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Documentation Index

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The Outbrain Excel Uploader lets you prepare and launch multiple campaigns at once without going through the UI one by one. You define everything — targeting, budget, bidding, and creatives — in a structured Google Sheets template, export it to Excel, and submit it through TheOptimizer.

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How It Works

1

Clone the Google Sheets Template

Start by making a copy of the Outbrain Excel template into your own Google account:Clone the Outbrain Google Sheets Template →The template contains:
  • A main sheet with one row per ad (campaign settings + creative in each row)
  • Auxiliary sheets with reference data: Countries, Locations, Browsers, IAB Categories, and more
  • Column notes on every column header — hover over the column name to see the accepted values and format
2

Fill in Your Campaigns

Each row in the main sheet represents one ad. To create a campaign with multiple ads, add one row per ad keeping all campaign-level columns identical, and vary only the ad-level columns (image URL, headline, CTA, etc.).Key things to note:
  • Columns marked 🚩 REQUIRED must be filled in — the upload will fail if they’re missing
  • Columns marked 🟡 are conditionally required (e.g. End Date is only needed if Run Forever is set to FALSE)
  • Use the auxiliary sheets to look up valid values for locations, languages, IAB categories, etc.
3

Export to Excel and Upload

Once your sheet is ready:
  1. In Google Sheets, go to File → Download → Microsoft Excel (.xlsx)
  2. Open Campaign Creator in TheOptimizer
  3. From the menu, select Create from Excel
  4. Follow the on-screen steps and submit your file
4

Check Your Email for Confirmation

After submitting, TheOptimizer processes the file and sends you an email:
  • ✅ Successful upload — your campaigns are queued and being created on Outbrain. Track progress from the Campaign Creator page.
  • ⚠️ Upload failed — the email will include a new Excel file with all error cells highlighted. Download it, fix the issues, and re-upload.

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Column Reference

The table below describes every column in the Outbrain Excel template.
ColumnDescription
Traffic Source Account ID🚩 REQUIRED. The Outbrain account ID from TheOptimizer where campaigns will be uploaded. Find it under Traffic Sources in the left menu.
Campaign Name🚩 REQUIRED. The name of the campaign.
Objective🚩 REQUIRED. Awareness, Traffic, AppInstall, or Conversions.
Budget🚩 REQUIRED. Minimum budget is $20. The maximum you want to spend per day, month, or campaign.
Budget Type🚩 REQUIRED. DAILY, MONTHLY, or CAMPAIGN.
Budget Pacing🚩 REQUIRED. AUTOMATIC — even pacing. SPEND_ASAP — spend as fast as possible. DAILY_TARGET — fixed daily amount from monthly/campaign budget.
Budget Daily Target🟡 Required if Budget Pacing is DAILY_TARGET. Daily spend target.
Start Date🚩 REQUIRED. Campaign start date in YYYY-MM-DD format.
Start Hour🚩 REQUIRED. Campaign start hour (e.g., 7 or 22).
Run Forever🚩 REQUIRED. Whether the campaign runs continuously (TRUE or FALSE).
End Date🟡 Required if Run Forever is FALSE.
Selected LocationsComma-separated locations to target (e.g. Italy, France, United States). See Locations sheet.
Excluded LocationsLocations to exclude from targeting. Comma-separated. See Locations sheet.
Platform🚩 REQUIRED. Platforms to target. Values: DESKTOP, MOBILE, TABLET. Comma-separated for multiple.
Operating System🚩 REQUIRED. OS to target. Values: Android, Ios, MacOs, Windows. Comma-separated for multiple.
BrowsersBrowser targeting. Leave empty to target all browsers.
Exclude Ad Block Users🚩 REQUIRED. Whether to exclude adblock users. Values: TRUE or FALSE.
Msn Exclusive🚩 REQUIRED. Run on Microsoft News (MSN) only. TRUE or FALSE.
High Impact Placements🚩 REQUIRED. Whether to include high-impact MSN placements. Values: TRUE, FALSE.
Optimization Type🚩 REQUIRED. TARGET_CPA_FULLY_AUTOMATED or TARGET_ROAS_FULLY_AUTOMATED.
Creative Format🚩 REQUIRED. Standard, Clip, or Carousel.
Scheduling on air daysDay/hour schedule if you want the campaign to run only at specific times. Example: FRI-0-23,SAT-0-23.
Target CPA🟡 Required if Optimization Type is TARGET_CPA_FULLY_AUTOMATED.
Target ROAS🟡 Required if Optimization Type is TARGET_ROAS_FULLY_AUTOMATED.
Conversions🟡 Required if Objective is Conversions or AppInstalls, or if Optimization Type is CPA/ROAS automated. Enter conversion name as shown in Outbrain.
Audience Targeting🚩 REQUIRED. ALL, IAB, or INTERESTS.
IAB or Interests Categories🟡 Required if Audience Targeting is IAB or INTERESTS. See IAB Categories sheet.
IAB or Interests Operation🟡 Required if Audience Targeting is IAB or INTERESTS. include or exclude.
Suffix Tracking CodeURL parameters appended to landing page URLs for external tracking.
CPC🚩 REQUIRED. Default cost per click at campaign level.
Language🚩 REQUIRED. Language targeting.
Target URLTarget URL of the ad (leave empty if using Media Manager Ads).
Image URL🚩 REQUIRED (unless using Media Manager Ads). Ad image URL.
Headline🚩 REQUIRED (unless using Media Manager Ads). Max 100 characters (90 recommended).
DescriptionOptional ad description. Max 150 characters.
Site Name🚩 REQUIRED. Your brand or website name displayed below the ad.
Call to Action🚩 REQUIRED. Call-to-action for the ad.
Media Manager AdsReference a saved Ad group from Outbrain’s Media Manager instead of providing individual image/headline/URL fields.
RulesComma-separated Rule IDs from TheOptimizer to attach to the campaign after creation.
Rule GroupsComma-separated rule group names from TheOptimizer to attach after creation.