Paramount Ad Manager FAQ

Paramount is a leading producer of premium content. Our powerful and unique portfolio of brands, including Paramount, Pluto TV, CBS, MTV, VH1, and Comedy Central is #1 in key U.S. target demos.

Paramount Ad Manager is a self-service tool that enables businesses of any size to connect with our valuable and engaged audience of 80M+ in brand-safe, long-form, fan favorite programming across our entire streaming television ecosystem, including Paramount+, Pluto TV, TV Everywhere apps, and channels on vMVPD providers. 85% watch on television glass.

Paramount Video/Display is our built-for-brand solution that connects advertisers to the full scale and power of Paramount streaming, across all content and distribution points.

Paramount, TV everywhere apps, vMVPD and MVPD streaming apps, MVPD STB VOD, and Pluto TV.

Paramount Video includes all available programming across our brands and streaming platforms. Top titles include 1883, Yellowstone, CSI, NFL, Survivor, The Challenge, CBS Sports HQ, and the CBS News Streaming Network.

The Entertainment product combines the power of CBS Entertainment, including #1 Primetime, #1 Late Night, and #1 Daytime, with Paramount+ exclusive originals, culture-defining favorites from MTV, Comedy Central, VH1, CMT, Paramount Network, and top films on Pluto TV.

The Sports product includes the biggest moments in sports on CBS including the NFL, SEC, PGA, NCAA Basketball; CBS Sports HQ, UEFA league soccer on Paramount+; and top sports channels on Pluto TV. Top programming includes CBS Sports HQ, NFL Live Streaming, UEFA Champions League, First Things First, and Fox Sports Now.

The News product combines the trusted reporting and world-class storytelling of the CBS News Streaming Network, including 14 local streams. Programming includes CBS News Streaming Network, and CBS News local streaming channels in Los Angeles, Bay Area, Sacramento, Denver, Miami, Chicago, Baltimore, Boston, Minnesota, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Dallas Fort Worth. 

Through the products on Paramount Ad Manager, you have the opportunity to advertise alongside Paramount’s vast library - from Paramount+ originals, sports, news, movies, and more. We do not offer the opportunity to advertise on a singular show on this platform. If you are interested in sponsorship or integration into our shows, please reach out to support@selfservice.paramount.com, and we can introduce you to a Paramount Account Executive.

Paramount Ad Manager uses a CPM (cost per mille, or cost per 1000 impressions) cost model, allowing our advertisers to reach the largest audience possible.

Using Paramount Ad Manager, you can build a campaign that will be viewed on all available platforms; TV Glass (OTT & Set-top Box VOD), Mobile (Phone & Tablet) & Desktop.

If your objective is to reach potential consumers via banners/display creative, you can also build a campaign that will be viewed on Desktop & Mobile platforms across all available Paramount brands.

Paramount Ad Manager allows you to reach the visitors on our websites, across all of our brands. Advertisers can advertise with our platform by creating a Campaign. Creating a Campaign through Paramount Ad Manager is easy, it just requires choosing simple targeting options and uploading at least one creative.

Targeting allows you to show your Campaign to a selected group of visitors; the Creative is the video, image or text that the Advertiser will see on our websites. For display campaigns, don’t worry if you don’t have creative, you can build one from scratch in our easy-to-use Creative Builder!

Paramount Ad Manager lets you choose between a number of different types of content and geotargeting  to reach your target audience. You can choose from the following options when building your video or display campaign:

1. Run of Portfolio - Will deliver, with no targeting, against any/all content across the Paramount digital portfolio.

2. Entertainment, News and Sports Targeting - Separate content bundles against specific content pools.

3. State, DMA and Zip Code Targeting - Multiple layers available for geo-targeting

4. Audience & Behavioral Segment Targeting (Coming Soon) - Uses 3rd Party Audience segments to target select users or behaviors

When creating your campaign, you will add one or more creatives. A Creative is the image or video that will be shown to the visitors you target. You can either upload your  Creative from your hard drive (like a JPG image or MP4 video file), a 3rd party creative tag, or create your display creative from scratch through our easy-to-use Creative builder. Read more in the Creative section. Note: all creatives are subject to review before going live.

After paying for your Campaign(s), they will be organized under one Order. Use the Orders page to print a receipt for each transaction. You can also reach all Campaigns in the left hand side menu under Campaigns.

The product selector/products you select will determine the CPM/price per 1000 impressions for your campaign.  The selected product will have additional targeting options for your campaign (i.e. geotargeting options) once selected.

After selecting a Product, you will input your budget for the Campaign. Based on your selected Product, Paramount Ad Manager will calculate the amount of impressions you will get for your budgeted amount, using the current CPM of the product. Each product has its own CPM, so the impression volume will vary based on your product choice(s).

Campaign prices for Paramount Ad Manager are sold on a CPM basis: the CPM option allows advertisers to pay based on the cost per 1000 impressions. The campaign minimum is $500 and the maximum is $25,000.

