Native Ads

Native ads are ads formatted to fit the surrounding content and visual design, making them more likely to be viewed and clicked by users. Native ad inventory is available on mobile apps as well as desktop and mobile websites. For more information on native ads, see Overview of native ads.

Native ads are supported for both Authorized Buyers and Open Bidding.

Here's the workflow for native ads:

  1. A call for a native ad is made to Google. The call specifies one or both of the following native ad templates, each specifying the preferred native fields.
  2. Google sends buyers an RTB bid request containing a list of the fields being requested.
  3. Interested buyers respond with the requested fields.
  4. Google runs an auction to select the winning bid and sends the buyer's supplied creative assets to the publisher.
  5. The publisher assembles the assets into a native ad and styles them to fit the site's design.

Message formats

Google supports the OpenRTB specification in both JSON and Protobuf.

For OpenRTB Protobuf native ads, the following fields differ from the specification:

JSON JSON type Protobuf Protobuf type
BidRequest.imp[].native.request string BidRequest.imp[].native.request_native NativeRequest
BidResponse.seatbid[].bid[].adm string BidResponse.seatbid[].bid[].adm_native NativeResponse

The OpenRTB Protobuf fields are Protobuf messages rather than strings.

If you use the OpenRTB Protobuf implementation, your endpoint receives bid requests containing BidRequest.imp.native.request_native rather than BidRequest.imp.native.request. Additionally, your endpoint must return bid responses that populate BidResponse.seatbid.bid.adm_native rather than BidResponse.seatbid.bid.adm, otherwise it will be filtered from the auction.

If you use a buyer SDK to render native ads, you must include an image type in the declared_ad when you submit creatives for review.

Native ad templates

Native ad templates describe the components of a native ad, and determine the contents and structure of the NativeRequest in the bid request. Google supports the two most common native ad templates for non-video and video native ads:

Other templates exist, and may have a different set of requirements for fields, dimensions, and sizes.

App install ad template

The following tables show fields labeled Required or Recommended. The following rules apply:

  • Fields marked Required are required by the bidder.
  • Fields marked Recommended are not required by the bidder, and the publisher may or may not display them if supplied (for example, star rating).
  • Call to Action (CTA) is always marked as Recommended because a default is assigned if one is not sent by the bidder, but it will always be displayed if sent.

The following table lists the fields of an app install ad template. Mobile apps use these fields to create native app install ads.

Field Description Required or Recommended? Always displayed? Recommended image size/max number of chars Example
Headline The app title Required Yes 25 chars Flood-It!
Image A screenshot from the app, or another relevant image Required No 1,200px x 627px or 600px x 600px depending on the aspect ratio required by the publisher. <A screenshot from the game Flood-It!>
Body Main text of the app Required No 90 chars Deceptively simple + tantalizingly challenging = delightfully addictive!
App icon The app icon Required No 128 x 128 px <Flood-it! app icon>
Call to action Preferred user action Recommended Yes 15 chars Install
Star rating Number of stars (0 - 5) representing the app's rating in the app store Recommended No 0 - 5 4.5
Price The cost of the app Recommended No 15 chars Free

Notes about text length

If a buyer sends a text asset (body text, for example) longer than the suggested maximum number of characters, the text may be truncated and ellipsized by Google or the publisher. Note that the truncation limits are half the size in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. For example, the headline limit is 90 for English and 45 for Chinese.

Notes about image size

Publishers are allowed to:

  • Crop the main image symmetrically by up to 20% in one dimension (height or width).
  • Scale the image without changing its aspect ratio.
  • Images that have aspect ratios substantially different than those implied by the height and width may be filtered.

Content ad template

The following table lists the fields of a content ad template. Publishers use these fields to create native content ads.

Field Description Required or Recommended? Always displayed? Recommended image size/max number of chars * Example
Headline The ad header Required Yes 25 chars Lowest mortgage rates
Image The ad's primary image Required No 1,200px x 627px or 600px x 600px depending on the aspect ratio required by the publisher. <Ad's main image>
Body The ad content Required No 90 chars Your home sweet Brooklyn home - cheaper and sooner than you think!
Logo Advertiser's logo or another relevant small image Recommended No 128 x 128 px <NY Mortgage Inc.'s logo>
Call to action User's preferred action Recommended No 15 chars Get a quote
Advertiser Text that identifies the advertiser or brand Required No 25 chars NY Mortgage Inc.

