mcn

MCN gives all advertisers access to online banners, rich media, integrated sponsorships, newsletters, competitions and now every TV advertiser has the opportunity to extend their brand online with long form content in the video players.

MCN are proud to announce the launch of a new video Ad format, EBTV. For more information please download our EBTV specs page or contact your MCN Online sales representative.

If you have any further questions please contact your MCN Online Account Manager.

EBTV must be frequency capped at 1 per user per 24 hours on Fox Sports and 2 per user per 24 hours for all other websites.

 

Additional guidelines

• All swf files should contain the following case sensitive click tag:

      on (release) {

            getURL (_level0.clickTag, "_blank");

       }

 

• All creative is required 2 working days prior to the live date.

 

Rich Media - Expanding ads

Ad Size	Initial Dimensions (W x H)	Expanded Dimensions (W x H)	Default Flash	GIF / JPG	3rd party served	Direction
Leader Board	728 x 90	728 x 180	39 KB	39 KB	100 KB	Expands down
Medium Rectangle	300 x 250	600 x 350	39 KB	39 KB	100 KB	Expands left, then downwards
Banner	468 x 60	468 x 180	39 KB	39 KB	100 KB	Expands down
Skyscraper	120x600	240x600	39 KB	39 KB	100 KB	Expands left

Additional guidelines

• All expanding ads must be user initiated - Roll over to initiate.
• All creative is required 5 working days prior to the live date.
• Mouse off to retract.
• All creative must have a close button.

 

Ad size	OTP Dimensions	OTP max file size	Reminder dimensions (W x H)	Reminder max file size Flash / GIF	Maximum duration	Notes
Standard OTP - 1	300 x 400	3rd party served 100 KB	728 x90 or 300 x 250	39 KB / 39 KB	7 sec
Standard OTP - 2	500 x 500	3rd party served 100 KB	728 x90 or 300 x 250	39 KB / 39 KB	7 sec
Full page OTP	1000 x 750	3rd party served 100 KB	468 x 60 or 300 x 250	39 KB / 39 KB	10 sec	Positioned beneath the site navigation bar.

 

Additional guidelines

• All OTP ads must be served through an MCN approved 3^rd party Rich Media vendor. This is at the expense and responsibility of the agency or advertiser.
• Sound must be user initiated by a click or a mouse roll over
• A clearly-defined button including the word 'Close' or an X symbol with minimum dimensions of 70 x 30 pixels must be present at the top right corner for the entire duration of the OTP.
• A mute/unmute buttom should be clearly visible
• OTPs must be frequency capped at 3 per user per session
• Creative is due 5 working days prior to the live date

 

Rich Media - Video

Ad Format	Video initiation	Audio Initiation	Close button	Mute button	Duration	File size
Steaming Medium Rectangle	Can start automatically with audio muted	User initiated	-	Required	15 - 30 sec	SWF 39 KB / GIF 39 KB  3rd party served - 1 MB
Pre Roll	Plays automatically before video content	Plays automatically with sound	-	Required	15 sec	1 MB - FLV,MOV,WMV
EBTV	Expands automatically with audio	Plays automatically with sound	Required	Required	15 - 30 sec	For 15 sec TVCs - at least 1.5 MB, up to 10/15 MB For 30 sec TVCs - at least 3 MB, up to 20/30 MB

Additional guidelines
Pre roll specifications by website

Website	Ad format	Size	Duration	File type	File size	Aspect ratio	Frame Size	Notes
Channel V	Pre roll	480 x 270	15 sec	Quicktime Video	1000 KB	16 : 9 (preferred)     4 : 3 (accepted)	800 x 450 pixels                  600 x 250 pixels
Sky News	Pre roll	396 x 223 - News wall     530 x 298 - News articles	15 sec	flv	1000 KB	16 : 9 (preferred) 4 : 3 (accepted)
E-Online	Pre roll	480 x 360	15 sec	flv	1000 KB
Foxtel.com.au	Pre roll	710 x 400 - Video Player	15 sec	flv	1000 KB	16 : 9 (preferred) 4 : 3 (accepted)
Fox Sports (Latest Video)	Pre roll	427 x 240	15 sec	Quicktime mov	Unlimited		720 x 576 pixels with a 1.42 Pixel Aspect Ratio	Mov file should be encoded at the highest video and audio quality possible
	Companion ad	300 x 250		Flash or JPG	39 KB			Cannot be 3rd party served
	Logo Leave Behind	120 x 60		JPG	39 KB
Fox Sports (News in a Minute)	Billboard	427 x 240	5 sec
	Companion ad	728 x 90	-	Flash or JPG	39 KB	-	-	Cannot be 3rd party served
	Brought to You By (BTYB)	110 x 40	-	JPG	39 KB	-	-

EBTV additional specs and EBTV reskinning

Online Specifications - EBTV

• EBTV must be frequency capped at 1 per user per 24 hours on Fox Sports and 2 per user per 24 hours for all other websites.

