource('HOSTING_SOURCE_HOSTED');

// Set native creative type.
$creative->setCreativeType('CREATIVE_TYPE_NATIVE');

// Create a dimensions object.
$dimensions = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_Dimensions();
$dimensions->setHeightPixels(creative-height-pixels);
$dimensions->setWidthPixels(creative-width-pixels);

// Add the dimensions object to the creative object.
$creative->setDimensions($dimensions);

// Create list for asset associations.
$assetAssociations = array();

// Assign the image asset to a role.
$imageAssetAssoc = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_AssetAssociation();
$imageAsset = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_Asset();
$imageAsset->setMediaId(image-asset-media-id);
$imageAssetAssoc->setAsset($imageAsset);
$imageAssetAssoc->setRole('ASSET_ROLE_MAIN');
$assetAssociations[] = $imageAssetAssoc;

// Assign the logo asset to a role.
$iconAssetAssoc = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_AssetAssociation();
$iconAsset = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_Asset();
$iconAsset->setMediaId(logo-asset-media-id);
$iconAssetAssoc->setAsset($iconAsset);
$iconAssetAssoc->setRole('ASSET_ROLE_ICON');
$assetAssociations[] = $iconAssetAssoc;

// Create and assign advertiser name asset.
$advNameAssetAssoc = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_AssetAssociation();
$advNameAsset = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_Asset();
$advNameAsset->setContent(advertiser-name);
$advNameAssetAssoc->setAsset($advNameAsset);
$advNameAssetAssoc->setRole('ASSET_ROLE_ADVERTISER_NAME');
$assetAssociations[] = $advNameAssetAssoc;

// Create and assign headline asset.
$headlineAssetAssoc = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_AssetAssociation();
$headlineAsset = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_Asset();
$headlineAsset->setContent(headline);
$headlineAssetAssoc->setAsset($headlineAsset);
$headlineAssetAssoc->setRole('ASSET_ROLE_HEADLINE');
$assetAssociations[] = $headlineAssetAssoc;

// Create and assign body text asset.
$bodyTextAssetAssoc = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_AssetAssociation();
$bodyTextAsset = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_Asset();
$bodyTextAsset->setContent(body-text);
$bodyTextAssetAssoc->setAsset($bodyTextAsset);
$bodyTextAssetAssoc->setRole('ASSET_ROLE_BODY');
$assetAssociations[] = $bodyTextAssetAssoc;

// Create and assign caption URL asset.
$captionUrlAssetAssoc = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_AssetAssociation();
$captionUrlAsset = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_Asset();
$captionUrlAsset->setContent(caption-url);
$captionUrlAssetAssoc->setAsset($captionUrlAsset);
$captionUrlAssetAssoc->setRole('ASSET_ROLE_CAPTION_URL');
$assetAssociations[] = $captionUrlAssetAssoc;

// Create and assign call to action asset.
$cToAAssetAssoc = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_AssetAssociation();
$cToAAsset = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_Asset();
$cToAAsset->setContent(call-to-action);
$cToAAssetAssoc->setAsset($cToAAsset);
$cToAAssetAssoc->setRole('ASSET_ROLE_CALL_TO_ACTION');
$assetAssociations[] = $cToAAssetAssoc;

// Set the list of creative assets.
$creative->setAssets($assetAssociations);

// Create an exit event.
$exitEvent = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_ExitEvent();
$exitEvent->setType('EXIT_EVENT_TYPE_DEFAULT');
$exitEvent->setUrl(landing-page-url);

// Create and set the list of exit events for the creative.
$creative->setExitEvents(array($exitEvent));

// Send the create request.
$result = $this->service->advertisers_creatives->create(
    advertiser-id,
    $creative
);

printf('Creative %s was created.', $result['name']);

HTML5 Creative

Java

// Create a creative object.
Creative creative = new Creative();
creative.setDisplayName(display-name);
creative.setEntityStatus("ENTITY_STATUS_ACTIVE");
creative.setHostingSource("HOSTING_SOURCE_HOSTED");

// Set standard creative type.
creative.setCreativeType("CREATIVE_TYPE_STANDARD");

// Create a dimensions object.
Dimensions dimensions = new Dimensions();
dimensions.setHeightPixels(creative-height-pixels);
dimensions.setWidthPixels(creative-width-pixels);

// Add the dimensions object to the creative object.
creative.setDimensions(dimensions);

// Assign the HTML5 asset to a role.
AssetAssociation assetAssociation = new AssetAssociation();
assetAssociation.setAsset(new Asset().setMediaId(html5-asset-media-id));
assetAssociation.setRole("ASSET_ROLE_MAIN");

// Create and set the list of creative assets.
creative.setAssets(ImmutableList.of(assetAssociation));

// Create an exit event.
ExitEvent exitEvent = new ExitEvent();
exitEvent.setName(exit-event-name);
exitEvent.setType("EXIT_EVENT_TYPE_DEFAULT");
exitEvent.setUrl(exit-event-url);

// Create and set the list of exit events for the creative.
creative.setExitEvents(ImmutableList.of(exitEvent));

// Configure the create request.
Creatives.Create request =
   service.advertisers().creatives().create(advertiser-id, creative);

// Send the request.
Creative response = request.execute();

// Display the new creative.
System.out.printf(
   "Creative %s was created.\n",
   response.getName());

