Ad specifications

Here you will find the guidelines and technical specifications for digital ads on The Guardian.

We present all our users with an ad experience that complies to the Better Ads Standards, as such our creative guidelines below follow these principles and all creative to be served on our site must meet the criteria which can be found here.

Delivery methods

We accept: .gif, .jpg, 3rd party tags, HTML5. If you would like to deliver HTML5, please notify your account manager at time of booking or as soon as you know this format is being delivered, as our Digital Ad Production team will need to process it ahead of being trafficked.

If you provide 3rd party creative tags, we cannot accept them if the initial load of the creative is more than 200kb. Creatives must be supplied in a secure format or they will not be accepted.

Flash: Please note that Flash files (.swf) will not be accepted.

Further notes

Backup creatives: In certain scenarios when a rich media creative has been delivered, we may require a backup creative to run on app or mobile web, to conform to the following guidelines:

  • Format: .gif or .jpg
  • File size: 40kb max

In-banner video (with an embedded video player with video controls): If the video is autoplay, it must start muted.

Max autoplay length is 30 seconds for billboard, or 15 seconds for all other formats.

There is no max length for click-to- initiate video.

VAST XML base format.

Additional VPAID elements can be accepted, but given its variability, testing must happen prior to going live.

Available for direct campaigns only.

In-banner video on iOS App: Video tags constructed in either HTML or JavaScript must specify the playsinline attribute: [video playsinline]

For the videos to play without a user action, the video tag needs to also specify the muted attribute: [video playsinline muted]

Expandable creatives: We serve ads through an iFrame so require you to provide code to allow the ad to expand.

We fully support expandable creative from various third parties, subject to testing.

Expandable creatives must be click-to- expand (with the exception of 3-2-1 hover to initiate expansion creatives).

Close button should be located at top right.

Expandable creatives to be served on The Guardian homepage may be subject to Ad Governance Group approval.

Ad Choices logo: The Guardian along with many other publishers has committed to comply with the IAB's Self-Regulatory Framework in relation to OBA Advertising. In order to comply we will require all 3rd party hosted adverts to include the Adchoices Ad Marker as per the IAB's technical guidelines.

White creative: All white and light-coloured creative must have a dark one-pixel border.

Readability: Type should be at least 20px for black print against white background. Fine print should be at least 15px. For light print against a dark background, consider larger type or boldface.

Click into new window: All ads must click into a new browser window.

Browser compliance: We will target to all modern browsers unless otherwise instructed. More information on browsers can be found here.

Lead time: If supplying .gifs, .jpgs, or 3rd party tags, we must receive these at least 3 working days before campaign start date. If supplying HTML5, we must receive this 5 working days before campaign start date. If our Digital Ad Production (DAP) team are building creatives, assets must be received as specified on the DAP format guide. Late creatives/assets may result in delays to the campaign live date.

Sound: All sound must be user click activated.

Misleading ads: We will not carry any form of advertising that is deemed to be of poor quality, inappropriate, misleading or confusing to our users. If unsure, please contact your Guardian Account Manager.

CPU: We may reject or remove ads that drive the CPU too high.

Third-party tracking: We accept third- party click tracking for all formats and third-party impression tracking for all formats except Interstitials. Please note that if you have supplied third-party tracking, there may be a discrepancy between our ad server stats and your data. IAB's discrepancy tolerance is +/-10%.

Please note: We do not accept any Brand Safety Blocking Tags for page takeovers on The Guardian site. For CPM Brand Safety Blocking tags, we require the tags and the full list of blocks being applied within them 48 hours before go live date.

Guidelines on photosensitive effects (affecting people with conditions such as epilepsy and migraine)

General flashing threshold: A sequence of flashes or rapidly changing image sequences where both the following occur:

  1. The combined area of flashes occurring concurrently (but not necessarily contiguously) occupies more than one quarter of any 335 x 268 pixel rectangle anywhere on the displayed screen area when the content is viewed at 1024 x 768 pixels and...
  2. There are more than three flashes within any one-second period.

Note: For the general flashing threshold, a flash is defined as a pair of opposing changes in brightness of 10% or more of full scale white brightness, where brightness is calculated as .2126*R + .7152*G + .0722B using linearised R, G, and B values. Linearised-X = (X/FS)^2.2 where FS is full scale (usually 255 today). An “opposing change” is an increase followed by a decrease, or a decrease followed by an increase.

Red flashing threshold: A transition to or from a saturated red where the following occurs: The combined area of flashes occurring concurrently occupies more than one quarter of any 335 x 268 pixel rectangle anywhere on the displayed screen area when the content is viewed at 1024 x 768 pixels and there are more than three flashes within any one-second period.