File type

• For TVC content played in the standard player / custom skin player, please supply video source material in one of the listed formats:

-          FLV
-          DVCAM
-          Mini DV
-          DVD
-          Beta SP
-          Full resolution AVI with DV compression (or no compression)
-          Full resolution MOV with DV compression (or no compression)

 

Video Duration

• Ideally, videos are between 15 and 30 seconds in length. TVCs longer than this length can be hard to compress to 1MB in weight. Therefore, when they are compressed the quality is reduced.

• Videos above 1MB in weight, take longer to load, and therefore more likely to be closed by the user before the video begins. It is in the client's best interest to keep the TVCs at around 30 seconds or less.

 

Video Weight

• For 30 Sec TVCs - at least 3MB, up to 20/30MB

For 15 Sec TVCs - at least 1.5MB, up to 10/15MB

• TVCs low in file weight tend to be poor in quality. When files are compressed, the quality is reduced. Therefore, if the files are not of high quality to begin with there is no way of improving them.

 

Customised / Skinned player

• For a customised / skinned player, please supply the following assets for pre approval and player construction:

-          Overall design concept as an image file or PDF with a written brief
-          High resolution graphic source files e.g EPS, PSD etc.

3^rd party ad serving

Approved Vendors: Standard Display ads

• DoubleClick
• Eyeblaster
• Atlas Solutions
• Facilitate Digital
• Eyewonder

It is the Agency/Advertiser's responsibility to arrange and follow up redirects with their respective 3rd party Adserver.

MCN will not compensate clients for campaigns where a 3rd party Adserver supplies late redirects, or for campaigns that are delayed due to technical problems with the 3rd party Adserver redirects.

• All creative that is 3rd party adserved must be forwarded for approval prior to loading of the redirects.
• that is 3rd party adserved must adhere to MCN creative specifications.
• MCN reserves the right to remove any redirects from the network that are visibly delayedin serving.
• Campaign reporting will always be as per MCN reports.

 

4^th party tagging

Placement of 4^th party tags on MCN sites for re-targeting or any other tracking purposes is strictly not permitted as mentioned in MCN Online Terms and Conditions.

 

Flash - guidelines and specifications

Flash version 8 - although we can accept higher versions.

Action script 2

When supplying flash content, the following variations MUST be provided in addition.

• .swf file - this is the actual adserving file.
• .gif file - this is so that we can display a banner for non Flash capable browsers.

The flash banner has some strict guidelines that must be adhered to, to facilitate adserving. These details are outlined below.

• Flash banners must be saved as maximum Flash8 or lower to include required functionality for ad counter.
• Click tag must be embedded in SWF file:

    on (release) {

        getURL (_level0.clickTag, "_blank");

    }

     

* Variable is case sensitive

An animated or static gif must be supplied for browsers that are not flash enabled. The ALT text must not exceed 30 characters including white space. In order for our Ad Server to register clicks, we require the Flash banner be internally programmed to call a JavaScript function call clickTag when the ad is clicked on.

 

Adstream

MCN is in partnership with Adstream to provide agencies with an easy way to deliver creatives, video encoded to MCN specs. Just tick the 'MCN Online' box in the Adstream user interface.

Adstream flyer

Ad Submission guidelines

Creative Type	Definition	Turnaround time
Standard creatives	Standard display ads, site-served image/flash, non-rich media 3rd party redirects	2 full working days
Complex creatives	Large amounts of standard display ads, expanding/polite 3rd party rich media	3 full working days
Rich Media / Non-standard creatives	Video - Pre rolls, EBTV (and reskinning), OTPs, page takeovers, sponsorships, newsletters	5 full working days

Additional guidelines

• Any creative that does not conform to MCN Online Specifications will be returned for revision. This may impact the scheduled start date of the campaign.
• Creative received late may not be loaded by the booked start date and therefore may affect campaign delivery. Please refer to the MCN current Terms and Conditions.

