Today we’d like to introduce you to the v201111 version of the DoubleClick for Publishers API. v201111 is one of our largest versions yet; it includes some highly-requested features such as full support for mobile ad serving, new creative types including templates, video player environment targeting, reporting updates, and suggested ad units. A full list of features can be found on our release notes page .
Mobile
As part of our ongoing effort to expand our publishers’ networks to mobile platforms , we’ve made it easier than ever to create and target mobile inventory in the API. Starting in v201111, you’ll find the targetPlatform field on the AdUnit and LineItem objects. This field allows you to specify that an ad unit represents a piece of mobile inventory, or that a line item is only meant to serve to mobile ad units. If a line item is marked as mobile, you can also specify manufacturer , carrier , and device targeting . New examples for how to create mobile ad units and line items will be made available next to their web counterparts in the client library examples shortly.
Creatives
In v201111, we’ve added a few new creative types, most importantly template creatives and custom creatives . Although both allow you to create richer advertisements, they differ in how you will want to use them in your solution. While custom creatives allow you to specify an arbitrary htmlSnippet with accompanying assets , creative templates allow you to reuse creative formats that will appear on the DFP user interface. Using creative templates, you can then create template creatives in which you can set variables to an already defined html snippet by the template.
We’ve also added the ability to view creatives as they would be served. To do this, pass the web page’s URL containing the appropriate ad tags, creative ID, and line item ID to the new LineItemCreativeAssociationService.getPreviewUrl() method.
Video
Along with the new mobile support in the API, we’ve expanded our video capabilities. In v201108 , we added the ability to specify that a line item will serve to a video player environment . By enabling this setting, you can associate companion ads to run alongside the video. In v201111, as a DFP video publisher with a content feed, you can target individual videos within your content management source as well as positions within those videos .
Inventory
We’ve also added the SuggestedAdUnit service . This premium-only service enables you to add a new ad unit to an ad tag before defining it in DFP. This allows you to run forecasts for it before traffickers can start targeting line items to it; this functionality is similar to auto-created zones in DART for Publishers. If the ad server receives at least 10 requests for an undefined ad unit, the SuggestedAdUnitService.getSuggestedAdUnitsByStatement method will return that suggested ad unit. The suggested ad units can then be approved using the ApproveSuggestedAdUnits action. You can find an example of how to do this in our client libraries. Please also make sure that you are a premium user and that you have enabled this feature in your account through the User Interface. For more information, see the premium inventory help page.
Reporting
For v201111, we’ve added new columns and the feature to break down reports by dimension attributes . Whereas in the past you would have to manually correlate reports with objects fetched from services, this new feature allows you to include information such as a line item’s start time , an order’s trafficker , or an order’s external ID directly in the report to better integrate DFP reports with your system.
Follow-up posts in the discover series
Over the next few weeks, you’ll have the chance to get to know all of the features a bit more in the Discover DFP v201111 series starting first with the updated features for the mobile platform. And as a final note, if you haven’t signed up for our first ever hangout yet, we’d love to see you there!
Adam Rogal , DFP API Team
