Creative Specifications

Please contact your Crimtan Client Services contact if any creative falls outside these minimum specifications or if it is not listed here.

Insertion orders and creative must be submitted at least four working days before campaign launch date. For more information contact us on 020 7821 6864 or email ads@crimtan.co.uk.

All campaigns will be invoiced based on Crimtan server statistics.

Brand safety & ad fraud

Crimtan has been certified to meet the IAB Gold Standard which aims to raise standards in digital advertising and ensure a sustainable future for the industry. Crimtan was the first company to issue a Primary Agreement and Digital Trading Statement that provides agencies with complete transparency about how we protect advertisers’ brands online. We were first awarded a JICWEBS DTSG Seal(view certificate) in May 2014, renewed in May 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 – and added JICWEBS Ad Fraud Seal in 2018 (view certificate). These cross industry set of best practice standards aim to minimise the risk of programmatic advertising placement on inappropriate content.

The Better Ads Standards

The Coalition for Better Ads was created by leading international trade associations and companies involved in online media to improve consumers’ experience with online advertising. The Better Ads Standards provide insight into consumers’ ad experiences and identify those more preferred by consumers.

Crimtan supports the Better Ads Standards initiative to Improve the digital advertising experience by adhering to the standards set by the Coalition for Better Advertising.

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Programmatic Advertising General Specifications

* Subject to some serving restrictions. Please contact your Account Manager before building

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File types

Image: JPEG, PNG, GIF

Flash: SWF (Flash versions 4-10)
Due to major browser limitations in supporting Flash it is highly recommended that HTML5 or image creatives are supplied.

HTML5: JavaScript, JPEG, PNG, and GIF

HTML5 Video: suitable for cross-browser delivery – discuss with your campaign manager

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For HTML5 Creatives

All creatives must:

• Be free of applications including, but not limited to, ActiveX, viruses, exit pops, spyware, and malware.
• When clicked, landing page should open in a new tab/window.
• Creative must include a minimum 1px border of contrasting colour to the background colour of the creative.

1. HTML5 creative files should be provided in a ZIP-archive format which contains all files in one folder. No subfolders are supported.
2. ZIP archives should contain one HTML file called index.html. All other files, if any need to be within the same folder.
3. Total files sizes after archiving should not exceed 150KB.
4. Creative must include a minimum 1px border of contrasting colour to the background colour of the creative.
5. All calls from HTML5 creative, including those within the index.html file need to be secure.

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All ad and third party tracker calls must be secure

Ads must not exceed 50% of a user’s CPU.

Creative coding must not use cross-domain scripting or set cookies in unapproved domains.

All landing pages must be crawlable

The requirements above are applicable to HTML5 creatives hosted on Crimtan’s side. HTML5 creatives hosted externally only need to be compliant with requirements outside this section.

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Pre-roll Video Asset Specifications

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Mobile Advertising General Specifications

• IMG files (gif/jpg/png format) or HTML mobile creative must be provided – with impression and click trackers in addition to any other tag types. Third party tags are accepted, however they may result in limited reach.
• Creative must be approved at least 48 hours prior to campaign launch.
• Creative must include a minimum 1px border of contrasting colour to the background colour of the creative.
• As a minimum a 320×50 / 300×50 format must be provided for any campaign targeting smartphones.
• HTML 5 mobile creative: maximum size 150KB and 2.2MB polite load
• Best Practice: For times when a user’s browser does not support creative functionality (e.g HTML5), please provide a standard image file.

Smartphone

Format	Dimensions	Max file size
Standard banner	300 x 50	25 KB
Standard banner (Wide)	320 x 50	25 KB

Tablet

Format	Dimensions	Max file size
Leaderboard	728 x 90	50 KB
MPU	300 x 250	50 KB

Feature phone

Format	Dimensions	Max file size
Small	120 x 20	3 KB
Medium	168 x 28	4 KB
Large	214 x 36	5 KB

Rich media

Format	Dimensions (expanded 320 x 480)	Max file size
Standard banner	300 x 50	50 KB
Standard banner (Wide)	320 x 50	50 KB

Display Ads Best Practices

Tracking

• If you are not using a major third party adserver, please provide instructions for third party click tracking.

Supported creative

• HTML5, gif, jpg, png.
• Due to incompatibility with mobile and tablet devices we do not accept Flash® tags.

Pixels

• We are able to utilise existing Crimtan pixels.
• If we are implementing Crimtan pixels please ensure they are implemented and firing at least 48 hours prior to campaign live date.
• Pixel type, placement and quantity to be discussed prior to signing IO.

Rich Media

• Crimtan works with most commercial rich media companies. All rich media applications, such as video or DHTML, should occur within the standard purchased pixel space. Expanding units must be user initiated.

Animation | Looping

• Total animation time may not exceed 30 seconds and may not exceed 3 loops of animation within the 30 second limit.
• Ads may not employ persistent rapid or “strobing” animation of any graphic, copy or background elements.

Audio

• Audio default state is mute and activation must be user-initiated on click.
• Audio shut-off functionality must be clearly visible to the user.

