Exploring Google’s UAC – Ad Assets
Published: August 6, 2018
Author: Molly Shotwell
If you’re an app advertiser, you’re familiar with Universal App Campaigns – but are you a UAC pro? Today 3Q & Google are breaking down some common UAC questions that you might have, starting off with questions about ad assets.
So what is UAC? UAC (Universal App Campaign) is Google’s first asset-based app install campaign type. An asset is any ad component, such as an image, text, or video, and in UAC they’re treated as individual building blocks. There are 3 benefits to trying out asset-based advertising:
- Simplicity: By adding assets individually rather than fully blown creatives, you’re giving Google the building blocks to create dozens of different permutations of ad formats on the fly, with very little effort.
- Control: Using asset-based ads gives you the control to define each specific building block and its messaging to end users.
- Performance: Google’s machine learning models can determine what message to show to what user, on different surfaces, in different times – to best resonate with end users at a time when they’re most likely to complete an action (in this case, install an app).
Common Questions about Ad Assets
What is an ad format?
The specific format a creative is rendered on (e.g. interstitial AdMob or YouTube Trueview).
Where on the Google network do text, image, video, & HTML assets serve?
- Text: Google Play Homepage, Google Play Browse, Google Play Search, Search Ads, YouTube Native, Gmail App Install, AdMob (all sizes)
- Image: YouTube Native, Mobile Web, AdMob (all sizes), AdMob GIF
- Video: YouTube Trueview, AdMob Rewarded, AdMob Native, AdMob Portrait, AdMob Square, AdMob Landscape, Mobile Web
- HTML: AdMob Interstitial, AdMob Square, AdMob Banner
Where does each video aspect ratio serve on UAC?
- Portrait: AdMob
- Interesting Stat #1: Portrait videos have up to a 60% higher conversion rate compared to Landscape videos served in portrait mode.
- Interesting Stat #2: Nearly 70% of the impressions served on AdMob are in portrait mode.
- Square: AdMob
- Landscape: YouTube + AdMob
Google Tip: Running all 3 video aspect ratios helps maximize reach across Google’s network. However, if you know that your most valuable users are only on Portrait/Square, remove Landscape videos so you are only serving on AdMob. If you know YouTube is the most valuable network, remove Portrait & Square. Please only do this once you have tested out all of the video ratios.
UAC creates automatic assets for me if I don’t upload any. Where do they come from?
UAC scrapes either the app store or the Google Play Store to create automatic assets if you do not upload any.
How many assets can I upload?
You can upload 4 lines of text, 20 images, 20 videos, & (now) 20 HTML5 assets.
What are the most important asset sizes to prioritize?
Based on the frequency with which they serve across the Google Network, they are:
- 320×480 (Portrait Interstitial)
- 480×320 (Landscape Interstitial)
- 300×250 (Square)
- 1024×768 (Tablet)
- 768×1024 (Tablet)
- 320×50 (Banner)
- 1200×628 (Landscape Image)
- 728×90 (Leaderboard)
- 300×50 (Banner)
- 320×100 (Banner)
What is the optimal # of assets in a UAC campaign, and what kind?
Text: 1-2 text ideas (out of 4) are shorter than 20 characters
Image: 2 variations each of the top 10 high-reach recommended dimensions (see above list)
Video: 10 landscape videos, 5 portrait videos, 5 square videos
Stay tuned for Part 2 of this UAC series, out tomorrow!
