Creative Guidelines

The Brand.net Creative Acceptance Guide (CAG) is intended to help our clients ensure that submitted creative complies with the highest possible advertising standards. The guidelines set forth below will also help maximize our clients' brand advertising returns by streamlining the creative review and testing process so that we can launch campaigns effectively and on time.

If you'd like to download our Ad Specifications Sheet in Excel format, please click here.

Creative Submission Timing

  1. Please submit creative to your Account Manager at least 5 business days prior to the campaign launch to allow for trafficking, testing, and troubleshooting.
  2. If creative cannot be submitted at least 5 business days prior to the campaign launch, the campaign launch may be subject to delays. If you anticipate not having creative until less than 5 days prior to the campaign start date, please notify your Account Manager so we can work with you to launch the campaign as quickly as possible.
  3. Creative that is submitted at least 5 business days prior to the campaign launch but does not meet the standards and specifications contained in the Brand.net CAG may also be subject to a delayed launch. Your Account Manager will diligently work with you to bring the creative into compliance so that we can launch the campaign as quickly as possible.

Design & Functionality

File size limit
  • Banner ads = 30K GIF/JPG; 40K Flash
  • Rich media ads = 40K Base; 80K/panel
  • "Polite" in-banner video ads = Initial Load: 40K, Polite Load: 80K
Border/appearance
  • One-pixel border required
  • Ads should not be designed to blend into the screen and give the appearance of publisher content or functionality
  • Ads should include the advertiser name and/or logo
Click action
  • All ads, when clicked upon, must open a new window to display the destination website. This is accomplished by configuring all links to target=_blank.
  • All target URLs should be tested prior to submission and clearly matched to the appropriate creative.
Backup script

Required in case JavaScript is disabled or not installed in the user's browser

Alternate text

Should be provided for users with disabilities who employ screen readers

Content

  1. Creative should not contain, facilitate, or promote defamatory, libelous, slanderous, or unlawful content and/or activity.
  2. Creative should not contain misleading, inaccurate, or deceptive content, or click through to a site that is unrelated to content of the creative.
  3. To ensure that your creative is appropriate for audiences of all ages, please avoid the following content:
    • Nudity or other sexually explicit content
    • Imagery that may be overly graphic
    • The facilitation or promotion, whether direct or indirect, of the sale or use of tobacco products or firearms
    • Any text or imagery that contains profanity, obscenity, or other vulgar content
    • Any text or imagery that explicitly or implicitly references adult subjects of any matter
  4. Creative that contains streaming audio and/or video is allowed so long as the audio and/or video is user initiated only. Distinct controls must be visible to employ stop, play, and mute functionality.
  5. Creative that promotes or facilitates sweepstakes or contests are subject to prior approval.
  6. Creative that promotes or facilitates the sale or use of beer, wine, hard liquor, or any other alcoholic beverages are subject to prior approval.
  7. If the creative requires the user to provide Personally Identifiable Information (PII), the following requirements apply:
    • There must be a clear explanation of how the collected information will be used.
    • None of the collected information can be shared with a third party without an explicit opt-in.
    • Advertisers must provide explicit instructions within their privacy policy for how to opt out of any future communication, whether solicited or unsolicited.

3rd Party Ad-Serving

Preferred rich media vendors
  • PointRoll
  • EyeBlaster
  • EyeWonder
  • DART Motif
Other rich media vendors

Please provide an additional 5 business days for review, testing, and approval.

Compliance with CAG
  • If a 3rd-party served ad has been altered in such a way that makes it non-compliant with the CAG, the ad will be taken down.
  • We will restore delivery of the ad once the creative has been reviewed and deemed compliant.

Flash-Specific Requirements

Supported Flash versions

Flash Player versions 6, 7, 8, 9; Actionscript 2 only

Frames per second (fps)

No more than 18 fps

Browser detection code
  • Flash ads served by third-parties must include browser detection code.
  • When you submit your creative, please let us know if you have already included the code or if you would like us to add it for you.
Animation/looping

No more than 15 seconds

Backup image

GIF or JPG file required in case Flash is not supported by user's browser

Audio and In-Banner Video-Specific Requirements

Definitions
  • In-banner video is triggered within an IAB standard ad unit and typically uses Rich Media.
  • Polite technology allows part of the ad to load before the page content and the rest of the ad is loaded once the content of the page is finished.
Animation/looping

No more than 15 seconds

Initiation

Both audio and video must be user-initiated, i.e. on click or mouse-over

Controls

Both audio and video must provide standard controls, i.e. play, pause, mute, and stop

Backup image

GIF or JPG file required in case streaming media is not supported by user's browser

In-Stream Formats

Definitions
  • In-Stream formats include preroll and postroll video that displays within a video player.
  • Video should typically be encoded in mpeg2, mpeg4 or flv file format, but other formats may be acceptable and are accepted on a case-by-case basis.
Dimensions and Aspect Ratio
  • Dimensions: Resolution: 1360 x 768 pixels (HD) preferred. Also accept 640 x 480 (SD) (4:3) or 720 X 480 (SD) (16:9)
  • Aspect Ratio: Unconstrained, 4:3 or 16:9
Length/Time Constraints
  • Video Length: :15 or :30 seconds
  • Framerate: 29.95 fps recommended (minimum 15 fps)
  • Key Frame Interval: 15
Bitrate

1500 kbps recommended (minimum 500 kbps)

Companion Banners

Available upon request on a case-by-case basis

Brand.net Reserved Rights

We reserve the right to make changes or add to these guidelines at any time without notice. To receive a copy of our latest Media Kit and CAG, please send your request to mediakit@brand.net.

We also reserve the right to refuse any advertising/advertisers and take down ads that are deemed non-compliant with the above guidelines. We may re-evaluate previously approved creative from time to time to ensure ongoing compliance with our guidelines.

All creative will be monitored throughout the duration of the campaign. In the event that creative results in blank or broken ads, or ads that significantly delay page load times, we will contact you to repair or replace the creative. Brand.net reserves the right to immediately cease delivery of any ad creative that may be causing any of the above issues.