[Update] November 10, 2023
Hi Developers,
As we shared in the “Ads Roadmap and Upcoming Changes” post earlier this week, we are building toward an Ad system that is objective-based, drives advertiser value, and respects the user experience. To power the future of Roblox Ads, we have built Ads Manager as a one-stop shop to create, manage, and view reporting for all your ads on Roblox. To date, Ads Manager has only supported Immersive Ads.
We are excited to announce that Sponsored Experiences will move to Ads Manager on November 8th. Starting today, you can begin creating Sponsored Experiences campaigns using Ads Manager with a start date of November 8. The documentation has all the information you need to schedule your first campaign.
Timeline for Sponsored Experiences moving from Roblox.com to Ads Manager
Sponsored Experiences can be created on Roblox.com until November 7, 2023. Sponsored Experiences created on Roblox.com will have a maximum end date of November 7, 2023.
To give advertisers time to set up ads using the new system, we are enabling Sponsored Experiences in Ads Manager today. Advertisers can start scheduling campaigns with a start date of November 8th. After November 8th, all Campaigns will need to be created exclusively in Ads Manager, and we will remove the creation from Roblox.com to consolidate ads under Ads Manager.
Creating an Ad Account on Ads Manager
To create Campaigns on Ads Manager, you will need an Ad Account. Visit Ads Manager and create a personal or business account to get started. Full documentation can be found here.
We heard your feedback at the Ads Manager beta launch in Q2 2023, and we are no longer restricting Ads Manager to only 18+ users. Starting today any user over the age of 13 is eligible to create an Ad Account and start using ads to reach its audience. It is important to note that users between that age of 13 and 18 can only use Ad Credits as a payment method which we believe is the desired payment method for this user group. More details on the payment methods are below and also can be found in the documentation.
Bidding on Sponsored Experiences is now Auction Objective-Based
Previously, the Sponsored Experience system was an impression-based lottery system. Advertisers would place a bid per day, and delivery would be based on the percentage of total bid values in the system your bid represented. That means that advertisers were simply buying “lottery tickets” for the chance to get their ad served.
Moving forward, Sponsored Experiences in Ads Manager will enable advertisers to bid on a “Cost per Play,” and they will only be charged for each Play generated. A “play” is defined as a player joining your experience (after landing on the experience details page). Ads will be delivered through second price auction (details in documentation), ensure fair pricing for advertisers based on performance, and deliver maximum value for the placed bids.
Sponsored Experiences can be purchased using a Credit Card or Ad Credit
Advertisers can create Sponsored Experience in Ads Manager using a Credit Card. This allows new creators and advertisers who don’t have any Robux to purchase paid traffic and promote their experience.
Furthermore, we have heard your feedback about wanting more payment options on the Ads Manager announcement. To reduce friction and to allow the use of existing Robux, we have built an Ad Credit feature that allows developers to convert their existing Robux to Ad Credit. Ad Credits can only be used in Ads Manager. Users can buy Ad Credits with Robux at a rate of 1 Ad Credit = 285 Robux. The minimum amount that a creator can purchase is 10 Ad Credits and once purchased, Ad Credits can not be converted back into Robux. We will refund unused Ad Credits to your Ad Credit balance within 24-48 hours, due to the processing time it takes.
For more information about Ad Credits, please visit our documentation. Campaigns using Ad Credit do not have any daily upper spend limits.
Improving Discovery of Sponsored Experiences
In a commitment to continue improving the Sponsored Ad system, we are currently running a series of experiments to improve the placement of the Sponsored row on the home page. We are testing different placements to improve advertiser value while respecting the user experience.
In the next few weeks, we will move up the placement of the Sponsored row to provide more discovery for Sponsored Experiences. We expect to increase impression opportunities and drive more visibility with a higher placement.
New and Improved Targeting
By integrating Sponsored Experiences into Ads Manager we allow age, gender, device, and region targeting. In the future, Ads Manager will support more advanced targeting.
