Social ad
- Available formats
- How to get started with social ads
- Launching a campaign
- Ad moderation
- Payment and campaign start
- Requirements and restrictions
Social advertising helps you draw attention to important social topics: for example, charity, personal health, or the environment. You can use such ads to tell users about a social program, charity foundation, or helpline.
Available formats
In Yandex.Direct, you can create and manage social ad campaigns with a fixed CPM.
- Display banner on the Yandex Home page: This is placement under the Yandex search bar and on a new tab in Yandex Browser. Such banners are seen by millions of users every day. For more information, see Display banner on the Yandex Home page.
- Banner in ad networks: Targeting the desired audience in the Yandex Advertising Network. Set up social ad impressions based on important user characteristics. For more information, see Display banners.
- Video ads: Impressions in the Yandex Video Network in the legitimate content of verified partners (for example, InStream videos, InPage content, or Interstitial in-app ads). For more information, see Video ads.
The ads are labeled with a “Social ad” icon.

How to get started with social ads
To get access to social ad placement:
- Please read the moderation requirements for ads and advertised sites, as well as with Social advertising requirements.
Create a new Yandex account. You can use this account only to place social ads in Yandex.Direct.
To submit a request for social advertising, fill out the form below. In the form, specify the Yandex.Direct username created in paragraph 2.
Request form
Launching a campaign
The procedure for launching an ad campaign depends on the selected format:
- Step 1. Go to the campaign creation page and set parameters
-
Click
. Enter the campaign name and link to the advertised site. Enter the campaign settings:- Set the display regions. In the Available products field, select:
- Social. Home page. Moscow: If you want to display ads only in Moscow and the Moscow Oblast.
- Social. Home page. Regions: If you need geotargeting for other Russian regions.
You can't change your product choice after campaign creation.
- Set the campaign start and end dates. The campaigns are placed strictly by calendar week, so make sure that the campaign starts on Monday and ends on Sunday. The campaign dates can't be after the product validity dates.
- Specify the number of impressions you want to get. It must be within the values specified in the product description.
You can also cap impression frequency to limit how many times your campaign ads can be served to the same user.
- If available, select placement positions: on the desktop or mobile version of the Yandex Home page, or on the new tab page in Yandex Browser.
- If, when creating a campaign, you selected Social. Home page. Regions, set the display regions.
If you selected Social. Home page. Moscow, then Moscow and the Moscow Oblast will be automatically set as the display region.
- Specify the Yandex.Metrica tag on your website.
- Step 2. Create an ad group.
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After the ad campaign is created, the page opens where you can create the mandatory ad group. If available, you can set a profile for the audience you want to show your banners to.
- Step 3. Add creatives
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Add creatives of any size to the mandatory group: click
. Upload an image or HTML5 banner from your computer or choose a previously added banner. You can add any creatives to other ad groups.Learn more about requirements for HTML5 banners and HTML5 banners with expandable block. The banners must also meet the moderation requirements and formatting requirements:
Specify up to three links to the website. Make sure that the sequential number of the link matches the clickNum parameter value when calling the method
homeExpandableDesktopBannerAPI.clickAndClose(clickNum)
from the banner code.
- Step 1. Go to the campaign creation page and set parameters
-
Click
. Enter the campaign name and link to the advertised site. Enter the campaign settings:- In the Available products field, select Social. Banner.
You can't change your product choice after campaign creation.
- Set the campaign start and end dates. The campaigns are placed strictly by calendar week, so make sure that the campaign starts on Monday and ends on Sunday. The campaign dates can't be after the product validity dates.
- Specify the number of impressions you want to get. It must be within the values specified in the product description.
You can also cap impression frequency to limit how many times your campaign ads can be served to the same user.
- If available, select placement positions: on the desktop or mobile version of the Yandex Home page, or on the new tab page in Yandex Browser.
- If available, set the display regions.
- Specify the Yandex.Metrica tag on your website.
- Step 2. Create an ad group.
-
After the ad campaign is created, the page opens where you can create the mandatory ad group. If available, you can set a profile for the audience you want to show your banners to.
- Step 3. Add creatives
-
You can upload the ad creative from your computer or create one in Ad Builder. You can upload an HTML5 banner or an image file as a creative.
To pass moderation, creatives must meet the requirements.
- Create using Ad Builder
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You can use Ad Builder to make a creative based on a template and tweak the design, or generate creatives automatically based on your site content.
We recommend creating an adaptive creative. It automatically adapts to the appropriate ad block and is displayed on more sites. If you have creatives for image ads that you made previously using Ad Builder, you can use them.
More information about Ad Builder.
- Upload from computer
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You can add multiple ads to an ad group, with each ad corresponding to a single creative.
An ad creative uploaded from a computer must meet the following requirements:
Maximum file size 150 KB File type ZIP (for HTML5 banners)
Technical requirements for HTML5 banners
JPG, PNG or GIF (for images)
Size in pixels 160×600, 240×400, 240×600, 300×250, 300×300, 300×500, 300×600, 320×50, 320×100, 320×480, 336×280, 480×320, 728×90, 970×250, 1000×120 Maximum file size 150 KB File type ZIP (for HTML5 banners)
Technical requirements for HTML5 banners
JPG, PNG or GIF (for images)
Size in pixels 160×600, 240×400, 240×600, 300×250, 300×300, 300×500, 300×600, 320×50, 320×100, 320×480, 336×280, 480×320, 728×90, 970×250, 1000×120
- Step 1. Go to the campaign creation page and set parameters
-
Click
. Enter the campaign name and link to the advertised site. Enter the campaign settings:- In the Available products field, select Social. Video.