You can check the status of your campaign to make sure impressions are being delivered and on track for full delivery  by choosing a specific campaign and viewing the Creatives and Performance tabs. You can also edit your campaign in this section. You can view the final statistics of your campaign in the Reports section.

Targeting is the way in which you customize your campaign and decide who will see your ad. You determine which visitor groups will be able to see your ad through our targeting options. It is important to make sure your targeting options are not too specific so that your campaign can reach as many visitors as possible. Read more about this in our targeting best practices section.

The targeting options available are based on the campaign products available to you in the Create a Campaign section, for example content & visitor location. Note that the Product you set when creating your campaign will have an impact on the targeting options that are available to you. Read more in the Introduction to Campaigns section. 

The targeting options available are:

Geotargeting

Use geotargeting to reach users based on their geographic location. You can alter this by selecting States, DMA,and/or Zip Codes.

Frequency Capping

Frequency capping limits the amount of times a visitor will see your Campaign within a set time span. Video campaigns are preset for one impression per 30 minutes per visitor; Display campaigns have additional frequency capping capabilities. 

Content Matter

Select between Entertainment, News and Sports content for targeting these specific pools of inventory.

Advance Audience & Behavioral Targeting (Coming Soon) 

A menu of scalable segments will be available in future product releases

If you do not set any targeting options, your campaign can be shown to any visitor who visits our websites and Apps.

You can either upload a completed Creative (JPG, PNG) from your computer or from your creative library (where previously used creatives are saved), or build a Creative from scratch through our easy-to-use Creative builder. Advanced users can also upload a Third party script. 

All submitted creatives need to be approved by our team before the Campaign goes live. You will be notified by email if your creative is approved or rejected. You have the option to submit new Creatives if you are not satisfied with the submitted ones. 

Read more about best practices to consider when selecting your creative here.

The “Build a Creative” option is available in the Creative section for Paramount Ad Manager display campaigns. This option is great to use if you don’t have a display creative available. To use this option, you simply upload an image and fill in a few fields and the creative will be created for you.

Creatives can be submitted during the Campaign creation flow or added later. If you have unpaid Campaigns, you can edit them and add more Creatives. If you have paid for your Campaigns, you can go to Campaigns to reach the Creative section again, and add more Creatives.

Creatives will be approved or rejected by the Paramount Ad Manager team within 3 business days.

You cannot edit an approved Creative on a running Campaign, but you can add new ones. This is a great choice if you’d like to A/B test your creatives and optimize whichever one seems to capture more clicks. You can pause or resume the creative you are using for the campaign at any time, but must have at least one active creative per campaign available.

You can manage the creatives on a campaign by entering the creative section under Campaigns, and pressing the edit button.

In the campaigns section, you can see the status of all of your uploaded creatives. These statuses include:

• NO CREATIVE: No creatives were added for this Campaign. The Campaign will not deliver until a creative is added and approved.

• UNDER REVIEW: A creative has been added, and is waiting to be approved by the Publisher.

• APPROVED: The creative was approved by the Publisher.

• ACTIVE: At least one creative was added and approved, the campaign has started.

• INACTIVE: The creative have been inactivated and is no longer shown to the audience. You can pause and resume the creative any time you like.

• REJECTED: The creative was rejected and if this was the only creative, the Campaign cannot deliver. 

• EXPIRED: The Campaign passed the End date before the Creative was approved.

Creatives are the fun part of every ad campaign! This is your chance to show your consumers what your brand or product is all about. Give your campaign an improved chance for success by following our best practices for creatives. 

1. Use high quality images and videos
   The image or video you select is the first impression your consumers will have of your brand. Ensure that the creative you use is clear and high quality to add credibility and interest to your campaign.

2. Add a clear CTA (call to action)
   Add a short, succinct and clear call to action for every creative. The CTA should prompt the consumer on what to do next- should they click, read more, get excited? Your CTA will tell them the answer. Your CTA should also be short as the average span is only 8 seconds! If your message cannot be clearly conveyed in 8 seconds, take a second look. Finally, be sure your CTA conveys a clear value proposition about your product or brand to let your audience know why they should be interested.

3. Simple Design and clear font
   Add a creative with a simple design and easy to read font so that your product and CTA are the main focus of your ad.

4. Consistency with design, style, and voice
   Make sure both your ad and landing page have a consistent design, voice and color scheme to demonstrate that it’s clear the two are related. Inconsistency here can cause your ad to look untrustworthy. 

5. Think across screens
   Choose a creative that can work on multiple devices and formats. You want to be sure your ad reaches as many people as possible, so having a creative that can work across devices ensures it will reach the maximum number of consumers.

6. A/B test your creatives
   A/B test and modify your creatives based on the results of your campaign, and on the users you want to target. Keep your user personas in mind when designing your creative, and test which creative is resonating with each persona. You can also test whether or not your banner or video campaigns are more effective with your audiences and customize your creatives and campaigns accordingly.

7. Have fun
   This is your chance to showcase your brand’s creativity and voice - add unique and fun copy and images to engage your target audience.

To stop a Campaign from delivering, pause it from the Campaigns page. The Campaign will stop delivering impressions until it is un-paused.

