Deactivate or archive an Ad Manager ad unit

You can stop line item delivery to an ad unit by marking the ad unit as "Inactive" or "Archived." This also removes the ad unit from the targeting picker for future line items.

About ad unit status

An ad unit can have one of the following statuses:

Active: Allows line item delivery to the ad unit and displays it in targeting menus.
Inactive: Makes the ad unit ineligible for delivery or for use in rules or other features. Removes it from the targeting picker in line items, rules, and other features. Inactive ad units appear by default on the table of ad units. You can apply the "Status is inactive" filter to locate them.
Archived: Makes the ad unit ineligible for delivery or for use in rules or other features. Removes it from the targeting picker in line items, rules, and other features. Archived ad units do not appear by default on the table of ad units and must be found by filtering. You can apply the "Status is archived" filter to locate them.

Note: Permissions required

To view, deactivate, or archive ad units, you must have the following permissions:

View ad units, placements, and labels
Edit ad units, placements, and key-values

Please contact your Ad Manager administrator if you require permissions.

Deactivate or archive an ad unit

This setting affects ad serving

When you deactivate or archive an ad unit, line items specifically targeted to the ad unit stop delivering to the ad unit. Line items targeted to a deactivated or archived ad unit's child ad units continue to deliver, although the child ad units are not available in targeting menus.

If the ad unit is still included in your Google Publisher Tags (GPT), run-of-network and house line items still deliver, even if the deactivated ad unit was a special ad unit. If a Partner Assignment only targets archived ad units, it will not be considered eligible for serving.

When you deactivate or archive an ad unit, your changes are saved and applied immediately. However, it can take up to 180 minutes before the change affects ad serving. For details, visit Update periods for changes made in Ad Manager.

To deactivate or archive an ad unit:

Sign in to Google Ad Manager.
Click Inventory and then Ad units.
(Optional) To filter for your active ad units, next to , click Add new filter, and then:
1. Select the Status filter.
2. Set the filter to Is and Active, and click Apply.
On the table, under "Name," locate the ad unit you want to change the status of, and check the box next to it.
Above the table, select an option:
- Deactivate: Sets the ad unit to the "Inactive" status.
- Archive: Sets the ad unit to the "Archived" status.
- Activate: Reactivates an ad unit you previously deactivated or archived. Sets the ad unit to the "Active" status.

FAQ

Where are my deactivated and archived ad units?

By default, deactivated ad units show on the "Ad units" table and have the status "Inactive." Archived ad units are hidden from the table.

If your deactivated or archived ad units don't show on the table, check the table filters:

Make sure you don't have a "Status" filter applied to only show "Active" ad units.
Apply a "Status" filter with the settings "is Inactive" or "is Archived."

Can I delete an ad unit?

No. To prevent reporting information from being discarded, ad units can't be permanently deleted.

Can I move an ad unit?

No, but you can deactivate or archive the existing ad unit and create a new ad unit with the same code name in the new location. Code names only need to be unique at the same level of hierarchy.

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