The online video advertising industry is a rapidly evolving environment, so it’s essential to remain updated with all the latest advertising standards and policies. That way, publishers can avoid any ad serving issues, or worse — getting penalized.
Staying informed on all the industry news and policy changes can be challenging. That is why we decided to make this handy publisher’s guide with the most up-to-date ad standards and practices. We’ve compiled some of the most recent video ad specifications and industry changes to help publishers stay compliant with the latest online video advertising policies. We hope that these guidelines and resources help you minimize the risks of coming across any issues!
Here are some of the latest video ad specifications and guidelines publishers should be aware of:
Google Ad Manager Video Ad Specifications
Depending on the type of Google Ad Manager account they have, publishers will have access to different video advertising features and limits.
For instance, regular Google Ad Manager users can host video ads of up to 30 MB in size, while Google Ad Manager 360 Basic & Advanced users will be capped at 512 MB for video sizes.
Differences Between Google Ad Manager and Google Ad Manager 360
| Google Ad Manager (Free) | Google Ad Manager 360 | |
|---|---|---|
| Requirements | None | 90 Million impressions per month |
| Pricing | Free | Depends on your requirements and contract with Google |
| Monthly Impression Limit | 200 Million to non-video ad units for residents of Eastern Europe, Arabian and Latin American countries (check the full list here) 90 Million to non-video ad units for residents of U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand 180 Million to non-video ad units for all other countries |
None |
| Available Formats | Native Ads Responsive Ads Video Ads |
Native Ads Responsive Ads Video Ads Rich Media Ads In-Banner Video |
| Features | Complete multi-screen audience ad management toolkit Full API access Access to a limited number of reports Line item management Access to up to the level 2 ad unit hierarchy |
All Google Ad Manager (Free) Features + Open Bidding and Programmatic Guaranteed Deals Advanced video options Detailed audience targeting, auto-suggested ad units, and audience segments Special ad units Full access to reporting tool dashboard In-depth reporting Creative wrappers Ads.txt management Direct access to Google Support …and more |
Regular Google Ad Managers will only have access to the following features:
- Video Ad Serving
- Hosting and Transcoding
- VAST 2, 3, and 4 and VPAID Ad Formats
- Multiscreen
On the other hand, Ad Manager 360 Advanced users will have additional features at their disposal, like:
- Podding
- Video and Audio Creative Profiles
- Content Ingestion
- Dynamic Ad Insertion
- And more…
For a full list of features that come with different Google Ad Manager account types, consult the official Google thread here.
Now let’s look at Google’s ad specifications for various video ad types.
Instream Video Ads
| Size | Video Formats | Audio Formats | Max. Size | Max. Video Length | Recommended Video Length | Max. Frame Rate |
|
480×360 (4:3) 640×360 (16:9) 1920×800 (5:2) |
H.264 WebM |
MP3 AAC |
10 MB | 60 Seconds | <15 Seconds | 30 FPS |
For additional information on these requirements, check Google Support’s official thread here.
Companion Ads
| Size | Video Formats | Audio Formats | Max. Size | Max. Animation Length (Host-Initiated Play) | Max. Animation Length (User-Initiated Play) | Max. Frame Rate |
|
300×250 300×60 |
Static GIF JPG PNG |
SWF with backup GIF / JPG |
50 K | 30 Seconds | 4 Minutes | 24 FPS |
For additional information on these requirements, check Google Support’s official thread here.
In-Article & In-Feed Video Ads
When it comes to in-article and in-feed video ads, publishers are recommended to serve them in sizes greater than 256 pixels in both dimensions (except for 300×250 and 320×180 formats).
However, in-article and in-feed video ads must also comply with Google’s aspect ratio requirements. Google advises publishers to stick to the standard 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios to stay on the safe side.
Finally, the company advises publishers to keep their in-article and in-feed ads no longer than 15–30 seconds to ensure optimal user experience.
IMPORTANT: All in-article and in-feed video ads must comply with Google’s video publisher policy. Make sure to check it out and optimize your ads accordingly.
IAB’s Recommended Video Ad Specifications
Saying that IAB is a well-known name in the online advertising industry would be an understatement. Since this company represents some of the world’s most notable media outlets and online publishers, referring to their recommended video ad specifications is a surefire way to optimize your video ads for delivery. Here are their recommendations on the optimal specifications for two of the most common types of video ad formats:
Linear Ad Format Guidelines
Linear video ads include all ads that interrupt video content streaming to give room for the ad to play, similar to traditional commercials. These include instream video ads (pre-, mid-, and post-rolls) and companion ads (interactive and non-interactive).