Campaigns that have been submitted and paid for can be edited from the Campaigns page. Certain options are no longer available for editing compared to when you initially created your Campaign, such as the campaign budget and dates. In order to edit your budget or campaign dates, you can pause your delivering Campaign, copy it and submit a new Campaign with new dates.

Your campaign may no longer be delivering because it has passed the selected end date for your campaign. In order to continue to campaign to deliver more impressions, you will need to create a new Campaign. 

An additional reason a campaign might not be delivering is if you have no active creatives. You can view all of your submitted creatives in the campaigns page. Make sure at least one is active for the campaign to deliver.

If you are still having issues, please contact the support team directly by using the Support button in the dropdown menu in the top right corner.

Your campaign may no longer be delivering because it has passed the selected end date for your campaign. In order to continue to campaign to deliver more impressions, you will need to create a new Campaign. 

An additional reason a campaign might not be delivering is if you have no active creatives. You can view all of your submitted creatives in the campaigns page. Make sure at least one is active for the campaign to deliver.

If you are still having issues, please contact the support team directly by using the Support button in the dropdown menu in the top right corner.

To view the status of your campaign, go to the Campaigns page. Various statuses are available based on your campaign progress, these include the following:

• DRAFT: The Campaign has been started but not finalized but is still editable.

• INACTIVE: There are no approved creatives added to the campaign. 

• LIVE (READY): At least one creative has been approved and the campaign is ready to go live at the set start date.

• LIVE (DELIVERING): The campaign is currently delivering impressions. 

• COMPLETED: The campaign has fulfilled the budget and is no longer delivering impressions.

• CANCELLED: The campaign has been cancelled and will no longer deliver impressions. 

• PAUSED: The campaign has been paused and is no longer delivering impressions. The campaign must be resumed in order to deliver impressions. 

• PENDING: The campaign has been set up and paid for but missing creatives

You can view various reports on the success of your campaign by selecting different reports under reports on the left side menu. The Dashboard in each campaign presents real time data about the performance of a subset of your Campaigns. The Campaigns page will present a list of all your Campaigns and present performance numbers. 

The Reports section also allows you to download a report containing all performance related numbers from your campaign. You can additionally activate automated scheduled reports that will be sent to your email.

The following metrics are available in the exported Reports in the Report section. Note that some metrics may be filtered on a certain date range, depending on the settings you select when creating the report. The metrics listed in reports include:

• Booked impressions: The amount of impressions that were included in your budget when you created your campaign.

• Budget: The budget you set when creating your campaign.

• Clicks (display campaigns only): The amount of clicks that occurred during the filtered period. 

• Delivered impressions: The amount of impressions that occurred during the filtered period. 

• CTR (display campaigns only): The “click-through-rate” is the number of clicks received, divided by the number of delivered user impressions. The CTR is presented in percentages. 

• Spend: The total amount of the campaign budget spent based on the delivered impressions.

When you have finished creating your Campaign, you will be taken to the Checkout. From here you can choose to pay for the Campaign, or to add more Campaigns. The Platform supports payment by credit card through our secure payment provider, and many major credit card providers are supported.

When you checkout, you will be charged for all of the booked impressions for all of the campaigns.

If your Campaign delivers an impression amount lower than what you budgeted for, the platform will automatically refund the amount that was not delivered to your credit card after the Campaign has ended. 

In the event of under delivery of impressions, the value of non-delivered impressions will be calculated and refunded. Please note that the validity period of the credit card used to purchase the Campaigns should cover the whole delivery period for all Campaigns that were part of the booking, as refunds can only be issued for the same card used for paying for the campaigns. Please refer to the (Terms and Conditions) for details about the Paramount Ad Manager refund policy.

You can update your billing information under profile in the top left corner and choose the tab Billing.

Paramount Ad Manager only accepts USD.

Payment statuses are listed in the orders section. They include the following statuses: 

• SETTLED: Payment is confirmed and the budget has been captured from the credit card. 

• INVOICED: payment option for this campaign was invoice and the invoice will be sent from Paramount Ad Manager’s invoicing system. 

• COMPLETED: All campaigns that were part of the booking are completed. Any potential under-delivered impressions have been calculated, and a potential refund is issued.

• SENT FOR REFUND: Refers to when a refund is issued due to undelivered impressions or cancelling in the campaign. It usually takes 2-5 business days to complete the refund.

• INVALID CREDIT CARD: There is an issue with your credit card. For more information please contact MX Player. A contact form is available through the Support button in the dropdown menu in the top right corner.

• PAYMENT FAILED: We couldn't process your payment and had to pause your campaign. To resume your campaign, please update the payment information.

You can update your account information by clicking on the user icon in the top right corner, then clicking Profile and then edit. 

You will be asked to enter your billing information when buying your first campaign. This information can then be edited anytime in the profile under the Billing tab.

You can reset your password by logging out and completing the 'Forgot Password' form on the Login page, or you can edit your password in the profile when you are logged in.

In order to change the email address associated with your account, you need to contact us using  the Support button in the dropdown menu in the top right corner.