Quality Criteria: Out-Stream (Europe)

Introduction

The following quality criteria serve as guidelines for the best possible monetisation of premium out-stream inventory. The contents of these guidelines are based on market developments over the past 24 months and are regularly checked for the latest status and updated accordingly. The performance values are assessed by smartclip’s proprietary systems as well as well-known ad verification providers. 

“Premium” is determined from proven performance values of the out-stream integration, which benefits significantly from a clutter-free environment and placement within the content. Failure to comply with or violations of the criteria could result in deactivation and/or loss of revenue. This said, buyers will interpret the guidelines themselves. A knowing or unknowing disregard of the criteria leads to a detailed analysis by smartclip as a first step. Thus, implementation and respect for the guidelines are linked primarily to the best possible generation of sales. Additionally, the criteria offer the possibility to separate oneself from the competition in the out-stream segment.

Publisher Requirements

• Installation and regular maintenance of an ads.txt and/or app-ads.txt file
• Correct transfer of the referrer domains and/or bundle IDs
• Correct transmission of the consent string signal according to TCF 2.0 (EU only)
• Correct transfer of the App Store URL for in-app inventory 
• No violation of applicable law. Compliance with legal safety regulations is obligatory. You can find more information in smartclip’s Brand Safety Guide. 
• Invalid Traffic (IVT) must be avoided. In the event that the IVT rate surpasses the predefined threshold, smartclip reserves the right to deactivate the publisher. You can find more information in smartclip’s Invalid Traffic Guide.
• Correct transmission of SupplyChain nodes according to the IAB SupplyChain Object specifications if all or parts of the inventory are not owned and operated
• Acceptance for agile integration of new out-stream formats (after prior review by smartclip, especially with regards to Better Ads)

Player Requirements

If the publisher implements an out-stream player other than smartclip technology, the following requirements apply:

• Viewability measurement must be enabled via OM SDK & OMID as outlined in the standards from the IAB.
• Sound off by default
• The player starts automatically when it is more than 50% visible and pauses when it is less than 50% visible.
• The player pauses when the user switches tabs. 
• Player controls are not permitted to overlay the video content unless they are transparent and fade out after the mouse leaves the player screen.
• No looped playing of video ads
• A sticky player is permitted in coordination with smartclip — it must have a close button and should not overlay any relevant page elements (similar to smartclip’s InSwipe format).

Placement Requirements 

• Only one video ad is allowed to play at a time within the viewport (also applies in cases where both in-stream and out-stream players run on the same page).
• Player environment is ideally editorial — user-generated content must be pre-screened by the publisher and approved by smartclip.
• Integration of the player in articles only (not on home or main pages)
• Integration of the player between two text blocks
• Ideally, the integration is placed in the upper third of the webpage, but below the area immediately visible to the user (coordination with smartclip).
• Integration of the player between two text blocks (no content image directly bordering the player)
• No direct borders to other ad placements on the website
• No overlay ads
• Ad clutter must be avoided in the player environment.
• The same quality standards apply for both desktop and mobile inventories.

Note

Content rated R-18 must be labelled accordingly or separately selectable.

If circumstances require — for example, in the event of catastrophes, terror attacks, etc. — the ability to deactivate ad delivery on a short-term basis (especially within news-related environments specifically addressing such topics) must be enabled on the part of the publisher.

Download our EU Out-Stream Quality Criteria Guide here.