Custom GAM Creatives

When using GAM for delivering dynamic backdrops or overlays respectively through the backdropURIGamProperties or gamProperties properties, you need to first configure corresponding Creatives in the GAM console.

First off, you need to define a custom creative template specifically for OptiView Ads as documented here.

You can either import this pre-defined template, or follow the steps below.

Apart from assigning a Name and optional Description, you need to perform the following changes:

• Configure a File type variable Image, optionally limiting the allowed file types:

• Optionally configure a URL type variable ClickThrough:

• Configure the Code snippet as follows:

{
  "image": "[%Image%]",
  "clickThrough": "[%ClickThrough%]",
  "impression": "%%VIEW_URL_ESC%%"
}

Note the impression field which is needed for the player to properly handle impression tracking. The special macro %%VIEW_URL_ESC%% is supplied by GAM and will contain a GAM specific impression URL which is called when the backdrop is shown on the client.

In the end it should look like this:

Now that the template is set up, you can start adding creatives as you would otherwise when using standard image creatives, except you need to select this Custom creative template when adding the new creatives:

When editing the creative itself, make sure to select an appropriate Target ad unit size as you would with a standard image creative also. This size corresponds to the sz property values inside the gamProperties.

Besides that, you need to at least also upload or select a suitable image for display.

Now that the creatives are defined, make sure to add them to a line item that is at least in status 'Ready' so delivery can commence (Ref GAM documentation).

That's it! You should now be able to add dynamic backdrops and image overlays which should show up inside the player at the appropriate time and location.