Video app install ad template

Field Description Required or Recommended? Always displayed? Recommended image size/max number of chars * Example
Video The video VAST response containing all necessary assets to play back a video ad. Required No - A URL to VAST XML containing a Flood-It! Video ad
Headline The app title Required Yes 25 chars Flood-It!
Image Image (thumbnail) shown in the player before the video ad is clicked or while it is loading. Required No Should match aspect ratio of video (for example: 1280x720 for 16x9 video, 4x3 for 640x480 video). A screenshot from the game Flood-It! Or from the video
Body Main text of the app Required No 90 chars Deceptively simple + tantalizingly challenging = delightfully addictive!
App icon The app icon Required No 128 x 128 px Flood-it! app icon
Call to action Preferred user action Required Yes 15 chars Install
Star rating Number of stars (0 - 5) representing the app's rating in the app store Recommended No 0 - 5 4.5
Price The cost of the app Recommended No 15 chars Free

Restrictions

  • Video: All video must be in the form of a VAST URL or a VAST Tag. A raw video file such as a WebM, MP4, etc cannot be specified.

  • Text length: If a buyer specifies a text asset such as the body in the response, it may be truncated and ellipsized by Google or the publisher. Note that truncation limits are half the size in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. For example, the headline limit is 90 in English and 45 for Chinese.

  • Image size: Publishers are allowed to:

    • Crop the main image symmetrically by up to 20% in one dimension (height or width.
    • Scale the image without changing its aspect ratio.

App install ad example

native video

Video content ad template

Field Description Required or Recommended? Always displayed? Recommended image size/max number of chars * Example
Video The video VAST response containing all necessary assets to play back a video ad. Required Yes - A URL to VAST XML containing a Flood-It! Video ad
Headline The ad header Required Yes 25 chars Lowest mortgage rates
Image Image (thumbnail) shown in the player before the video ad is clicked or while it is loading. Required No Should match aspect ratio of video (for example: 1280x720 for 16x9 video, 4x3 for 640x480 video). A screenshot from the video
Body The ad content Required No 90 chars Your home sweet Brooklyn home - cheaper and sooner than you think!
Logo Advertiser's logo or another relevant small image Recommended No 128 x 128 px NY Mortgage Inc.'s logo
Call to action User's preferred action Required No 15 chars Get a quote
Advertiser Text that identifies the advertiser or brand Required No 25 chars NY Mortgage Inc.

Meta fields

The following meta fields are shared by all supported ad templates:

Field Description
BidResponse.seatbid.bid.{adm/adm_native}.link.url

The URL of the final landing page that the user will be directed to after they click the ad. It is required to use this field in the case of dynamic landing pages.

BidResponse.seatbid.bid.{adm/adm_native}.link.clicktrackers Optional. Additional URLs that allow advertisers to track user clicks on the ad.
BidResponse.seatbid.bid.{adm/adm_native}.privacy Link to an ad preferences or opt-out page. If present, a standard AdChoices icon is added to the native creative and linked to this URL.
BidResponse.seatbid.bid.{adm/adm_native}.eventtrackers Impression tracking can be performed by including eventtrackers in the native response, where event is set to IMPRESSION.

Representation of the native ad template in the bid request

When receiving a bid request containing native inventory, it will contain the native ad template represented with OpenRTB's NativeRequest message. It provides the following information about the native ad inventory:

  • Assets that are optional or required.
  • Dimensions for images, logos, and app icons.
  • Specifications for the style in which the ad is rendered.

Optional and required assets

You can find the optional and required assets for a native ad impression in BidRequest.imp.native.{request/request_native}.assets. This describes components of the native ad–such as the headline, body, or logo. Each asset included in the request has a distinct id, and populates required as True for those that must be included in the bid response.

Representation of a native ad in the bid response

When bidding on native inventory, you must include a NativeResponse populated with the required assets indicated in the bid request, and may also include any optional assets that were specified. You can include these in a bid response with BidResponse.seatbid.bid.{adm/adm_native}.assets. When you populate assets in the response, each must include the id corresponding to that asset from the bid request.

Example bid requests

OpenRTB Protobuf

OpenRTB JSON

Example bid responses

OpenRTB Protobuf

OpenRTB JSON