As you’ll see, IAB’s linear ad recommendations are similar to Google’s instream video ad specifications. Let’s take a look at them:
| Resolution | Aspect Ratio | Video Codec | Audio Codec | Max. Video Length | Recommended Video Length | Frame Rate |
|
640×360 640×480 854×480 1024×576 1280×720 1920×1080 |
4:3 or 16:9 |
H.264 |
AAC-LC HE-AACv1 |
60 Seconds |
6 Seconds 15 Seconds 30 Seconds |
24 FPS or 30 FPS |
For additional information on these requirements, check IAB’s official Ad Format Guidelines here.
Non-Linear Ad Format Guidelines
Non-linear ads don’t interrupt user experience and usually appear as overlay or rich media ads within or next to pieces of content. That is why these types of ads are quite popular and widely used by publishers worldwide. Aside from that, these ads offer users the choice of interacting with them as most of them require users to take action (like manually starting or mousing over them) for them to play.
IAB recommends publishers abide by the following specs when using these non-intrusive ads:
| Resolution | Placement | Audio | Max. Size | Max. Video Length | Recommended Video Length |
|
300×50 450×50 |
Anchored to the bottom of the player (most commonly) but can vary between publishers |
No audio allowed Users can manually opt to play audio |
100 K (for the initial portion of the ad) Unlimited (for the viewer-initiated portion of the ad) |
Persistent | 5–15 Seconds |
For additional information on these requirements, check IAB’s official Ad Format Guidelines here.
The Importance of Optimizing Video Ads for User Experience
All of the above recommendations and specifications were put in place to optimize the web and the online advertising realm for user experience. However, several additional changes and restrictions were introduced lately to facilitate those efforts further.
Online Video Ad Restrictions
In 2019, the Coalition for Better Ad Standards took an ambitious step toward further enhancing the user experience on the internet by introducing new mobile and desktop ad standards to discourage publishers from using some of the most disliked ad types by users. Since February 2020, they successfully introduced new standards for short-form video content (8 minutes or less) to deal with the most interruptive video ads.
According to the verdict of this initiative, publishers are discouraged from using the following:
- Mid-roll ads (they are considered incredibly interruptive to user experience).
- Pre-roll ads or pods longer than 31 seconds that users can’t skip within 6 seconds.
- Non-linear ads appearing in the middle of running videos larger than 20% of the viewed content.
Publishers are advised to adhere to these latest guidelines to maximize the odds of getting their ads served and minimize the risk of receiving penalties.
Google Chrome’s Heavy Ad Policy
Recently, Google decided to join the efforts of optimizing online ads for user experience train with its latest heavy ad policy. In May 2014, Google revealed on its Chromium blog that a small percentage of online ads consumed large amounts of users’ processing power and announced they’d be combating this issue with a new policy.
According to this heavy ad policy, Google would block a video ad if it exceeded one (or more) of three thresholds without users interacting with it:
- It consumed 4 MB of bandwidth or more.
- It required 15 seconds of active CPU usage over any 30-second period.
- The ad reached a total of 60 seconds of CPU usage at any point.
If you don’t know whether your ads comply with all the above standards, you can use Google’s Ad Experience Tester tool to check your ad creatives.
IMPORTANT: If you repeatedly violate google’s Better Ad Standards policy, your site may get penalized until you take the necessary action to optimize your advertising creatives.
How to Avoid Chrome’s Heavy Ad Policy
If Google Chrome detects a heavy ad on your site, it will block it and return an error report. But is there a way to avoid Chrome’s heavy ad policy? Of course, there is!
The most commonly recommended way of dealing with heavy ads is to use video ad SDKs to implement heavy ad intervention via ReportingObserver API. Doing so will restrict heavy ads from getting called, so Chrome won’t end up blocking any of your ads. If you have some coding knowledge, you can easily do that by following the official Google’s guide here.
Alternatively, if you are using Brid.TV’s video platform and video CMS, you can protect yourself from Chrome’s heavy ad policy in two easy steps:
Step 1. Log into your Brid.TV account and navigate to the Players section on the left sidebar, select your desired player, and click on the Monetization tab.
Step 2. Scroll down to the Advanced section and look for the Ad Maximum Recommended Bitrate field. You can use this field to limit your ads’ bandwidth and circumvent Chrome’s heavy ad policy.
IMPORTANT: On average, a 30-second video ad at 1000 kbps should end up within the 4 MB bandwidth limit. However, we advise you to start with 800 kbps just to be safe. For longer video ads, you will likely have to lower the maximum bitrate accordingly.
Aside from these two methods, the best way to ensure you don’t fall victim to Chrome’s heavy ad policy is to build lightweight ads. That way, you won’t have to worry about any of this, and both your audience and Google will thank you!
If you have any additional questions or need further support regarding video ad guidelines and best practices, submit a support ticket or send us an email, and our support team will get back to you promptly!
