Streaming vs. Rich Media vs. Standard Banner vs. Tracking

These are the 4 kinds of ads AAS displays.

Streaming ads are displayed in the beginning, middle, or end of other video content, are called Pre-Roll or Mid-Roll, and usually are shared in VAST or VPAID format.

Rich Media ads are Ads with video, sound, various effects like expansion or other advanced animations.

Standard Banners are "normal" banners with animation, but limited technical capabilities compared to the Rich Media banners. For AAS they are limited to a weight of 200 KB.

Tracking pixels are used, including at times where the delivering entity does not allow AAS to host the banners.

How can I set up a site?

As the sites have to be audited, whether they exist or whether they spread malware, we prefer if you send a ticket to publishers@sizmek.com. Site generation is usually taking less than 2h.

My tags do not work - what do I do?

Please submit a ticket to global support. Publisher Care Team is not taking care of live campaigns. If your tags from a certification do not work - please submit a ticket to the Publisher Care Team.

I (Publisher) do not know my site ID - what do I do?

Please reach out via ticket to the Publisher Care Team or your local CSM - you should receive an answer within the day.

What are native ads?

Native ads are set up in the look and feel of the site and content. They usually contain text and picture elements and differ from site to site in fonts, composition, and size.

I am a publisher - Can I get a log-in?

Publishers are represented as site entities within AAS. These do not have a log-in.

How can I get access to the numbers for campaigns I delivered impressions as a publisher - to monitor possible discrepancies?

We have publisher reports - you can get access if you ask the agency you are delivering for. You can also work with the Publisher Care team to get publisher reports for every campaign you run in AAS.

I need a walkthrough/guide through the Portal site, what should I do?

Reach out to your CSM and ask for one - or send a ticket to the Publisher Care Team specifying your locality and language you would like for this publisher training.

What Ad Formats are available?

See the following links:

Basic Formats

Advanced Formats

I have feedback and recommendation for the portal, where can I add it?

If you have feedback on this part of the help center - the publisher portal - please send a ticket via publisher form or by sending a ticket via publishers@sizmek.com. Other feedback you can send to support - also via a ticket support@sizmek.com.

Can AAS deal with CORS?

Yes. CORS is an important setting when in use. AAS has the option to enable/disable CORS on Response Headers.

Where can I set what SDK I am using?

The In-app SDK setting is located on the site level.

What SDKs do you support?

The In-app SDK setting currently supports MRAID, ORMMA, DFP, AdMarvel, MOCEAN, and accepts any proprietary SDK.

Is every banner with a video inside considered video advertising?

Not really - we distinguish between Rich Media banner with videocontent and video streaming. The former is an HTML5 Rich Media unit with video content in it. The latter is a VAST or VPAID unit that is displayed in a video player. Each player needs a different set of video files within the VAST / VPAID template - this is where our video auto-transcoding feature comes in.

VPAID vs VAST

These two formats are streaming formats - they are displayed in a video player before, in the middle, or after other (main) video content.

The format can be used for streaming video but also for audio content.

VAST is the older of the two. It exists in a different version - 3.0 is the standard right now, whereas 4.0 is in development.

VPAID is based on VAST but it contains more possibilities for tracking and fraud detection. Where possible VPAID utilization is recommendable but has to be checked with the technical capabilities of the publisher (their video player). The different localities have a very different penetration of VPAID.

Video Specs - what do they consist of?

Usually, video players demand several files of different quality which are within the VAST code. Media file type (e.g. MP4), Format (e.g. 16:9), bitrates, frames per second, and resolution can differ and have to match so that the player displays the video as expected.

What is Video Auto-Transcoding?

Video auto-transcoding is when you encode the source video to the specification the publisher's player requires to display this video to all kinds of devices/connections (low resolution for the small screen and low connectivity - mobile use and high resolution for more advanced and large screen setups). Every Streaming Video Ad has to be produced to spec - to the specific specifications of each publisher. OR you use AAS Auto Transcoding - this service lets you upload one video file, select the publisher you want it to be delivered and AAS will then transcode it to the profile set to this publisher. In case you have problems you can reach out to us and send us the latest video specs, which we can update for you to run problem-free again.

Video loudness level - can AAS regulate that?

The current solution for Video Transcoding does not allow for a regulation of the video audio level. We recommend submitting all videos with the audio level already set to the EU norm.

Why is my traffic invalid?

There are many reasons why certain impressions are deemed invalid. Unknown User agents, inhuman behavior, or other technical anomalies, can lead to traffic being flagged.

We are constantly updating and analyzing invalid traffic as this field is very dynamic.

What is IVT - GIVT and SIVT?

IVT refers to Invalid Traffic. GIVT is General invalid traffic, whereas SIVT is Sophisticated invalid traffic. This differentiation refers to the methods used to create non-human impressions.

