How to launch a campaign

Click Add → Campaign. In the Expert mode tab, click Reach campaigns.

• To create a campaign with a video, select Videos.

• To create a campaign with a video that can't be skipped, select Non-skippable videos. Use this type of placement for videos up to 15 seconds long to get more 100% completed views. However, this increases video ad cost. Non-skippable ads can be placed only in InStream videos.

Step 1. Configure campaign parameters

1. Name the campaign and enter a link to the site. Yandex Direct automatically finds the Yandex Metrica tags installed on your site.

2. Select an ad strategy. We recommend automatic strategies:

   • To get maximum impressions for the selected cost, select Pay per view.

   • Decrease cost of repeat impressions to launch new products and services on the market.

   • Maximum impressions at minimal cost to promote products and services with a target audience.

   • Increase search volume on Yandex to make your display ads increase the share of search queries mentioning your brand and its products. You can create a campaign with this strategy only when you launch a Search Lift survey.

   • Increase site visits to make your display ads generate more site sessions. You can create a campaign with this strategy only when you launch a Visit Lift survey.

   • Increase site conversions to make your display ads generate more on-site conversions. You can create a campaign with this strategy only when you launch a Target Lift survey.

   • Increase brand metrics^β to make your display ads stimulate growth in brand metrics. You can create a campaign with this strategy only when there is a new Brand Lift survey linked to the campaign.

   Select the impression goal: full views or site traffic. You can't change the impression optimization settings after campaign creation.

   Specify the budget distribution period (a custom period or week), budget, and the average CPM (if you selected “Pay per view” as the campaign's strategy).

3. Goals from your Yandex Metrica tags automatically appear under Conversions. If needed, edit the list of auto-selected goals: delete the ones you don't need or add new goals. If the tags don't have any goals, the service will suggest adding them in Yandex Metrica.

4. Set the campaign period, time targeting, and the impression frequency limit.

5. If the campaign meets the Brand Lift, Search Lift, Visit Lift, or Target Lift criteria, run the surveys.

Step 2. Set up your target audience

1. Select the display regions.

2. Configure audience accumulation for retargeting. For each selected event, Yandex Audience automatically creates a separate segment under the account hosting the Yandex Direct campaign. It will include users who started viewing or viewed 25%, 50%, or 75% of at least one video from the ad group (depending on the selected event).

   To learn more, see Retargeting to a video audience.

3. Select the impression criteria. You cannot change the type of impression criteria after you save the ad group.

   • A user profile consists of the cumulative characteristics of the users that you want to serve your ads to. These include gender, age, and online interests. Determine what your particular audience looks like and create a profile based on that data.

   • Genres and categories: Impressions in InStream videos with the specified genres and categories. For example, you can serve an ad for a restaurant inside a cooking video.

4. Add adjustments.

5. Check how many users may see ads from a particular group using the reach forecast.

Step 3. Set up the ad

Enter a link to your site or social media page

Additional details about your offer open on banner click. Learn more about display links.

Create a video

Use your own video clip to create an ad. You don't necessarily need to hire professionals or rent a studio. You can film a video with a smartphone that has a good camera.

The video must meet the moderation rules and the following technical requirements:

Format	MP4, WebM, MOV, QT, FLV, AVI
Size	Maximum 100 MB
Duration	Between 5 and 60 sec For non-skippable ads, max video duration is 15 seconds.
Aspect ratio	16 : 9; 1 : 1; 9 : 16
Minimum resolution	360p
Recommended resolution	1080p
Video frame rate	Between 20 and 30 frames/second
Video codecs	H.264, VP6F, VP8, Theora
Number of video tracks	1
Minimum quality	44 kHz, 16 Kbit/s, stereo
Audio codecs	AAC, MP3, Vorbis
Number of audio tracks	0 or 1
File codec	avc1, F4V, isom, M4A, M4V, mp4, mp41, mp42, qt
Cover	No

Consider the ad player layout when preparing your video: in particular, the position and design of the click-through button. The button is fixed in the lower-left corner of the video. You can't change its color or position.

• We recommend that you place your key ad content in the center of the video, with a 20% buffer zone at the bottom of the frame.
• If your video needs a notice, put it in the lower 10% of the screen so that the buttons don't block the notice.

