The Creative section of the GroundTruth Ads Manager serves as the final, critical bridge between campaign strategy and real-world audience engagement. By consolidating multi-channel asset deployment into a unified workflow, the platform ensures your visual assets are optimized to run seamlessly across CTV, Mobile, Desktop, Audio, and DOOH.
Accessing the Creative Section
Ads Manager utilizes a dual-path entry strategy to ensure you can manage your visual assets regardless of where you are in the campaign lifecycle:
Option 1: The Campaign Dashboard Entry (Recommended)
Within your main campaign dashboard, click the green Manage Creatives button located directly below the performance chart and above your ad group list. This provides a direct gateway to the unified creative workspace.
Option 2: The Post-Ad Group Creation Prompt
Immediately after successfully configuring an ad group, a "You did it!" confirmation modal appears. To proceed directly to asset deployment, select Add creatives from the "What would you like to do next?" menu to maintain momentum.
Navigating the Creative Dashboard
The Creative Dashboard operates as a "single pane of glass," consolidating assets across Mobile, Desktop, CTV, and Audio to ensure brand and strategic consistency.
Workspace Component Analysis
- Ad Group Cards: Organized in a side-by-side layout, these cards provide essential metadata at a glance, including Ad Group Name, Flight Dates, Objective (e.g., Reach), and Creative Type tags (indicating support for Image, Video, or Audio).
- Global View Controls: Use the Expand all and Collapse all toggles to control the level of detail visible across all cards, optimizing visual density when managing extensive campaigns.
- Optimization Toggles: Each card features a Rotate evenly toggle. When enabled, the platform distributes serving opportunities equally across assigned creatives of the identical dimension. This provides a controlled environment for A/B split-testing, if you wish.
Note on Creative Sizes & Delivery: An ad slot can only accept creatives that match its exact dimensions. Creatives of different sizes (e.g., 320x50 vs. 300x250) do not compete against each other in auctions. Because market inventory availability and win rates vary across ad sizes, total impression delivery will naturally vary across different dimensions even with rotation enabled.
Intelligence-Driven Design & Suggestions
To maximize campaign deliverability, the platform provides real-time format suggestions and flexible sourcing options directly inside the upload interface:
- Priority Dimensions: The system recommends specific formats - typically 300x250 and 320x50 for mobile display, and 1920x1080 for video. These sizes are prioritized based on historical performance data and high inventory volume across the GroundTruth network.
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Flexible Sourcing Options: When clicking the Add creative drowdown within any format slot, you can select from 3 sourcing methods
- Upload new: Browse and upload a new asset file directly from your local computer.
- Choose from repository: Select an existing asset previously saved in your tenant's central library. [Read more about Creative Repository].
- Create with AI: Instantly generate dynamic, ready-to-use creative assets using our native AI engine. [Read more about Using AI Creator for Video].
- If you wish to upload a creative size that's not part of our native suggestions, simply click the +Add another creative button.
- A preview of the uploaded ad will display once successfully uploaded.
- Political creatives need to be approved by GroundTruth prior to campaign launch.
- URL shorteners such as bit.ly or TinyURL are not accepted as website URLs.
Post-Ad Click Strategy
Upon user engagement, you must define the audience's destination after clicking your ad using one of three primary mechanisms:
🌐 External Website: Select Enable website to direct clicked traffic to any external, advertiser-owned destination URL.
📱 GT Landing Page: Select Enable landing page to launch our native, mobile-friendly interactive builder. A toggle at the top of the configuration window allows you to switch seamlessly between the asset preview and the landing page setup to ensure visual harmony. [Learn how to configure Mobile Landing Pages]
📍 Dynamic Text Overlay: Once an asset is uploaded, this toggle option becomes visible. It is typically used to display dynamic, real-time physical distance from the user to your closest storefront. [Read more about Dynamic Distance]
⚙️ Advanced Options (Optional Tracking): Expand the Advanced options section to input third-party click trackers, impression pixels, or specific placement IDs.
Troubleshooting & FAQs
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Are there creative compliance guidelines we need to follow before launching?
Yes. Please review the [Ads Manager Creative Policy] to learn about compliance guidelines, restricted categories, and prohibited visual content. -
Is there a manual approval process before my ads go live?
Standard display ads built within our specification limits are typically auto-approved. However, sensitive categories (such as political ads or CBD) require manual policy review. Additionally, Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) inventory undergoes a unique, channel-integrated review process before activation. [Read more about DOOH Approval] -
How do I change my landing page URL? You can update the destination URL for your ads using either of the following methods:
- Edit an Individual Creative: In the creative dashboard, select the creative you want to modify, enter your new link into the "Website URL" field, and save your changes.
- Bulk Update Across Assets: In the creative repository, check the box next to each asset you want to modify, click "Bulk Update" in the top toolbar, and enter the new destination URL. [Read more in Creative Repository]
Display Assets (Mobile & Desktop)
Display ads are the versatile backbone of mobile and desktop engagement. Adhering to these technical specifications prevents inventory rejection and ensures clean, high-fidelity rendering across all screens.
The Four Input Methods
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Image File: Supports JPG, JPEG, PNG, and GIF formats with a strict 150 KB size limit.
- If using GIF animation, consider the number of frames used to meet file size limitations.
- Script / 3rd Party Tags: Allows external tag integration. The UI provides a live preview pane to verify script rendering before launch. [Read more about Script Tags]
- Text Banner Builder: Access our native text banner generator directly inside the workspace. Customize a solid Background color via the hex color picker, upload a Logo (40x40px), input your Business name, and enable a Scrolling caption for dynamic text. [Read more about the Text Banner Builder]
- HTML5: Supports rich media assets via raw ZIP folder upload with a generous maximum file size limit of 32 MB. [Read more about HTML5]
The Asset Matrix
Ensure your display creatives are pre-formatted to one of GroundTruth's supported dimensions:
| Standard & Large Formats | Wide & Tall Formats | Mobile & Alternative Formats |
|---|---|---|
| • 300x250 • 300x600 • 728x90 |
• 160x600 • 600x300 • 720x240 • 640x160 • 640x320 |
• 320x50 • 320x480 • 480x320 • 1024x768 • 640x213 • 768x1024 • 300x50 • 640x360 • 640x960 |
Video and Audio Assets
For high-impact storytelling in CTV, OTT, and streaming environments, "sight, sound, and motion" are paramount.
Video Specifications (CTV, OTT, Mobile, Desktop, DOOH)
- File Format: .mp4 or .mov only.
- File Size Limits: < 50 MB for digital channels; < 30 MB for Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) screens.
- Supported Resolutions: 1920x1080, 1080x1920, 1280x720, or 1024x768.
- Asset Duration: Must be between 5 and 120 seconds (under 30 seconds is highly recommended for optimal completion rates).
- Required Inputs: Every video creative requires a unique Creative Name and either a destination Website URL or a VAST Tag URL.
Audio Specifications (Podcast & Streaming)
- File Format: .aac, .mp3, .ogg, or .wav.
- File Size Limit: Maximum of 30 MB.
- Asset Duration: Must be between 5 and 60 seconds.
- Audio Quality Standards: Must maintain a constant Bit Rate between 128 to 512 Kbps and a minimum Sample Rate of 44,100 Hz.
- VAST Integration: You may utilize a VAST Tag URL for third-party hosting, delivery, and audio impression tracking.
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