Digital Media News

Banner Ad Requirements And Suggestions To Consider

Written by Tim Nichols | Feb 3, 2013 6:23:00 PM

Banner ad requirements are important to know and understand. There are few technical requirements imposed on banner ads (if they are dynamic ads, static or anything in between) by Exact Drive. As an initial requirement, a single banner ad must render properly multiple times during the audit process, regardless of any parameter or restriction assigned. Therefore, frequency capping or geo-targeting set outside of Exact Drive will interfere with the audit process. Please have geo-targeting and frequency capping parameters from third party ad servers turned off during our audit process. The most popular Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) standard banner sizes Exact Drive works with are: 728×90, 300×250, 160×600 and 300×600.

Banner Ads Can Be Rejected For The Following Reasons

- The ad does not display at all
- The ad is wrong tag size
- No privacy policy on landing page that requests personal identifiable information (PII)
- The banner ad intermittently does not display
- For expandable banner ads or other banner ads with interaction, the banner ad attempts the interaction but does not function properly.
- The banner ad has multiple versions with different brands under a single ad tag
- A single banner ad represents and clicks through to multiple different brands’ landing pages
- For video banner ads, a pre-roll ad for a different brand plays before the actual offer
- banner ads with multiple brands must link to landing page(s) having the same single consistent brand.
- The banner ad is clicked and does not open a landing page
- The banner ad is clicked and a landing page opens but no content loads
- The banner ad does not display a brand
- Clicking on an ad must not initiate a download of any type of file
- The banner ad’s landing page loads in the same page instead of opening a new window or tab
- The banner ad loads the entire landing page into the frame
- The banner ad has no discernible brand or offering
- The banner ad displays a brand but it is not sufficient notification

What is “sufficient” notification?

When evaluating a banner ad for appropriate brand notification, Exact Drive looks for at least one of three things: a logo, a landing page URL, or a distinct brand name. If the only branding on the banner ad is a logo, then that exact logo must also be on the landing page to be sufficient. If the only branding on the banner ad is a landing page URL, then that must be the URL the banner ad has as its landing page.

‘Distinct brand name’ is sufficient notification in one of the following ways:

- The brand name is not an actual word and when it appears on the banner ad it cannot be confused for other, non-branded text (e.g. Cygnas)

- The brand name is a distinct set of actual words and the landing page exactly matches this and/or has a distinct, matching typeface as the banner ad (e.g. “Canned Banners” goes to cannedbanners.com and/or is written in red bold on both the banner ad and the landing page)

- The brand that the banner ad displays and the brand of the landing page are not the same or related. This feedback is sometimes given as a result of geo-targeted landing pages. Please ensure the landing page is accessible from all Geos at the time of audit.

A few key banner ad requirements and suggestions to remember

All banner ads that run on the Exact Drive platform are audited to meet relevant legal requirements as well as the rules of common sense and decency.

- Popular sizes: 728×90, 300×250, 160×600 and 300×600
- Limit initial load size to 40 KB or less
- Limit animation to 30 seconds
- Limit animation to 3 loops max
- Use standard click variable clickTAG
- 1 pixel colored border required
- Avoid auto-initiated audio
- No auto-expansion or page takeovers
- Flash Player Version 8 or lower is ideal
- Compile Flash ads in ActionScript 2 or 3
- Do not serve blank banner ads