The following quality criteria are obligatory and serve as a guideline for best possible monetisation of In-Stream inventory. The contents of this guideline are based on market developments over the past 24 months. The performance values are assessed by smartclip’s proprietary systems as well as well-known ad verification providers.
The concept of “premium” is based on proven performance values that significantly profit from placement within editorial content and in a clutter-free environment. Infringement or violation of these guidelines could lead to exclusion from monetisation and/or to a loss of revenue. However, buyers evaluate the criteria individually and smartclip conducts detailed analyses of intentional or unintentional violation of the criteria on a case-by-case basis. Therefore, complying with these guidelines can ensure the best possible revenue generation for the publisher’s inventory.
Player Requirements
- Exclusive use of the smartclip Out-Stream Player (VAST/VPAID compatible)
- No custom player sizes (lead to unexpected risks when updates are released)
Content Quality
- Player environment is editorial (no user-generated content)
- No index or overview websites
- Implementation of the player in editorial articles
- Implementation of the player in the upper part of the website, but underneath the directly visible area (agreement with smartclip)
- Implementation of the player between two text blocks (no content image directly bordering)
- No direct borders to other ad placements on the website
- Exclusive video player next to editorial content video on the respective article website (no Taboola, Ligatus, ShowHeroes, Playbuzz, etc. — backfill cooperations are running via smartclip competence centre)
- No overlapping ads
- Acceptance for agile integration of new Out-Stream formats (subject to prior review by smartclip also considering Better Ads)
- Implementation of the player between header and footer within the body of website
- Prevention of ad clutter in the player environment
- Invalid traffic in the form of auto-redirects and click fraud is not allowed (e.g. unwanted redirection of the user when clicking on the play button)
- Prevention of data centre traffic
- Implementation of an ads.txt or app-ads.txt file especially for programmatic advertising
Brand Protection & Brand Safety
- No violation of applicable law
- The following contents are not monetised:
- Contents that glorify violence and are sexual or extraordinarily vulgar
- Contents that are racist and disparage individuals, groups or organisations
- Contents dealing with illegal drugs and/or drug accessories
- Contents dealing with sales of arms or munition, e.g. firearms, weapon accessories, combat knives, stun guns
- Contents dealing with illegal gambling and/or casinos
- Contents dealing with illegal downloads
- Contents dealing with sales of tobacco and/or tobacco products
- Contents dealing with sales of prescription drugs
- Contents dealing with sales of replicas or imitated brand products or other products
- Contents dealing with programs that reward users for clicking on ads or offers, carrying out searches, visiting websites or reading emails
- The following contents are only monetised considering legal guidelines:
- Political contents
- Contents dealing with sales of beer and liquor
- Contents dealing with sales or distribution of term papers or other student papers
- The following inventory is not appropriate for monetisation:
- Traffic that does not comply with legal safety requirements as per definition
- Traffic that is considered SIVT due to ad verification tools (e.g. Data Center Traffic, Hijacked Devices)
- Measurement of all kinds of bot traffic (also considered SIVT)
- Inventory coming from websites with ad clutter
- Inventory coming from websites that have not been agreed with smartclip beforehand
- Inventory coming from websites that are considered “ad fraud, porn, warez, file-sharing, malware, spyware, illegal activity, streaming/torrent, violence & weapons” in the common ad verification tools
- Autoplay placements that have not been agreed with smartclip beforehand
- Delivery on user-generated content that has not been agreed with smartclip beforehand
- Delivery of campaigns in pop-unders, iFrames, layers or other ad placements increasing reach
- Multiple calls of same ad call which has not been agreed with smartclip beforehand
Note
Content rated R-18 must be labelled accordingly or addressed separately.
If circumstances require — for example in the event of catastrophes, terror attacks, etc. — the publisher needs to deactivate the ad delivery on a short-term basis (especially news-related environments specifically addressing such topics).
Download our Out-Stream Quality Criteria Guide here.