Python

# Create a creative object.
creative_obj = {
   'displayName': display-name,
   'entityStatus': 'ENTITY_STATUS_ACTIVE',
   'hostingSource': 'HOSTING_SOURCE_HOSTED',
   'creativeType': 'CREATIVE_TYPE_STANDARD',
   'dimensions': {
       'heightPixels': creative-height-pixels,
       'widthPixels': creative-width-pixels
   },
   'assets': [
       {
           'asset': {'mediaId' : html5-asset-media-id},
           'role': 'ASSET_ROLE_MAIN'
       }
   ],
   'exitEvents': [
       {
           'name': exit-event-name,
           'type': 'EXIT_EVENT_TYPE_DEFAULT',
           'url': exit-event-url
       }
   ]
}

# Create the creative.
creative = service.advertisers().creatives().create(
   advertiserId=advertiser-id,
   body=creative_obj
).execute()

# Display the new creative.
print("Creative %s was created." % creative["name"])

PHP

// Create a creative object.
$creative = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_Creative();
$creative->setDisplayName(display-name);
$creative->setEntityStatus('ENTITY_STATUS_ACTIVE');
$creative->setHostingSource('HOSTING_SOURCE_HOSTED');

// Set standard creative type.
$creative->setCreativeType('CREATIVE_TYPE_STANDARD');

// Create a dimensions object.
$dimensions = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_Dimensions();
$dimensions->setHeightPixels(creative-height-pixels);
$dimensions->setWidthPixels(creative-width-pixels);

// Add the dimensions object to the creative object.
$creative->setDimensions($dimensions);

// Assign the HTML asset to a role.
$htmlAssetAssoc = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_AssetAssociation();
$htmlAsset = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_Asset();
$htmlAsset->setMediaId(html5-asset-media-id);
$htmlAssetAssoc->setAsset($htmlAsset);
$htmlAssetAssoc->setRole('ASSET_ROLE_MAIN');

// Create and set the list of creative assets.
$creative->setAssets(array($htmlAssetAssoc));

// Create an exit event.
$exitEvent = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_ExitEvent();
$exitEvent->setName(exit-event-name);
$exitEvent->setType('EXIT_EVENT_TYPE_DEFAULT');
$exitEvent->setUrl(exit-event-url);

// Create and set the list of exit events for the creative.
$creative->setExitEvents(array($exitEvent));

// Send the create request.
$result = $this->service->advertisers_creatives->create(
    advertiser-id,
    $creative
);

printf('Creative %s was created.', $result['name']);

Video Creative

Java

// Create a creative object.
Creative creative = new Creative();
creative.setDisplayName(display-name);
creative.setEntityStatus("ENTITY_STATUS_ACTIVE");
creative.setHostingSource("HOSTING_SOURCE_HOSTED");

// Set video creative type.
creative.setCreativeType("CREATIVE_TYPE_VIDEO");

// Assign the video asset to a role.
AssetAssociation assetAssociation = new AssetAssociation();
assetAssociation.setAsset(new Asset().setMediaId(video-asset-media-id));
assetAssociation.setRole("ASSET_ROLE_MAIN");

// Create and set the list of creative assets.
creative.setAssets(ImmutableList.of(assetAssociation));

// Create an exit event.
ExitEvent exitEvent = new ExitEvent();
exitEvent.setName(exit-event-name);
exitEvent.setType("EXIT_EVENT_TYPE_DEFAULT");
exitEvent.setUrl(exit-event-url);

// Create and set the list of exit events for the creative.
creative.setExitEvents(ImmutableList.of(exitEvent));

// Configure the create request.
Creatives.Create request =
   service.advertisers().creatives().create(advertiser-id, creative);

// Send the request.
Creative response = request.execute();

// Display the new creative.
System.out.printf(
   "Creative %s was created.\n",
   response.getName());

Python

# Create a creative object.
creative_obj = {
   'displayName': display-name,
   'entityStatus': 'ENTITY_STATUS_ACTIVE',
   'hostingSource': 'HOSTING_SOURCE_HOSTED',
   'creativeType': 'CREATIVE_TYPE_VIDEO',
   'assets': [
       {
           'asset': {'mediaId' : video-asset-media-id},
           'role': 'ASSET_ROLE_MAIN'
       }
   ],
   'exitEvents': [
       {
           'name': exit-event-name,
           'type': 'EXIT_EVENT_TYPE_DEFAULT',
           'url': exit-event-url
       }
   ]
}

# Create the creative.
creative = service.advertisers().creatives().create(
   advertiserId=advertiser-id,
   body=creative_obj
).execute()

# Display the new creative.
print("creative %s was created." % creative["name"])

PHP

// Create a creative object.
$creative = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_Creative();
$creative->setDisplayName(display-name);
$creative->setEntityStatus('ENTITY_STATUS_ACTIVE');
$creative->setHostingSource('HOSTING_SOURCE_HOSTED');

// Set video creative type.
$creative->setCreativeType('CREATIVE_TYPE_VIDEO');

// Assign the video asset to a role.
$videoAssetAssoc = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_AssetAssociation();
$videoAsset = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_Asset();
$videoAsset->setMediaId(video-asset-media-id);
$videoAssetAssoc->setAsset($videoAsset);
$videoAssetAssoc->setRole('ASSET_ROLE_MAIN');

// Create and set the list of creative assets.
$creative->setAssets(array($videoAssetAssoc));

// Create an exit event.
$exitEvent = new Google_Service_DisplayVideo_ExitEvent();
$exitEvent->setName(exit-event-name);
$exitEvent->setType('EXIT_EVENT_TYPE_DEFAULT');
$exitEvent->setUrl(exit-event-url);

// Create and set the list of exit events for the creative.
$creative->setExitEvents(array($exitEvent));

// Send the create request.
$result = $this->service->advertisers_creatives->create(
    advertiser-id,
    $creative
);

printf('Creative %s was created.', $result['name']);