Budget and Scheduling

This guide outlines how to manage your budget and scheduling settings within Ads Manager to ensure your campaign achieves optimal reach and performance.

Bidding

Bid Type: By default, and for most self-serve users, the only available bid type is CPM (Cost per Mille), meaning the bid price is set for 1,000 impressions served.

Bid Price: Bid prices vary depending on the media type your ads will serve on. Use the table below to set your minimums and follow strategic recommendations for best results.

Media Type Minimum CPM Recommended CPM Strategic Note
Mobile & Desktop Display $3.50 Varies Increase for short-flights or high-competition events
Mobile & Desktop Video $3.50 $8.00 $8.00 suggested for optimal pacing and scale
CTV & OTT (Standard) $25.00 - Base rate for standard inventory
CTV Top Networks (Premium) $35.00 - Available only with CTV; required for premium inventory
Audio

$19.00 (Streaming)

$25.00 (Podcasts)

- Note: If targeting both Streaming & Podcasts, the minimum CPM is $25.00

Budget and Flight

There is no minimum budget requirement on Ads Manager for any media channel.

Determining a Budget

To determine the ideal budget for your campaign goals, leverage the Forecasting Tool located on the right side of the campaign setup screen:

  1. After setting your campaign’s targeting parameters, you’ll see daily available impressions estimate. 💡 Pro Tip: Ensure your daily budgeted impressions are lower than the daily available impressions for optimal performance.
  2. In the Timeframe box enter the following:
    1. Flight dates (start and end date) 
    2. Budget (only Ad Group budget and Daily Budget can be edited here)
    3. Impressions (option to back into a dollar amount if you input desired impressions first)

Advanced Settings

Time Period Budget

Time Period Budgets allow you to allocate specific amounts to different dates within a single ad group. Unspent budget from an earlier period will automatically carry over to the next to ensure full utilization.

Within the Timeframe box you can enable this feature by selecting “Add Another” below the first timeframe.

Budget Carry-Over Scenarios:

  • Scenario 1 (Underpacing): If you have three $100 periods (T1, T2, T3) and T2 only spends $50, T3 will automatically increase to a $150 budget.
  • Scenario 2 (Paused Campaigns): If an ad group is paused during T1 and relaunched at the start of T3, all remaining funds from T1 and T2 will be added to the T3 budget.

📌 Note: There cannot be gaps between time periods. If you prefer budgets not to roll over, we recommend creating separate ad groups for each flight or utilizing the Daily Budget feature.

Day Parting

Day parting allows you to specify certain hours or days of the week for ad delivery. To maximize reach and delivery, ad groups default to All Times. This allows your campaign to capture high-intent audiences at any hour, 7 days a week.

If you wish to select the specific timeframes during which your ads can deliver, then the pre-set options include:

  • Weekend: Saturday and Sunday (All hours)
  • Weekdays: Monday through Friday (All hours)
  • Early Morning: 5 AM – 10 AM (All days)
  • Evenings: 5 PM – 1 AM (All days)
  • Late Night: 10 PM – 4 AM (All days)
  • Working Hours: 9 AM – 6 PM (All days)
  • School Hours: 8 AM – 4 PM (Monday – Friday)
  • Happy Hour: 6 PM – 9 PM (Monday – Friday)
  • Custom: Choose your own days and hours

Tracking Pixels

​​To measure conversions or web engagement, you can add pixels at the ad group level. For a deep dive into setup, visit our [GroundTruth Pixel Overview page].

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