Create ad units and placements#

Create and manage ad units and placements from the Placements page of the Unity Ads Monetization dashboard.

Setup guidelines#

Remember the following guidelines when creating ad units and placements or planning your overall monetization strategy:

• One ad unit can only be set up for bidding or waterfall, not both.

Placement guidelines#

• For bidding setups, Unity recommends using the default six bidding placements provided automatically in your project for better performance and easier setup. Since bidding placements require no extra configuration, they are a convenient starting point.
• You can't repurpose waterfall placements for in-app bidding because you need to generate a bidding Placement ID from the Monetization dashboard to link into your mediation partner’s dashboard.
• The dashboard generates a Placement ID based on your original placement name. While you can rename your placement later, you can’t change Placement ID, so choose the initial name carefully.

Mediation project guidelines#

• New projects using some mediation platforms, namely, Unity LevelPlay and AppLovin MAX, can only create bidding placements. Waterfall placements will automatically be unavailable. Projects with waterfall setups can continue to create and use waterfalls.

Depending on whether you have a bidding or waterfall setup, the setups steps differ slightly, especially during placement setup. For waterfall placements, you need to define geo-targeting, set target eCPMs, and optionally add additional placements, including a backfill placement.

Bidding setup#

Unity recommends using the default six bidding placements provided automatically in your project for better performance and easier setup. Since bidding placements require no extra configuration, they are a convenient starting point.

1. Go to Placements from the navigation menu, then click Add Ad Unit.
2. In the Ad unit section, do the following to create an ad unit:
   1. Enter the Ad unit name.
   2. Select your app Platform.
   3. Select the Ad format.
   4. Select Bidding as the setup type.
3. In the Placement section, enter a name for your placement.

   Note: The dashboard generates a Placement ID based on your original placement name. While you can rename your placement later, the Placement ID cannot be changed, so choose the initial name carefully.

4. Click Add Ad Unit.

If you’re using Unity LevelPlay or another trusted mediation partner like AppLovin MAX, you’ll need to locate the bidding placement you created and copy the associated placement ID. This Unity bidding placement ID is required to map to your partner’s equivalent bidding placement in their dashboard.

Waterfall setup#

1. Go to Placements from the navigation menu, then click Add Ad Unit.
2. In the Ad unit section, do the following to create an ad unit:
   1. Enter the Ad unit name.
   2. Select your app Platform.
   3. Select the Ad format.
   4. Select Waterfall as the setup type.
3. In the Placement section, do the following to create a placement:
   1. enter a name for your placement.

   Note: The dashboard generates a Placement ID based on your original placement name. While you can rename your placement later, the Placement ID cannot be changed, so choose the initial name carefully.

   1. Set your geo targeting: select one or more regions, select a pre-made geo collection, or select Global. Refer to Geo targets for more information.
   2. Set your target price for this region.

   Important: Although eCPM targets can help to drive your specified eCPM, implementing these restrictions will limit delivery and potentially impact your overall revenue. Higher targets have a higher risk of decreasing overall revenue by filling less.

   1. Select + Target to add additional geo targets with different prices per placement as desired.
4. Click + Placement to add more placements if desired, and follow the previous step to complete it.
5. Select + Backfill placement to add a backfill waterfall placement.

   Note: Backfill waterfall placements are used to display ads when targeted ads aren’t available. This optional setting is recommended because it ensures ads are always shown in your app, maximizing your ad fill rates and revenue.

Geo targets#

Use the Geo Target field to select which countries to target. The default setting (Global) includes all countries. It's recommended that you can select from Geo Collection presets, or choose which countries to include manually.

You can have multiple geo targets for a given Placement, but you must specify at least one geo target to create the Placement. Select Add Geo Target to add geo targets with distinct price points.

Bulk manage eCPM targets in a CSV#

You can import a CSV file to bulk add or edit eCPM targets. You can download the template from the dashboard help text, or export your existing configuration by selecting Download.

Edit the form by filling out the following columns:

After you have made your edits, save the document as a CSV file and select Upload to import your changes. You must verify any changes before saving them to the dashboard. If any errors exist in your file, the verification modal will advise you.