Publisher certification guide

This guide is for advertisers or agencies who want to work with a publisher to proactively test ad serving and reporting functionality for Studio creatives before a campaign launch.

Publisher certification process

Get started

The first step of the certification process is to ensure that the publisher meets IAB standards:

• Mobile in-app (MRAID) publishers must adhere to the MRAID Standard.
• VPAID publishers must adhere to the VPAID Standard.

 

HTML5 in-app, desktop, and VPAID

Ad serving and creative functionality testing

Use these steps to test ad serving and creative functionality. If you need to test reporting, follow the advanced guide below.

1. Publisher downloads sample tags for every creative format and size that needs to be tested from the Rich Media Template Database:

   Format	Sample tags	Notes
   VAST/VPAID	Test tags
   In-app	Test tags	Recommended sizes: 320x50 300x50 Recommended formats: Banner Banner to fullscreen (expanding) Interstitial (fullscreen) To make sure your in-app creative behaves properly at serving time, include the MRAID library in your HTML file's head tag: <script src="mraid.js"></script>
   HMTL5 desktop and mobile web	Test tags	Recommended sizes: 300x250 728x90 Billboard Recommended formats: Banner Expanding   A separate test tag will be needed for each video play/ad server combination if the publisher is a network.

2. Publisher implements the sample tags to serve in a live test environment.
3. Publisher verifies ad serving and creative rendering, including these checks:
   • Ad renders correctly without issue
   • Ad functions as expected
   • If expanding, ad expands and retracts correctly and consistently
   • If interstitial, ad closes correctly
   • Ad clicks through
   • Impressions/clicks are tracked by the publisher
4. If any issues arise during testing, please have your publisher reach out to their ad server's support team or contact the Campaign Manager 360 Support team at [e-mail] on their behalf.

Ad serving, creative functionality and reporting testing

Use these steps if you need to compare Campaign Manager 360 reports with your publisher's ad server reports. If you don't need to test reporting, save time by following the steps above instead.

1. Advertiser/agency downloads sample templates for every creative format and size to be tested from the Rich Media Template Database. All templates include basic reporting metrics.

   Format	Sample templates	Notes
   VAST/VPAID	Templates
   In-app	Templates	Recommended sizes: 320x50 300x50 Recommended formats: Banner Banner to fullscreen (expanding) Interstitial (fullscreen) To make sure your in-app creative behaves properly at serving time, include the MRAID library in your HTML file's head tag: <script src="mraid.js"></script>
   HMTL5 Desktop and Mobile web	Templates	Recommended sizes: 300x250 728x90 Billboard Recommended formats: Banner Expanding   A separate template will be needed for each video play/ad server combination if the publisher is a network.

2. Advertiser/agency signs in to Studio and uploads the template files to their account.
3. Advertiser/agency submits the creatives to QA. 
   1. Check the "Send a notification to Studio's QA team" option and add the following message for the QA team: "Bypass QA. Please note this is for a Publisher Certification request."
   2. Within 24 hours, Studio's QA team will submit the creatives to your Campaign Manager 360 account for trafficking.
4. Advertiser/agency traffics sample creatives in their Campaign Manager 360 account as unique placements.
   Trafficking guides:

   • In-app and HTML5
   • VPAID
5. Advertiser/agency generates tags for each creative.
6. Advertiser/agency sends test tags to the publisher.
7. Publisher implements test tags to serve in a live test environment.
8. Publisher verifies ad serving and creative rendering, including these checks:
   • Ad renders correctly without issue
   • Ad functions as expected
   • If expanding, ad expands and retracts correctly, consistent behavior
   • If interstitial, ad closes correctly
   • Ad clicks through
   • Impressions/clicks are tracked by the publisher
9. Advertiser/agency and publisher compare reporting between Campaign Manager 360 and the publisher's ad server.
   
   Key metrics include:

   Format	Metrics
   VAST/VPAID	Impressions Clicks Companion Clicks (if applicable) Video Plays Video Mid Point Video Complete
   In-app	Impressions Clicks Video Metrics (if applicable) Manual Close Expansion
   HMTL5 desktop and mobile web	Impression Clicks Manual Close Expansion

10. If any issues arise during testing, please have your publisher reach out to their ad server's support team or contact the Campaign Manager 360 Support team at [e-mail] on their behalf.

 

VAST

Publisher certification process for VAST

As long as a publisher adheres to the VAST IAB Standard and is able to accept third-party tags, they do not need to go through any additional Studio certifications to handle VAST creatives.

Overview of formats

HTML5 desktop and mobile web

Desktop HTML5 creatives are built using HTML5 and associated technologies and served into desktop browsers; mobile web HTML5 creatives are also built using HTML5 and associated technologies and served into browsers on mobile devices such as phones and tablets. HTML5 certification is completed to verify that HTML5 creatives render properly on a publisher's mobile and desktop sites.

Mobile in-app (MRAID)

MRAID creatives are mobile creatives served into a publisher's mobile application. MRAID certification is completed to verify that Studio in-app creatives serve properly within a publisher's mobile applications.

VAST (In-stream video)

VAST creatives are pre-, mid- and post-roll videos that run through a publisher's video player. VAST certification is completed to verify that a publisher's video player is VAST Compliant and that our in-stream VAST creatives work correctly on their video player.

VPAID

VPAID creatives are pre-, mid- and post-roll videos that run through a publisher's video player and include additional interactive capabilities, such as playing a new video or including multiple click-through options. VPAID certification is completed to verify that a publisher adheres to the VPAID IAB Standard and that our in-stream VPAID creatives work correctly on their video player.