What is the Nimbus Dynamic Unit?

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The Dynamic Unit is Nimbus' proprietary offering for in-app programmatic native advertising. Our incredibly flexible unit can be customized to suit almost any app's unique visual and UX needs without sacrificing available demand — resulting in a great-looking, unique ad that appeals to both publishers and buyers. The Nimbus Dynamic Unit is a game-changer in the world of in-app advertising, and a must-try for any publisher looking to maximize their advertising potential.

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What Makes It Great?

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Infinite Customizability. Unlike other SDKs, with the Nimbus Dynamic Unit you can make your ads look however you want. Want a full screen horizontal slider like Snapchat? No problem. Full screen vertical slider like TikTok? No problem. Want an X button? Great. No X button? Also great. It's infinitely visually customizable.

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No Demand Limitations. The Dynamic Unit accepts programmatic demand in multiple formats. It is not limited to "native programmatic demand." Native programmatic demand is notoriously spotty — it's very hard to come by, and what's out there doesn't always work well. The Dynamic Unit gives you access to a vastly increased ecosystem of demand, letting a native unit fill and earn CPMs at levels more akin to static or video.

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How It Works: The Nimbus Dynamic Unit vs. Traditional "Native"

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When using Nimbus, it is important to understand that "native" and "native" can mean different things:

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"Publisher Native Ads" are ad units that have been custom-designed by publishers to work with their specific product, layout, and user experience. It may be a fullscreen, side-swipeable unit like Tinder, or something even more custom. You are looking for demand to fill this unit.

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"Native Programmatic Ads" refers to a specific type of ad delivered by certain demand partners. These ads are delivered in "pieces" and then assembled per your app's specifications, therefore giving you some ability to customize. Within Nimbus, demand partners offer specialized "native ads" that follow these format conventions.

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The Nimbus Dynamic Unit, however, means you are not required to only fill your "publisher native ad" with "native programmatic ads," solving the problem of limited demand in programmatic native auctions. The unit accepts programmatic demand in multiple formats, and widens the auction to bidders who are bidding on interstitial, static, and video demand.

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How It Works: Achieving a Native Feel

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Nimbus works with 45+ demand partners in the core auction, and we are able to make each and every creative asset they send to your app look great within the custom-designed Dynamic Unit.

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Once you've specified your Dynamic Unit design, there is no extra work for you. No matter the ad type, the Nimbus SDK automatically places the winning creative to best fit your Dynamic Unit container. Dynamic Unit rendering is smart and flexible. It can automatically resize creative to the size and shape of your publisher native ad unit container, scaling when appropriate, adding letterboxing to the top, bottom, or sides when appropriate. Or, you can choose not to scale. The decisions are in your hands.

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Depending on your implementation, your CPMs might not be as high as they would be in a traditional static-only or video-only unit, but they will almost certainly be significantly higher than the CPMs garnered by "native programmatic ads." And, of course, you can A/B test and experiment to your heart's content to find the best performance for your app and your unit.

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How Top Publishers Use the Dynamic Unit

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Timehop uses the Nimbus Dynamic Unit to deploy Snapchat-style, full-screen interstitial ads — auto-muted, and without a close button or any ad timers. Users swipe right to advance, and up for a click-through.

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Tumblr uses the Nimbus Dynamic Unit to deploy a "publisher native ad" that scrolls along with in-app content, and then appears full-screen before the user swipes it away to continue.

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Imgur uses the Nimbus Dynamic Unit in a similar way to Timehop, to serve ads within the swipe-based in-app user experience.

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FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Additional questions and additional considerations

Is the Nimbus Dynamic Unit difficult to implement?

No. The Nimbus Dynamic Unit is only slightly more complex than a general Nimbus implementation. Most of the technical lift comes with the customizations, which are up to you, and can be expanded over time.

Am I limited to "programmatic interstitial" in the Dynamic Unit?

No. You can also run static, video, and Meta native. Due to this expanded demand available for your unit — and the almost universal tendency for static, MRAID, and VAST demand to vastly outperform "native programmatic" in these units — it actually ends up being very rare for our publishers to implement "native programmatic" within their "publisher native" units. But if this is something you are interested in, we will work with you to enable it successfully.

Does Nimbus offer traditional "programmatic native" demand?

Yes, we do. Our primary partner for this type of demand is Meta through the Meta Audience Network.

Is the Dynamic Unit oRTB compliant?

Yes. The Nimbus Dynamic Unit utilizes the oRTB spec and is fully compliant with all standards to ensure proper performance and reporting. Of course, in these situations, you, the publisher, must take care to not violate any standards. Your Nimbus account rep can help you ensure your ads conform to spec.

I am only running static. Is the Dynamic Unit worth it?

Probably. The biggest consideration here is the pixel dimensions of the unit itself. If it is big enough, you can add programmatic interstitial and video demand on top of the programmatic static you're already running. These ad types typically have much higher CPMs and increase demand competition.

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Get Started with Nimbus

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Reach out to your Nimbus Account Manager to learn more about the Nimbus Dynamic Unit, or send us an email at adops@nimbus.co.

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Visuals: existing one-sheet diagrams (publisher native vs. native programmatic vs. Dynamic Unit flow; Timehop/Tumblr/Imgur screenshots). Note: source PDF still shows the legacy adsbynimbus.com contact — updated to nimbus.co here per brand rules.

The Nimbus Dynamic Unit: A Native Ad Experience Without Sacrificing Demand