What is an unknown user agent?

The user agent is the browser that is used by the user to see the website and the banner. The valid user agents are all kept in a list from IAB. Any User-agent that is not on this IAB list is an unknown user agent. They can be new browser-like applications, that are developed to fraudulently create impressions and clicks or it can be new technologies, that have not yet been entered into the IAB safe list. It is also possible they are perfectly fine new technological additions that just did not make it to the IAB list as of yet - a careful check is needed to tell innovation from fraud.

What is the relation between IVT and discrepancies?

Some cases of Invalid traffic are filtered out. The reasons why certain traffic is filtered out are proprietary to each AdTech Entity. Due to the risk of reverse engineering, consolidation across different technologies is difficult. As publisher Ad server or DSP and AAS work together to deliver online marketing campaigns - there will be discrepancies. One possible large reason for that can be that one system identifies traffic as invalid and the other does not. We work to continuously fine-tune the IVT detection.

What is non-human traffic?

Fraudsters use technologies such as crawlers and click-farms to inflate viewing numbers or click numbers. Computer-based traffic quality systems can calculate, what behavior is unlikely to have been generated by a human and classify this traffic as invalid.

How does the GDPR string work for AAS?

The AAS string for GDPR works like any other. You have to add it to the tag and in case you are passing data you have to make sure you discuss it with your CSM prior to the launch of the campaign.

Why do I need a certification?

You do not need a certification per se. Advanced formats and sophisticated site setups make a certification recommendable in general. Large global campaigns for renowned advertisers with special AAS formats are very good reasons to certify, in order to be secure you can deliver when the campaign starts.

I have problems with my certification what do I do?

After you checked the instructions and tried to solve the problem on your own you can always submit a ticket via the publisher form. Select assistance required and let us know what exactly the problem is. Most of the problems can be solved quickly, as the team has 10+years of experience with certifications.

Do you guarantee that everything will work technically when a format is certified?

There are no guarantees - also not with a certification. We know that at that moment when we were testing everything worked as desired. Once the template changes or the site is reworked the full functionality can be threatened. When it is important you can always recertify. Generally, we would like to point out, that the basic format should work on the overwhelming majority without issues - advanced formats - even when certified should be checked every 3 years.

What is the difference between assisted and simple certification?

A simple certification consists of functionality tests (especially if the banner displays correctly on the site) only following testing guidelines while assisted certification has another step - data comparison. Data comparison is a final step of the certification process where portal users can request a new set of Tags from the publisher care manager (via publisher form) which will be set live for 1-5k impressions in order to compare reports afterward. This is will help all parties in preventing any discrepancies as well as data misalignment when it comes to data counting methods.

I was certified in the past - when do you recommend recertifying?

As a general rule of thumb, all certified formats remain certified unless major changes have been made on the webpage. What are major changes? - ad container size changes, positioning, tag implementation, ad server change, or if there is anything that can interfere with how the ad used to behave.

If you are unsure you can follow the self-care guide for simple certification and place a test tag on the site. If it displays correctly - you are good. In case there are issues you can trigger a re-certification via the publisher form.

How can I recertify with AAS?

In the future, we are aiming to show this information in AAS. Right now you can ask the Publisher Care Team in a ticket or via the Media Plan Evaluation service.

I am not clear on some spec settings - how can you help?

If you are not clear about what we are asking check the Glossary on that special technical vocabulary and check the internet for further explanation. With this preparation, your publisher Adserver's client service should be able to answer your questions.

You can also send a ticket to the Publisher Care Team - some settings are easily explained or ruled out for being important.

Why does the Publisher Care team ask for publisher specs?

The delivery of all banners is based on the communication of publisher Ads erver, AAS, and user. Only if the publisher Adserver understands all commands from AASin the right way, the banners will display and be measured without fault.

We have a list of around 100 settings, which can be needed in order to guarantee issue-free delivery. About 20 of these are absolutely necessary others will only be important on special delivery (Video, Mobile, OTT) or for special situations (CORS, SSAI, special Data Governance needs).

The Publisher Care Team reaches out to make sure all settings are up to date proactively in order for live campaign issues to decrease. They welcome any proactive reach out from the publishers when there are changes in the site setup or technological setup.

Where can I find an explanation for the abbreviations used in this guide?

Please check thePublisher Care Glossary

What is the difference between video specs and general specs?

The video specs are for the video player which sits on the site - the specs specify which formats in which bitrate and what quality and ratio the videos must have, to satisfy the player and let him display the video correctly in every technical situation the user asks to see the video.

The general settings are settings for the display of banners. From easy - such as Secure protocol or not, to advanced settings as Server-Side Ad Insertion, there are many special settings possible