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Campaign Groups

Applies to: Advertisers · Optional feature — available when your network has it switched on

Groups are your own labels for organising campaigns, creatives, pools, ad zones and reports. Pick a group anywhere in the app and every listing that supports groups narrows to it — so "show me only the Q3 Sale work" is one click, not a filter you rebuild on every page.

What this is#

A group is just a name you create. You attach it to as many things as you like, and a thing can carry several groups at once — that's why they aren't called folders. Groups can be nested up to three levels (a group, its children, and their children), and selecting a parent automatically includes everything beneath it.

The Groups page (Advertiser → Groups) is where you create, rename, re-parent and delete them. The groups themselves are then picked from a sidebar or a picker on the pages that use them.

When you'll use this#

  • You run campaigns for several clients, brands or price points and want them separated.
  • You want a report covering one slice of your account, not all of it.
  • You want one selection to follow you from Campaigns to Ad Zones to Stats without re-filtering.
  • (Manager networks) You want a campaign to run only on inventory carrying the same group.

Step by step#

Create a group#

  1. Open Groups from the advertiser menu.
  2. Click New group.
  3. Enter a Group name — make it something you'll recognise in a sidebar ("Client: Northwind", "Price 5 EUR").
  4. Optionally choose a Parent group to nest it, or leave None (top level).
  5. Click Save.

Groups nest up to three levels; a child is created by picking a parent.

Attach a group to something#

Groups are assigned from whatever you're editing, not from the Groups page:

  • Campaigns — in the campaign's basic settings, or in bulk from the campaigns list.
  • Creatives, Creative Pools, Ad Zones, Direct Deals — from the group picker on each item.
  • Websites — optional groups on the website record.

Use a group as a filter#

  1. Open any page with a group sidebar — Campaigns, Creatives, Creative Pools, Shared Reports, Ad Zones, Direct Deals or Publisher Statistics.
  2. Click a group in the sidebar. The listing narrows to it.
  3. A group context bar appears above the table: "Group: Price 5 EUR — Clear group".
  4. Navigate to another one of those pages — the same group is still selected. Click Clear group when you're done.

The context bar is the thing to watch. The selection follows you across pages, and the sidebar is hidden on narrow screens. If a page looks unexpectedly empty, check the context bar first — it turns amber and tells you when a group filter is the reason.

Re-parent or delete a group#

  1. On the Groups page, edit a group and change its Parent group to move it (and everything under it).
  2. To delete, use the group's delete action, or tick several and delete them together.
  3. Deleting a group does not delete anything it was attached to. Its children are moved up to the top level, and the label is simply removed from every campaign, zone, creative and pool that carried it.

Options reference#

Group fields#

Field What it does Notes
Group name The label shown everywhere. Must be unique within your account.
Parent group Nests this group beneath another. None (top level) leaves it at the root. Maximum three levels deep.

Where groups apply#

Surface Group sidebar Assign groups
Campaigns Yes Yes, including bulk assign
Creatives Yes Yes
Creative Pools Yes Yes
Shared Reports Yes Yes
Ad Zones Yes Yes
Direct Deals Yes Yes
Publisher Statistics Yes — (filters on zone groups)
Websites — Yes

Group targeting (manager networks only)#

On AdManager networks two extra switches turn groups from a filing system into a serving rule. Both are off by default and set per record:

Switch Where What it does
Only run on zones in my groups Campaign → Targeting step The campaign serves only on ad zones that share at least one of its groups.
Only accept campaigns in my groups Ad zone → Settings The zone accepts only campaigns that share at least one of its groups.

A campaign with the restriction on carries a Group-restricted badge in the campaign list, so you can see why it isn't delivering without opening it. Cloning a campaign copies the restriction.

Because both sides are opt-in and independent, a campaign restricted to a group that no zone carries will serve nothing at all. Add the group to the inventory first, then arm the switch.

Example#

Separating two clients. Priya manages campaigns for two clients out of one account.

  1. On Groups she creates Northwind and Contoso at top level, and under Northwind adds Northwind — Retargeting.
  2. She bulk-assigns the right group to each existing campaign from the campaigns list.
  3. When Northwind asks how last month went, she clicks Northwind in the group sidebar. Campaigns, Creatives and Shared Reports are all scoped to Northwind for the rest of the session — including the Retargeting child group, because selecting a parent includes its descendants.
  4. She builds a shared report for that group and sends it on.
  5. Afterwards she clicks Clear group in the context bar so the next piece of work starts unfiltered.

Tips#

  • Name groups by what you'll search for, not by what they contain — "Client: Northwind" beats "Banners 2".
  • Keep the tree shallow. Three levels is the maximum, and two is usually enough.
  • Selecting a parent includes its children, so put the broad label at the top and the specifics underneath.
  • Always clear the group context before concluding something is missing. A sticky filter is the single most common cause of "my campaigns disappeared".
  • A thing can carry several groups. Use that instead of trying to force one strict hierarchy.
  • Deleting a group is safe — it removes the label, never the campaign.

Troubleshooting#

Symptom Likely cause Fix
A page shows no rows and I know it has data A group filter is still active from another page Check the group context bar above the table and click Clear group
I can't create a child under a child under a child Three levels is the depth limit Restructure, or attach two groups to the item instead of nesting further
A group name is rejected A group with that name already exists in your account Pick a different name
I deleted a parent group and its children moved Deleting reparents children to the top level rather than cascading Re-nest them under a new parent
My campaign shows Group-restricted and isn't serving Group targeting is on and no zone carries a matching group Add the group to the inventory, or switch the restriction off in the campaign's Targeting step
I don't see the group targeting switch It's only offered on manager networks Expected elsewhere
Groups don't appear on Advertiser Statistics That page doesn't have a group sidebar Use the group sidebar on Campaigns to find what you want, or build a shared report