Native Campaigns allow advertisers to serve Native Format A Creatives across supported exchanges, including Index Exchange and Microsoft.

Native advertising integrates promotional content into the appearance and layout of the website or application where the ad is displayed.

When setting up a Native Campaign, it’s important to ensure that your Creatives and targeting settings are compatible with Native inventory. All other Campaign and Line settings, including budgets, bidding, pacing, geographic targeting, and audiences, remain customizable based on your Campaign goals.

1. Upload Native Creatives

1. Navigate to your Advertiser, or create a new Advertiser if needed.
2. Upload one or more Native Format A Creatives.
3. Allow up to 24 hours for the Pontiac Creative Audit to complete.
   • Note: Index Exchange and Microsoft require additional creative approval beyond Pontiac’s Creative Audit. This approval must be completed before Creatives are eligible to serve on the respective exchanges.

2. Create Your Campaign and Lines

Under your Advertiser, create a Campaign and one or more Lines.

Native Inventory and Targeting Recommendations

When configuring your Campaign and Line targeting, consider the following recommendations to ensure your settings are compatible with Native inventory.

• Inventory Type: Select Web, Combined, or In App. We recommend Combined for the broadest reach, while In App may be appropriate for mobile-native strategies and Web for website-specific campaigns.
• Exchanges: Target Index Exchange and/or Microsoft, which support Native inventory.
• Deals and Deal Lists: If targeting Deals, ensure they contain Native inventory and support Native Format A Creatives. Targeting Deals intended exclusively for CTV, Audio, Display, or Video inventory will prevent Native Creative delivery.
• Sites and Apps: Site and Site List targeting applies to Web inventory, while App Name, App Bundle, and App List targeting applies to In App inventory. Ensure these settings align with your selected Inventory Type.
• Device Types: Select device categories compatible with Native inventory, such as Personal Computer, Phone, or Tablet. Restricting targeting exclusively to Connected TV or Set Top Box devices may prevent delivery.
• Content Targeting: Content-level fields such as Channel, Genre, Series, and Title may not be consistently available in Native bid requests. Restrictive Content targeting or enabling Require Field may significantly limit eligible inventory.
• Streaming & Video Targeting: Avoid enabling Livestream or OLV targeting for standard Native Campaigns, as these settings are intended for streaming and video inventory and may prevent eligible Native impressions from matching.

Important: Campaign and Line targeting are evaluated together. Conflicting targeting requirements or targeting that does not align with Native inventory can prevent delivery, even when the Campaign and Line are otherwise configured correctly.

Other targeting options, including Audiences, geographic targeting, Browser, Operating Systems, and advanced settings, can be customized as needed. Highly restrictive targeting may reduce available Native inventory.

For more information on available targeting options, see the Targeting Methods Documentation.

3. Select Your Native Inventory

Native Campaigns can run through supported Native Deals available on Index Exchange and Microsoft.

How to Target Native Deals

1. Navigate to Inventory to explore available Public or Negotiated Deals.
2. Identify Deals that support Native inventory and Native Format A Creatives.
3. Open your Campaign or Line in Edit Mode.
4. Navigate to Edit Targeting > Inventory > Deals.
5. Select the applicable Native Deals.
6. Confirm that your Exchange targeting includes the Exchange associated with each selected Deal.
7. Save your targeting settings.

Important: Not all Deals support Native inventory. Confirm that the selected Deals support the intended Native creative format before launching.

For more information on available Deals, see the Deals Documentation.

4. Associate Native Creatives

1. Open your Line in Edit Mode.
2. Associate your uploaded Native Format A Creatives.
3. Confirm that the Creatives have passed Pontiac’s Creative Audit and any required exchange-specific approvals.
4. Save your Line.

Note: Index Exchange and Microsoft require additional creative approval before Native Creatives are eligible to serve.

For assistance with exchange-specific creative approvals, contact the Help Center.

5. Review Native Inventory Compatibility

Before launching, confirm that:

• Your Lines have approved Native Format A Creatives associated.
• Your targeted Exchanges support Native inventory (Index Exchange and/or Microsoft).
• Any targeted Deals or Deal Lists contain compatible Native inventory.
• Inventory Type, Device Types, and Site/App targeting align with your intended Native environment.
• No incompatible Streaming & Video targeting is applied.
• Any required exchange-specific creative approvals have been completed.

Note: A Line may save successfully even if its targeted inventory is incompatible with its associated Creatives. Always verify inventory compatibility to avoid delivery issues.

Once your Campaign is active, monitor delivery and bidding performance under the Performance tab at both the Campaign and Line levels.

For additional Campaign setup and targeting guidance, refer to the relevant Pontiac Wiki articles or contact the Help Center.