- Set the campaign start and end dates. The campaigns are placed strictly by calendar week, so make sure that the campaign starts on Monday and ends on Sunday. The campaign dates can't be after the product validity dates.
- Specify the number of impressions you want to get. It must be within the values specified in the product description.
You can also cap impression frequency to limit how many times your campaign ads can be served to the same user.
- If available, select placement positions: on the desktop or mobile version of the Yandex Home page, or on the new tab page in Yandex Browser.
- If available, set the display regions.
- Specify the Yandex.Metrica tag on your website.
- Step 2. Create an ad group.
-
After the ad campaign is created, the page opens where you can create the mandatory ad group. If available, you can set a profile for the audience you want to show your ads to, as well as the display regions.
Configure audience gathering for retargeting:
You can accumulate an audience of users who have viewed a video from your display campaign and then use it to configure retargeting.
Choose the events that interest you:
- video impression
- completed 25%, 50%, or 75% of video ad
- completed entire video
A separate segment is created automatically for each event in Yandex.Audience, 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).
- Step 3. Add creatives
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Use your own video clip to create a creative. You don't necessarily need to hire professionals or rent a studio. You can take a video on your smartphone if it has a good camera, or create a video Video Builder.
The creative must meet the moderation requirements and the following technical requirements:
Format MP4, WebM, MOV, QT, FLV, AVI Size 100 MB maximum Duration 6-60 sec For non-skippable ads, max video duration is 15 seconds.
Aspect ratio 3:1, 2:1, 1.9:1, 16:9, 4:3, 1.91:1, 1:1, 3:4, 4:5, 9:16, 1:2, 1:3 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, mmp4, mp41, mp42, qt Cover No Format MP4, WebM, MOV, QT, FLV, AVI Size 100 MB maximum Duration 6-60 sec For non-skippable ads, max video duration is 15 seconds.
Aspect ratio 3:1, 2:1, 1.9:1, 16:9, 4:3, 1.91:1, 1:1, 3:4, 4:5, 9:16, 1:2, 1:3 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, mmp4, mp41, mp42, qt Cover No - How to create a video creative in Video Builder
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Go to the ad creation page. In the Creative section, click . The Ad Builder window will open.
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.
Add a packshot, which is an image to show 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 requirementsFormat JPEG Image width From 1080 to 3840 pixels Image height From 1080 to 3840 pixels Aspect ratio Same as the video aspect ratio Format JPEG Image width From 1080 to 3840 pixels Image height From 1080 to 3840 pixels Aspect ratio Same as the video aspect ratio Configure the "go to site" button: set the color scheme, position on the creative, and select the text.
Set an age label, if necessary. In the Legal information section, provide the information required by law and Yandex Ad Serving Rules.
Click the Create button. Your creative will be added to your ad.
- Step 4. Add a landing page
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Clicking on the banner opens a Turbo page, website, or social media page with your offer details.
You can create versions of your landing page for different device types.
To make the ad lead to your main site from computers and tablets and to your Turbo page from smartphones:- In the Landing page section, go to On desktops and tablets and select Link to website or social media page . Enter a link to your website page.
You can also land users on your Turbo page from any device type. Select Turbo page in both sections under Landing page.
Ad moderation
After you create your ads, they are checked for compliance with the design requirements and moderation rules: In order to pass moderation, also make sure that you have enough funds on your shared account to pay for placement. If you can't deposit the total amount in full now, write to your Manager at Yandex.
On the campaign page, click terms of ad placement on Yandex. It usually takes the moderators a few hours to review ads.
and confirm that you agree with theYour moderation results will be emailed to the address you provided when you created the ad campaign.
Payment and campaign start
If you received a grant from the “Helping Hand” initiative, but the funds are not enough to run your campaign, you can pay the missing part yourself.
Your ads will begin displaying as soon as Yandex receives your payment.
On the Shared account page, click the Top up button. In the Add funds to account window, enter the payment amount, select the “Bank transfer” payment method, then click Issue an invoice.
You can use the generated bill to make a payment order in a bank or in an online banking system. Before you make the payment, make sure that you correctly entered all your payment details and your Yandex.Direct account number in the payment order.

The payment will be deposited within 1-3 business days depending on what bank is making the payment.
To find out how to get accounting documents, read ../payments/docs.html#clearing .
When topping up the account, choose “Company credit card” as the payment method and click Issue an invoice.
Corporate Visa, EuroCard/MasterCard and MIR cards are accepted if they are issued to your business. The maximum payment amount is 49,999.99 rubles.
The payment occurs instantly, and the money is credited within 15 minutes to 1 hour.
To find out how to get accounting documents, read ../payments/docs.html#clearing .
If you have questions related to payment for ad campaigns or the billing documents, you can contact the Customer Service Department.
You can check the campaign status in the Status column. To set up the column display, click Columns on the campaign page.
Requirements and restrictions
The full list of advertising rules and requirements can be found in the following documents: