Ad unit hierarchy

Ad units are organized into a hierarchy of "parent" and "child" ad units.  

This articles introduces ad unit hierarchy, and the concept of inherited attributes in ad units.  

Hierarchy overview

A "top-level" parent ad unit is at the highest level of hierarchy. Multiple child ad units can be nested under a parent ad unit.

You can view where an ad unit exists in the hierarchy. For example, you can view the child ad units associated with a parent ad unit. Likewise, in the child ad unit, you can view the parent ad unit, as well as the "parent ad unit path," which shows the location of that ad unit within your inventory hierarchy, including which parent ad unit the child is nested under. 

View ad units by hierarchy

There are several ways to view where an add unit sits in the hierarchy. The following steps show one way to locate top-level parent ad units, and then view any child ad units under them.

1. Sign in to Google Ad Manager.
2. Click Inventory, and then Ad units.
3. To locate top-level ad units, next to , click Add new filter, and then:
   1.  Select Parent.
   2.  Enter Top level and click Apply.
4. To view child ad units, under "Child ad units," click View child ad units, and then: 
   1. Under "Name," click the name of a child ad unit. 
   2. To view the parent ad unit path, click Settings.  

Learn how to create and configure ad units. 

Inherited attributes

Ad units inherit some of their settings. In an ad unit, inherited settings are indicated by the  icon.

• Ad units at the top level inherit network settings for inventory.
• Child ad units inherit attributes from their parents, or from default network settings. You can override these inherited attributes in the child.

To learn more about inherited attributes, visit How overrides work.