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Reels ad zones

Applies to: Publishers

What this is#

A Reels ad zone shows portrait (9:16) video ads in a box on your page, in the style of short-video feeds. The ad starts playing when the box scrolls into view and pauses when it scrolls out, so it never plays where nobody sees it. A click opens the advertiser's landing page.

Which formats you can create depends on your network: it decides which ad zone types are switched on, and creating a Reels zone needs the matching permission on your account.

When to use it#

  • Mobile-first sites, galleries and feeds where visitors scroll vertically.
  • Pages with a vertical slot, e.g. beside an article on desktop or between items in a mobile feed.
  • Advertisers who already make short vertical videos for social media can reuse them here.

Settings#

Reels zones have no settings card of their own. Everything you set on the zone is shared with all zone types: name, website, category, rating and status, see Ad Zones.

How the player behaves is fixed: the video plays muted, loops, shows player controls, and starts and pauses with scrolling. The generated tag carries the parameters skip_btn, auto_hide, controls, muted, autoplay and loop, but the Reels player doesn't read them today, so changing them in your copy of the code has no effect.

Getting the code#

On the Ad Zone Code tab:

  1. Put the Controller loader tag on the page once (best in your site's shared header).
  2. Paste the zone's code where the reel should appear: a <div> with a maximum size (by default 480 × 640 pixels) and one script line.
<div id="id_11708551" style="max-height:640px;max-width:480px"></div>
<script>goCtrl.add({"plugin":"reel","sid":11708551,"display":"id_11708551"});</script>

Keep the div's id and the display value the same. Using the zone twice on one page? Give every copy its own id and repeat it in display. More in Ad Controller.

Selling it#

Reels zones can be filled by RON campaigns, CPM campaigns and flat-rate deals, as your network allows. Advertisers buy them as the Reels ad type: portrait video for mobile, full-screen placements.

Tips#

  • Give the box a portrait shape. A wide box leaves black bars beside the video.
  • On mobile, place the reel between content blocks rather than at the very top: the ad only plays once it's visible, so a reel that's never scrolled to earns nothing.
  • Pair a Reels zone with your normal banner zones; it adds a format rather than replacing one.

Troubleshooting#

Symptom Likely cause Fix
Nothing appears No Reels campaign targets the visitor, or the loader tag is missing. Check the loader tag; use Preview on the Ad Zone Code tab.
Video doesn't start The box isn't in view yet. It starts when scrolled into view; that's by design.
Changing muted or loop in the code does nothing The Reels player has these fixed. Leave the tag as generated.
Black bars around the video The box isn't portrait. Use a portrait size (the default 480 × 640 works).