Improved and Consistent Reporting
The improved UI in Ads Manager allows advertisers to view reporting across all their campaigns in a single view. We will report impressions, plays, cost per play, and more. In the future, we will extend reporting to surface the most relevant information to advertisers.
Thank you.
FAQ
Click here to view the FAQ! (Updated on November 10, 2023)
What happens if I run a campaign with Ad Credits but it doesn’t spend my entire budget?
- We will refund unused Ad Credits to your Ad Credit balance within 24-48 hours, due to the processing time it takes. We will also update the UI status to make this clearer.
Why didn’t the campaign spend my entire budget or show low impressions even though I have a larger budget?
- Ads Manager uses an auction system that means your ad is potentially competing with other ads for the same impressions. Some things that can impact the delivery of your ads are your maximum bid and targeting selection. Since Ads Manager uses an auction system, choosing too low of a bid may result in your ad not getting high rank in the auction or not winning the auction, as ads with higher bids will get prioritized delivery and placement. Selecting a smaller target audience may also make getting delivery harder. You can raise your maximum bid and broaden your targeting to help drive more delivery.
Do I need to be age-verified or ID-verified to use Ads Manager?
- You do NOT need an age-verified or ID-verified account to use Ads Manager. We have updated our documentation to reflect this.
Why is there a larger minimum budget required?
- Currently, we require a minimum of 10 ad credits to run ads: 5 credits per day for a minimum of 2 days. We recognize this is a significantly higher minimum budget than the previous Sponsored Experiences system. The new ad delivery system enables you to bid on conversions and requires more budget to help predict conversions. We are working on fine-tuning the delivery to support smaller budgets in the future.
Why must I include my address when setting up my Ads Manager account?
- This was a holdover from when you could only buy ads using a credit card in Ads Manager. In the coming weeks, we’ll be removing the address requirements for developers who want to run campaigns using ad credits.
Why are you requiring the purchase of Ad Credits at a post-DevEx rate?
- The conversion rate from Ad Credit to Robux is the post-DevEx rate. We recognize that, in the past, developers were able to use earned Robux directly for running ads. However, using a post-DevEx conversion rate enables easy comparisons between ads that are bought in fiat (USD) and ads that are bought using ad credit. Most importantly, ads will be delivered through an auction system. The actual price you pay for ads is determined by the market: advertisers compete to reach the same audience. Advertisers may achieve a better return on investment with this change, given that you can set max bids, target to reach the right audience, and are charged based on an auction.
Why are you removing the ability to create Sponsored Experiences from Roblox.com?
- We want to provide a unified platform to create, manage, and view reporting for all your ads with Ads Manager. We will be able to add improved capabilities, which include better targeting and bidding based on your desired objectives like visits or awareness.
Why is the Robux to Ad Credit conversion rate the same as the DevEx rate?
- To ensure fairness in our advertiser ecosystem, Robux can be converted to Ad Credit at the DevEx rate. Large brands and advertisers have previously purchased Robux at the retail price for the purpose of spending on ads. Creators with earned Robux were able to reuse their earned Robux for ads instead of cashing it out at the DevEx rate. Moving forward all advertisers will be purchasing ads at the DevEx rate. In addition, advertisers are charged based on auction so the real ROI for ads will be based on ads performance and advertisers will be paying the market rates.
How are advertisers charged and what is the attribution model?
- Advertisers are charged for each play. A play is counted when a user clicks on a sponsored experience, lands on the experience detail page, and then enters with the advertised experience within one hour. This charging model is called cost per play (CPP). CPP is beneficial for advertisers as you only pay for performance with a very well defined attribution window.
Why do I no longer see “conversions” metrics in the Ads Manager reporting that I used to get in the old system in the creator dashboard?
- In Ads Manager, advertisers should look for a metric under name “plays” if you are looking to determine “conversions”. Conceptually, both “conversions” and “plays” measure the same metric.