 

Targeting Capabilities

General Targeting Capabilities

• Browser type
• Time of day
• Day of week
• Domain
• Operating System

Geo targeting - country& state

Site Specific Guidelines

HABBO:

Interstitial specs

• GIF: 620x380, file size max. 25k
• Ad serving through Relevant like billboards
• Only static .gif-files
• No voice files or streaming possibilities
• Max duration 7 seconds
• Maximum frequency 3 per session
• Option: Link to partner site or inside Habbo

 

Habbo Home stickers

Stickers are small images users can select for their Habbo Homes or Group Pages:

• Image size maximum of 146 x 146 pixels
• Can be either GIF with transparency or PNG with 1-bit transparency (JPG not supported for stickers) - can be animated
• Compress the file for smallest file size possible, file must show correctly with Internet Explorer 6, 7 and Firefox 1.5 and 2.
• The page editor sees the bounding box of the image so the visible shape of the sticker should always be somewhat rectangular

 

Habbo Home backgrounds

Background images users choose for their Habbo Homes or Group Pages:

• Exact size for full screen image 928 x 1360 pixels, if smaller, will tile for that size (e.g. 100 x 100 image size works fine)
• Can be in GIF, JPG or PNG format.
• File size must be maximum of 50K (100 is still ok)

 

Badge specs

• Badges are stored in Habbo Image Library as GIFs with white background, not transparent. Client makes white background in corners transparent, but transparent GIFs don´t work correctly.
• Badges may not have totally white pixels inside them. Badge is rendered as matte in badge choice window and background transparent in info stand.
• Maximum size of badge is 35 x 35 size so that overall style is maintained.
• gif ending has to be lower case in Habbo Image Library.

 

Banner specs

• Leaderboard: 728x90, file size max. 25k (jpeg/gif)
• Top banner: 468x60, file size max. 25k (jpeg/gif)
• Wide Skyscraper: 160x600, file size max. 25k (jpeg/gifShort)
• Skyscraper: 120x600, file size max. 25k (jpeg/gif)
• Skyscraper: 140x350 (scandinavian), file size max. 25k (jpeg/gif)
• Island: 300x250, file size max. 25k (jpeg/gif)
• Partner button: 160x110, file size max. 15k (jpeg/gif) preferably only used in Barter deals!

 

Flash specifications

• 30 kbytes per initial download, and up to 4 additional download streams upon user click are permitted. Each additional stream may not exceed 100K.
• If user's browser doesn't support flash, the alternate image will be served - ads must be accompanied an alternate image (GIF or JPG) of the same dimensions. Images must meet the file size specs for that ad size.
• Loading files from cross domains is not permitted.
• The frame rate for flash files may not exceed 12 frames per second.
• Animation must not be endlessly looping, can loop maximum of 4 times.
• Non-user-initiated audio is not permitted in ads.
• Clicking ad may not close, or replace the contents of, "self" or "parent" windows.
• Ad must not activate only with mouse over. Clear clicks for activation are needed.
• To have the advertisement link to other website, URL needs to be hard coded inside the flash file or to have ClickTAG inside
• To be able to track clicks from Flash Banners the URL needs to be hard coded inside the flash file or to have ClickTAG inside
• Flash banners are preferred to receive as swf-files + back up file (gif or jpg)
• If the banner is delivered as an URL, it needs to be prepared according to MFAA guidelines to be able to track clicks.

 

Streaming specifications

• 300x250 pixel dimension, 15k max file size for creative, plus 1 meg max file size for streaming video file.
• Video movie window display can be any size as long as confined to the 300x250 ad space.
• Unlimited animation looping not allowed, max 3 times.
• Host-initiated or User-initiated video is permitted.
• User-initiated audio to be used with streaming video, ad must contain an easily identifiable mute, stop or pause button. When initiated, mute must apply to current and all subsequent looping of video.
• A minimum frequency cap 1 per user per 20 minute session will be placed on all creative with host-initiated audio.
• Must be served by a 3rd-party. We will not host any audio or video files.
• Appropriate plug-in or player detection code must be included. An alternate GIF must be served to all users without appropriate plug-in or player. No prompts to download plug-in or player permitted.