Creative Specifications

Programmatic Display Advertising General Specifications

Display banners are online ads that merge text and visual components (images, animation, videos) with a call to action (CTA) message that directs users to a landing page.

Skyscraper: 120×600	Expandable Super Skyscraper: 160×600 (expandable to 600×600)*
Super Skyscraper: 160×600	Expandable Medium Rectangle: 300×250 (expandable to 600×250)*
Medium Rectangle: 300×250	Expandable Leaderboard: 728×90 (expandable to 728×315)*
Half Page: 300×600
Mobile: 300×50
Mobile Wide: 320×50
Banner: 468×60
Leaderboard: 728×90
Billboard: 970×250

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

Maximum file size

• Total load size*: 2.2 MB maximum (Through Crimtan DSP)
• *Total load size includes initial and subsequent/polite loads
• Smaller file sizes can improve loading speeds and inventory reach

File Types

• Image: JPEG, PNG, GIF
• HTML5: JavaScript
• HTML5 Video: suitable for cross-browser delivery – discuss with your campaign manager
• Due to incompatibility with mobile and tablet devices we do not accept Flash® tags

Video and animation duration

• Maximum animation length: 30 seconds
• Maximum host-initiated play: 30 seconds
• Video and animation can play through a maximum of 3 times as long as this is under 30 seconds

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

Maximum frame rates

• Video – 24fps
• GIF – 12fps

Ad expansion

• Ad expansion must be user-initiated
• Ad expansion or contraction functionality must be clearly visible to the user

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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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.

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

Crimtan Creative Studio

Crimtan Creative Studio is a bespoke creative building platform that can be used for Dynamic Creative Optimisation 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, location, 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/svg
• High resolution images (key visuals): psd/jpg/png
• Fonts: otf/tft/woff
• Video files: mov/mp4, 16:9 aspect ratio, under 1.8MB
• Product feed/matrix: xslx/xml/txt/csv
• 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.

Pre-roll

What is Pre-roll?

Pre-roll ads are video advertisements displayed on mobile, tablet, and desktop devices right before a user views a piece of short-form video content from a publisher.

Pre-roll Video Asset Specifications

Video	Audio
File format: .mov or .mp4	Codec: PCM (preferred) or AAC
Dimensions: 1280×720, 1920×1080, or 1440×1080	Bitrate: At least 192 Kbps
Aspect ratio: 16:9 or 4:3	Bit: 16 or 24 bit only
Codec: H.264	Sample rate: 48 kHz
Frame Rate: 23.98 or 29.97	Audio settings: Required
Bitrate: At least 20 Mbps
Length: 15 or 30 seconds
File size: Up to 500MB (smaller the size the better)
Black bars: No black bars
Letterboxing: No letterboxing

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Connected TV

What is Connected TV?

Connected TV [CTV] is video content consumed on a TV screen, delivered via an internet connection. This includes TVs directly connected to the internet [Smart TV], as well as hardware that enables a TV to become connected, e.g., TV sticks, games consoles and set-top boxes that are connected to the internet.

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

What is Instream video?

In-stream video ads are played before (pre-roll), during (mid-roll) or after (post-roll) the streaming of video content that the user has requested. This format is frequently used to monetise the video content that the publisher is delivering and can be played inside short or long-form video. These ads cannot typically be stopped from being played.

What is Outstream video?

An ‘outstream’ video ad unit, also commonly referred to as ‘in-read’ or ‘native video’, is a new video advertising unit that auto-plays in a large format player whenever a user navigates to it within text content [typically an article], even if the publisher doesn’t have their own video content. It’s called outstream because the video ad exists outside of online video content.

Instream and Outstream Video General Specifications

	Instream	Outstream
Ad Size	1920×1080 for 1080p	720×720, 1920×1080 or 1280×720
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

Native Asset

What is a Native ad?

Commonly referred to as sponsored content, a type of advertising that matches the form and function of the platform upon which it appears.

Native Asset Specifications

Asset	Description	Requirements
*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, eg “Shop now” “Find out more“	Maximum 15 single byte characters

*Assets required

Digital Out of Home General Specifications

• File format: MP4, JPG
• Maximum file size: 1200 KB
• Ad size: 1080×1920 (most common inventory sizing, can change depending on supplier)
• Duration: Up to 15 seconds – depending on supply (JCDeacaux: 6 Seconds, Clear Channel: 10 seconds, Global: 10 seconds, Vistar: 10 seconds, Broadsign: 10 seconds)

For any specific Digital Out of Home panels technical specifications, please contact your contact your Account Manager.

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Audio Specs

• Duration (varys depending on publisher/channel): 15-30 seconds (Spotify & Acast), 20-30 seconds (Targetspot & Audi-on), 30 seconds recommended (Adswizz), 10-40 seconds (DAX)
• File format: MP3
• Sample rate: 44.1kHz
• Bit Rate: 192kbps (Spotify, Acast, Targetspot, Adswizz & DAX) & 196kbps (Audio-on)

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Audio Companion Banner

• Ad size: 300×250 (Spotify, Targetspot, AdzWizz & DAX), 640×640 (Acast & Targetspot)
• File type: JPG (Spotify, Targetspot, AdsWizz, DAX & Audi-on), PNG (Acast)
• Max file size: 50KB (DAX), 200KB (Spotify & Targetspot), Aud-on (500KB), AdsWizz (1MB)

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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.