Video Specs

Third-party served (VAST compliant) specs

Format: H.264 (MP4) video file type must be included for each video creative (other formats such as WebM can be included but may not be used)

Aspect ratio and bitrate:720p or below is required, the optional inclusion of 1080p is recommended - either 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratios are acceptable. (Examples of each are 16:9 - 854 x 480; 1280 x 720; 1920 x 1080 and 4:3 - 480 x 360; 720 x 540; 960 x 720)

Must contain at least one mediafile under 1000kbps

Audio format: 720p or below is required, the optional inclusion of 1080p is recommended - either 16:9 or 4:3 aspect ratios are acceptable. (Examples of each are 16:9 - 854 x 480; 1280 x 720; 1920 x 1080 and 4:3 - 480 x 360; 720 x 540; 960 x 720)

Frames per second: Up to 30fps

Maximum file size: 10 MB

Requirements: Must comply with YouTube's XML summary for VAST ad server response

Must be SSL-compliant

Only VAST 3.0 tags are allowed for skippable video ads. VAST 2.0 will not be accepted.

Must be served via a linear VAST tag (pre-fetch tag) by a YouTube-approved vendor.

Must NOT have geo, browser or any other targeting on the third party end

VPAID is not allowed

Guardian also accept RAW assets. Supported file formats here

If supplying pre-roll in the form of YouTube link, please ensure video is public or unlisted and allows embedding.

In light of GDPR there are some changes YouTube (PFP) have taken regarding 3rd party ad-technologies (pixels) that can be associated to campaigns Serving to Users in the EEA. Only the following 8 technologies can be included:

  1. Google (including DoubleClick)
  2. IAS
  3. DoubleVerify
  4. MOAT
  5. ComScore
  6. Nielsen
  7. Kantar
  8. ResearchNow

Campaigns Serving to Users Outside the EEA we can use other ad-technologies:

  1. ComScore
  2. DoubleVerify
  3. IAS
  4. MOAT
  5. Nielsen
  6. Kantar
  7. Research Now
  8. Sizmek
  9. Innovid
  10. Flashtalking
  11. Extreme Reach
  12. C3 Metrics
  13. Adform
  14. Weborama
  15. Adocean

Pre-roll formats

Non-skippable video

  • Max ad duration: 20 seconds EMEA,15 seconds US
Non Skippable video

Non-skippable bumper

  • Max ad duration: 6 seconds
Non Skippable bumper

Skippable video

  • Min ad duration: 12 sec
  • Max ad duration: 6 minutes
Skippable video

Apple news specs

iPhone/iPod Touch

  • Large Banner: 1242x699
  • IAB Mobile Banner: 320x50
  • IAB MPU: 300x250
  • IAB Double MPU: 300x600

iPad/Mac

  • Large Banner: 1536x864
  • IAB Leaderboard: 728x90
  • IAB Billboard: 970x250

Assets should be produced as JPEG, GIF, or PNG

Animated banners can loop only three times, and the total animation can't exceed 15 seconds. Repetitive or rapid flashing, blinking in excess, or visually stressful animations aren't allowed.

Apple News vendor list

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/adguide/apd31b652435/1.0/icloud/1.0

For ads utilising any third-party ad tags, we recommend testing your ads with the Workbench

Ad Tester: https://iadworkbench.apple.com/adtester/

Third-party ad tag technical specs: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/adguide/apda0878bbd9/1.0/icloud/1.0

Format notes

Page skin

  • No click to remove
  • No animation of skins allowed
  • Must be supplied as a .gif or .jpg - 1600 x 1200 creative - middle (980 pixels) must be blank
  • Skins will only show on desktop screens bigger than 1300 pixels wide
  • Any white on white creative must have a 1px black border (as per normal guidelines)
  • Only available as part of a takeover
  • Please keep all messaging inside the dark grey area as per the diagram, so as to ensure it is viewable on all screen sizes

If your skin is showing with a 900 x 250/ 970 x 250 please build the skin as per the diagram here.

If your skin is showing with a 728 × 90 please build the skin as per the diagram here.

Takeover notes

Creative formats needed for takeovers/CPM

Standard takeover

  • BB or LB with MPU, you can also supply a DMPU if required, supplied as gif/jpg or 3rd party tag

Fabric takeover

  • Top, Middle and Bottom Fabric with MPU (DMPU if required) supplied as gif/jpg or 3rd party tag

CPM takeover

  • Needs to be as either of the above