You don't need to insert legal notices into the video when building your ad. Add the notice to Legal information when uploading your video: the notice will be available in the top-right menu of the video.

How to create a video using Video Builder

1. Under Video, click Builder. The video builder window opens.

2. Upload a video from your computer or using a link, or select a video created in Video Builder. The audio is added automatically from the uploaded video.

It will take a few minutes to process your video clip. If the video fails to meet the technical requirements, it won't upload. You will see an error message. Fix it and upload the video again.

3. Add a packshot, which is an image to show up for several seconds after your video. It helps to imprint the image of an advertised object in the viewer's mind. You can use a product photo or a company logo for a packshot. Clicking on the packshot will take the user to your site.

Packshot requirements

Format	JPEG
Image width	From 1080 to 3840 pixels
Image height	From 1080 to 3840 pixels
Aspect ratio	Same as the video aspect ratio

4. Select the text for the redirect button.

5. Set an age label, if necessary. In the Legal information section, provide the information required by law and Yandex Ad Serving Rules. In the ad, they will be available in the menu in the upper-right corner of the video.

6. Click the Create button. The video will be added to the ad.

Examples of safe area locations in different video formats

• Vertical

  

• Horizontal

  

• Square

  

In most cases, the safe areas are positioned as shown in the examples above. However, there may be some exceptions.

Add subtitles to your video

Your message can reach users who watch videos without sound. Subtitles will be visible on all video formats and won't be overlapped by buttons or other interface elements. Select the creation method.

• Automatic. Generate the subtitles automatically. On average, this takes less than a minute. You can edit them later if needed: to do this, download, modify, and re-upload the file.

• From file. Upload a file with your subtitles in SRT or VTT format (maximum file size is 2 MB).

Once created, the subtitles will appear in your video in the preview area, where you can check if the text is synced with the video.

Subtitles will be added to the video as long as they don't cover the important parts of the visual content.

Please note that videos are moderated, so make sure that the subtitles match the words spoken in the video.

Plan your design

• The logo increases the brand's visibility before users watch the video.

• The action button contains a call to purchase or learn more about the services. Users will know in advance where their click will take them: for example, to a product page or an order form. This increases the number of target clicks.

• In the title and text, use the company's slogan or provide information about your special offers: for example, discounts or delivery options.

• The image carousel helps to shorten the user's path from the ad to a potential purchase. Upload from 1 to 7 slides.

Both the text and the button will be clickable. The text will include the same link as the video. You can also set an additional link for the button and in the carousel to bring users to the product or service page.

The logo, button, and title with text may appear next to the video in text content, in apps, and in rewarded videos. The position and renderability of elements depend on specific ad platforms and placements. The more extensions you add, the more ad options your audience will see on different ad platforms.

Enter a Yandex Audience pixel and impression tag

You can use the Yandex Audience pixel to develop different scenarios of connecting with your display ad audience. The pixel is special code embedded in your advertising materials.

Create a pixel in Yandex Audience. For more information, see Yandex Audience Help.

Add the pixel code to the banner. After the impressions begin, the pixel starts to collect [anonymous IDs](*anon-id) of users who have seen your ad. You can use this data when you set up your retargeting.

You can use the ADFOX tag or Yandex Metrica pixel to count ad impressions for display ads. The tag or pixel must include the %random% macro. They must also support HTTPS.

Click Launch campaign.

As an advertising data operator, Yandex assigns each creative a unique identifier referred to as "token" when creating campaigns. It uses this token to aggregate all your placement data and send it to the Unified Register of Online Advertising (ERIR). Learn more about ad labeling.

Create a display campaign

Ad moderation and launching a campaign

Ad serving will begin as soon as Yandex receives your payment. If your account has enough funds, the campaign will start automatically.

Moderators will check whether the ad follows the guidelines. It usually takes the moderators a few hours to review ads. On weekends and holidays, moderation may take longer than on weekdays.

Your moderation results will be emailed to the address you provided when you created the ad campaign.

After you launch your campaign, you can view what your ads look like on a site.

Learn more

• User profile

• How to evaluate performance of video ads

Questions?