Ad expansion

• Ad expansion must be user-initiated
• Ad expansion or contraction functionality must be clearly visible to the user
• The method of ad expansion and contraction must be the same (e.g. rollover or click)
• Close on roll off or must have [x] or “close [x]” on upper right corner of ad

Video

• Video time may not exceed 30 seconds unless it is streamed, in which case there are no time restrictions
• Video can play on initial load or be user-initiated via rollover or click
• Audio must be user-initiated by click

Distinctive content

• Ads must not be designed to mimic news or editorial content
• Ad content must be clearly distinguishable from normal web page content and have clearly defined borders

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Native Assets Best Practices

Asset	Description	Requirements	COPY (Filled by client)
*Advertiser name	Advertisers name to display in the creative	Maximum 25 single byte characters
*Logo image	Advertisers logo	Minimum size: 100 x 100 pixels Supported image file formats: jpg, png Maximum width/height: 2000 pixels Maximum file size: 1200 KB Aspect ratio: 1 : 1 Color model: RGB (CMYK is not supported)
*Image	Image to promote the advertiser’s product or service	Minimum size: 1200×627 pixels Supported image file formats: jpg, png Maximum width/height: 2000 pixels Maximum file size: 1200 KB Aspect ratio: 1.91 : 1 Color model: RGB (CMYK is not supported)
*Headline	The headline to display in the creative	Maximum 25 single byte characters
Long headline	An alternate, longer version of the headline. This only appears in certain native layouts	Maximum 50 single byte characters
*Body text	Body text describing the product or service	Maximum 90 single byte characters
Long body text	An alternate, longer version of the body text describing the product or service. This only appears in certain native layouts	Maximum 150 single byte characters
*Call to action	The text on the ad’s call-to-action button or link. For example, “Shop now”	Maximum 15 single byte characters

*Assets required

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Connected TV General Specifications

Ad size: 1920×1080 for 1080p

File format: MP4

Frame rate: Minimum of 30 fps (29/9)

Video duration: 15 to 30 seconds (Longer creatives subjected to approval)

Compressions/codec: H.264/MPEG-4 AVC

Aspect ratio: 16:9

Video bitrate: Minimum of 1.5 mbps and maximum of 8 mbps

Audio compression: AAC minimum 64 – 128 kbps

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Instream and Outstream Video General Specifications

	Instream	Outstream
Ad size	1920×1080 for 1080p	720×720, 1920×1080 or 1280 x 720
File format	MP4	MP4
Max file size	100MB	100MB
Frame rate	Minimum of 30 fps	Minimum of 30 fps
Video duration	15 to 30 seconds. Up to 3 minutes allowed on some supply	15 or 30 seconds
Compressions/codec	H.264/MPEG-4 AVC	H.264/MPEG-4 AVC
Aspect ratio	16:9	16:9 or 1:1
Bitrate	15000-30000 kbps	15000-30000 kbps
Audio compression	AAA-LC up to 48kHz	AAA-LC up to 48kHz
Third-party tracking	Yes	Yes
VAST Support	VAST 2.0, 3.0, 4.0	VAST 2.0, 3.0, 4.0

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Skins Ad General Specification

Images: High resolution logos, high resolution images, accompanying copy(text), call to action​

Fonts: OTF, TTF

Storyboard/scamp: PDF/JPG

Video (if applicable):

• 15 seconds autoplay (desktop) and 15 seconds recommended (mobile)
• 30 seconds maximum length
• MP4 format (highest quality possible)

Video file sizes:

• Maximum autoplay video weight: 1.4MB
• Maximum autoplay 15 seconds on desktop
• User initiated is unlimited (30 seconds recommended)

Technical specs:

• Intro animation time should not exceed 15 seconds
• Maximum creative weight on initial load 800kb
• Maximum autoplay video weight 1.4MB

Design recommendations

• Keep all important brand, campaign imagery and copy within safe area to maximise visual engagement
• Re-introduce some of your key brand elements on user scroll

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Digital Out of Home D6 General Specifications

Screen pixel dimensions: 1080 (width) x 1920 (height)

File format: JPEG

Colour mode: RGB (CMYK not accepted)

DPI: 72 to 300 dpi

Animation file format: H264.mp4 (8mbps)

Animation length: 10 or 15 seconds

For other Digital Out of Home panels general specifications, please contact our Customer Success Team.

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Crimtan Creative Studio

Crimtan Creative Studio is a bespoke creative building platform that utilises features and is compatible with tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator and more. From the supplied assets, our creative studio team is able to build out animated creative layered in with additional features such as API connections (weather, pricing, etc.). We can utilise the platform to serve multiple versions of creative messaging to different audiences throughout the user journey.​

All you need is to provide us with the following:

• Logo: ai/eps/psd
• High resolution images (key visuals): psd/jpg/png
• Fonts: otf/tft/woff
• Video files: mov/mp4/mpg, HD 1080p, 1920×1080, 16:9
• Product feed/matrix: xslx/xml/txt
• Brand guidelines: ppt/pdf
• It’s also good to share with us some past example creatives in the format of HTML/psd/jpg/gif/swf
• In addition, you can also share your layered master files in ai/psd.

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Advertising Policy

All advertisements are subject to approval by Crimtan. Crimtan reserves the right to refuse any ad submission which does not meet the requirements specified above, or is deemed otherwise inappropriate, distracting, or harmful to the online user experience. Please also see our Advertising Terms & Conditions.