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The Guardian and Observer Tablet edition

United Kingdom (National)

Ad Specifications



Guardian Edition – Interstitial Specifications



Includes details of all standard and interactive formats, technical overview and delivery information for the Guardian and Observer Tablet Edition, Guardian live apps, Google Currents/Newstand and Flipboard




For any queries please contact your Guardian account handler: guardian.adops@theguardian.com and carolyn.strolin@theguardian.com.

All final creative should be supplied to guardian.adops@theguardian.com by the Thursday before your scheduled booking. All bookings begin and end on a weekly cycle starting on Monday. Exceptions to this must be agreed in advance between your account handler and the Guardian ad operations team.

Overview



The Guardian and Observer Tablet Edition, Guardian live apps, Google Currents/Newstand and Flipboard contains interstitial adverts. These are displayed between content pages after a fixed number of swipe navigation interactions has been completed by the user.


We do not support PDFs, images without JSON, SWFs or other proprietary iPad ad formats.

We are able to run bespoke creative (see bespoke section below) on The Guardian and Observer Tablet Editions only we will also need a static file to run across Guardian live apps, Flipboard and Google Currents/Newsstand.

Adverts must adhere to the guidelines below.

Example fullpage advert

Dimensions and file size constraints

Fullpage adverts must support both device orientations. Due to the inclusion of the status bar over the advert, the display area is slightly smaller in height than listed in the delivery dimensions below. The assets must however be delivered at full screen resolution in 72ppi.
* Vertical display area is 21 pixels less than the listed delivery dimension above. This is to account for the status bar.
In the ever fragmenting world of device sizes we require the following file sizes to maximise available inventory across Guardian live apps, Flipboard and Google Currents/Newsstand.



Please include a 25 pixel safe area on all 4 sides

We do however offer a resizing service and if we receive a 768×1024/1024×768 static creative by Wednesday PM we will resize in time for a Monday start date.

Readability


Type should be at least 20px for black print
against white background. Fine print should be at least 15px.
For light print against a dark background, consider larger type or boldface

If you are supplying creative separately for Flipboard, please see http://cdn.flipboard.com/ads/adspecs/Flipboard_Ad_Spec.pdf

Standard advert interaction formats


Advertisers on the Guardian and Observer iPad application are able to implement optional interactions within their ad creatives. These interactions are implemented and passed to the application through the adverts data document (the JSON file).

Static
Renders an image with no additional interactions. The single layer of the creative can have multiple external hotspots. Please note Guardian live apps, Flipboard and Google Currents/Newstand can only have 1 click through url
Must have 1 image. Max 5 hotspots

Hotspot
Displays basic layer-by-layer click-through creative. Hotspots (transparent buttons) can link to either an alternate slide (replacing the current image on display) or to an external URL. Each layer can have multiple external hotspots. There is no limit for the number of images within the creative, but the file size must confirm with the max file size regulation for the display size.
Max 10 slide per ad, 5 hotspots per slide

Technical information


Gestures and interactions
All standard format adverts in the Guardian iPad Edition can only use the tap/click gesture. The swipe gesture is confined to application-layer navigational use only. Pinching is currently not supported.

Structure
Every standard fullpage or inline advert must be developed in the specific format unique to the Guardian iPad Edition.

An advert consists of essentially two key parts. The display assets (images in JPG, PNG of GIF format) and a data file (in JSON markup). Which must then be supplied
Data file (JSON)
Both fullpage and inline adverts use the same markup language to render the adverts. Using JavaScript Notation (JSON) to programatically describe the advert, which is then rendered via
the application when needed.

The component parts the JSON describes are: size, format, scenes and clickspots. Scenes and clickspots are the visual element of the advert.

There’s specific data to ensure compatibility with the Guardian platform. Please contact guardian.adops@theguardian.com for examples.

The file must have a .json suffix to ensure the publishing platform knows what to read. E.g. example.json

Hotspot
A hotspot is a rectangular area in the display area that, when tapped/clicked opens an in-app browser to an external link.

External links operate under two caveats
The link must be to a HTML webpage not PDF or similar heavy-media. Ideally formatted for tablet display.
The webpage will not appear if

the user does not have an active internet connection.

Display assets (images)
In addition to the data file, every advert must include all display assets (at least one image). The platform supports images at 72ppi (pixels per inch) or 132ppi. Please beware the

impact on filesize of delivering at 132ppi.

Compressions formats supported are:
JPEG
PNG 8
PNG 24
Animated GIF

Metrics and data collection
Display and interaction metrics will be supplied at agreed intervals by the Guardian. Due to constraints in the system no external tracking services can be implemented in standard

format adverts.

Delivery guidelines


We are able to run bespoke creative (see bespoke formats section below) on The Guardian and Observer Tablet Editions but will also need a static file to run across Guardian live apps, Flipboard and Google

Currents/Newsstand.
All adverts should contain:
1. Data file (e.g. example.json)
2. Display assets (e.g. example1.jpg)

This should be delivered in a ZIP file.

This ZIP file should be previewed via the tool below to ensure it’s correctly formatted. If the advert is correctly displayed you will see a basic preview of the advert in the browser window. The environment does not recreate all functionality and should only be used as a basic guide.

http://ipadpreview.gutools.co.uk/upload
Username: uploader
Password: password

If your advert is rendered correctly please submit the final deliver ZIP to guardian.adops@guardian.co.uk

Further points


Bespoke formats
It is possible to develop bespoke fullpage adverts. These would be HTML/JavaScript based and developed closely with the Guardian technical team to ensure considerations for application performance and requirements were taken into account.

If you’re interested in producing an advert in this format, please contact your Guardian representative for formal specific technical support.
We ask for bespoke format to have a
max file size of 1.2mb. For further guidance on bespoke formats go to http://specle.net/uk/guardian-news-media/ipad-bespoke-ads-guidelines

General notes
The Apple iPad does not support Adobe Flash.
We will not carry any form of advertising that is deemed to be misleading or confusing to our users.
For further information on advert types and formats please contact us on the details noted at the top of the document.

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