How To Set Up An Instant Play Ad

Instant play video ads are designed to be extremely high performing without hindering user experience. Videos automatically play when the placement is within view and it will not play audio unless the user engages with it..

Please note: You must have a video file available for upload in order to create a Video View Ad

Instant Play Details

• Video begins playing when the unit is 50% in view and stops when it is no longer 50% in-view
• A Viewable Impression is counted when it is in view for greater than 1 second
• A View is counted when the player is within view for greater than 3 seconds 
• The video will play audio and expand when the user engages with it
• The video will not restart after the video has completed

Setup Instructions

Step 1: Creative Type

From your Direct Sell screen, select the Campaign you would like your video creative to run under or create a new Campaign. Once in the correct campaign, select New Creative to begin your creative setup and select Instant Play Video as seen below.

Step 2: Content URL

SFP will attempt to populate the thumbnail, headline, and description of the creative based off the content URL provided on this screen but all details can be edited on the following screen. This URL will also be used as the click-through link for this creative.

Step 3: Ad Units & Variants

Creative Editor

On this page, you can create one or multiple headline variations with the same or different thumbnails to add variety to your campaign. You can also use our mock up on the right to see a snapshot of how your ad will appear on a mobile page or your could use the Preview Creative button (see the red arrow below) to see your ad rendering on your live page where Sharethrough is live.

Creative Optimization

Smart use of creative optimization is the easiest way to increase the performance of your campaigns. The default setting is to automatically optimize your traffic towards the best-performing variants, but you can also choose to divide impressions equally between all variants. This option is not relevant if you are only running one creative variant.

Third Party Tracking Tags

Third party beacons are sometimes used to verify delivery, but are completely optional. These 1x1 pixels can be fired on the impression, visible impression, impression, click, or video play. For more information on beacons, please read our article on Third Party Beacons.

Step 3: Ad Units & Variants

The final step is to upload your video file. You can upload video files in the following formats: 3g2, 3gp, asf, avi, dv, flv, mov, mp4, mpeg, mpg, qt, and wmv. Video files cannot be larger than 1 GB in size. We also advise that file types not contain spaces or special characters. Example: Video1_Sharethrough.mp4