HTML5 Support

HTML5 files must meet the IAB standards for HTML5, which are defined in HTML5 for Digital Advertising v2.0.

The system supports HTML5 ads through ad tags and direct hosting:

  • Ad tags: If your HTML5 creative is hosted on another server, create the ad by uploading an ad tag. There are no special steps for configuring ad tags for HTML5 ads.

  • Uploaded HTML5 creatives: The maximum file size is 200 KB. Setup for the ad depends on the HTML5 creative's clickable areas.

Clickability

When a user clicks on your ad, the ad must be able to track the click as it opens a landing page in another tab or window. HTML5 creatives can define clickable areas in different ways, and industry standards are still evolving.

The clickable area on an HTML5 creative must match one of these options:

  1. Entire ad:

    • A single clickable area covers the entire creative
    • No interactivity
    • No additional tracking events

  2. Click tag query string parameter:

    • JavaScript code inside the HTML5 creative must read the click tag from a query string parameter.
    • The query string parameter must be named clickTag or clickTAG.

  3. Click tag query string redirect parameter:

    • In this case, the destination URL for the ad is not declared with the DSP, and is decided at runtime by the creative.
    • JavaScript code inside the HTML5 creative must read the click tag from a query string parameter, and then append the destination URL to this click tag value based on where on ad the click happened.
    • The query string parameter must be named clickTag or clickTAG.

For a checklist you can share with your designers, see Preparing Your HTML5 Creative.

The creative code cannot interact directly with the parent window. HTML5 ads are served into an IFrame, meeting publishers' security requirements. This IFrame prevents a creative from manipulating or reading objects in the browser or the publisher's page.

Ad Dimensions

When you set up an HTML5 ad, you need to choose ad dimensions. Although HTML5 creatives can be designed to automatically fit a range of sizes, most SSPs only accept bids for specific placement sizes.

If you want your HTML5 creative to be used for multiple sizes, create a new ad for each size, uploading the same HTML5 creative for each ad. You can bulk upload HTML5 ads to make this process easier.