Banner Creatives

Banner creatives are the most common type and are built using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS files that are served on webpages or in mobile apps. Within the HTML you can include images, event tracking elements, and Macros which BidCore will replace before the ad is rendered.

You can set up a Banner creative in the BidCore UI by using HTML code or hosting them to the BidCore servers. To set up multiple Banner creatives at once, use the Upload Creatives option on the Creatives ‣ Creative List tab.

Setting Up A Banner Creative

To set up a new Banner creative, use the following steps.

1. Select Creatives ‣ Create New.

2. Type your creative’s Name into the relevant field.

3. Assign your creative to an Advertiser by selecting the relevant advertiser from the dropdown list.

4. Select Banner as the Creative Type.

5. Enter the Advertiser Website URL, a brand safety feature for SSPs allowing them to filter blacklisted URLs on their side.

6. Enter the app Bundle identifier associated with the creative if needed.

7. Set the creative flight dates. By default, the Use Line Item Dates option is selected, so the creative inherits its flight dates from the line item to which it is assigned. Select the Set Custom Dates option to set the creative lifetime in the calendar. Note: if the creative lifetime exceeds the line item lifetime, the creative inherits the line item flight dates. Note: the creative flight dates feature is activated upon request, please contact your BidCore representative.

See below how to set up banner creatives by using HTML code or BidCore hosting.

HTML Code

To set up your creative using HTML code, use the following steps.

1. Set HTML Code (secure) as the asset source.

2. Enter your creative HTML in the HTML Code (Secure) input field.

   There’s a number of considerations when formatting the markup.

   • You must insert one of the following macros into the markup:

     • ${CLICK_URL}

     • ${CLICK_URL_ESC}

     • ${CLICK_TRACKER_URL}

     • ${CLICK_TRACKER_URL_ESC}

     ${CLICK_URL} and ${CLICK_URL_ESC} macros must be used before the click URL.

   • You should include the relevant macros for your purposes, see the Markup Substitution Macros section for more details.

   • There is a limit of 20kb per HTML creative when using the HTML Code input field

   • For secure creatives, ensure all URLs use HTTPS

Note

Once the file is uploaded, the HTML code template is generated automatically.

Creative Upload

To host your banner creative in BidCore, use the following steps.

1. Set File upload (with hosting) as the asset source.

2. Select the file for upload. To do this, click on the Select File field. When you upload the file, BidCore will generate HTML code for your creative. You can see it in the HTML Code (secure) field. BidCore supports the following formats for banners:

   • png

   • gif

   • jpg

   You can also upload HTML5 creatives as .zip archives. Make sure your archive is uncorrupted, contains an index.html file in the root. The index file must contail at least one valid click tag. Do not include any files unrelated to your creative. An archive can contain up to 100 files. The total size of the resulting file served as an ad must not exceed 5 MB, otherwise the creative will not be processed.

   The name of your .zip archive cannot be longer than 50 characters, including the extension.

   The following file types are supported:

   • HTML/Text: HTML, HTM, CSS, JS

   • Images: JPG, JPEG, GIF, PNG, SVG, WEBP

   • Fonts: DFONT, EOT, OTF, TTE, TTF, WOFF, WOFF2

3. Set the creative’s Width and Height in pixels.

4. Enter the Click Through URL to define where the user will be redirected after clicking on the creative.

Creative Bulk Upload

To upload multiple Banner creatives to BidCore, first prepare an .xlsx file using the Banner Creative Upload Template.

All the columns present in the template are mandatory and cannot be removed, although some of them can be left empty if not used. Please pay attention to the descriptions below.

Banner Creative Upload Columns

Name	Description
creative name (Required)	Enter your creatives’ names into this column
width (Required)	Enter your creatives’ width measurements in pixels
height (Required)	Enter your creatives’ height measurements in pixels
3rd-party Tag (Required)	Insert the HTML code for each creative here
landing page URL (Required)	Enter landing page URLs for your creatives
iab category (Required)	Enter IAB category IDs for your creatives, separating them by commas (for example, IAB1, IAB9, IAB19). You can find the full list of IAB creative categories in the IAB Categories section
iab attribute (Optional)	Enter IAB creative attribute IDs for your creatives, separating them by commas. If you don’t use IAB creative attributes for your creatives, leave this column empty. You can find the full list of IAB creative attributes in the IAB Creative Attributes section
google vendor (Optional)	Enter Google certified vendor IDs for your creatives, separating them by commas. If you don’t use Google certified vendors for your creatives, leave this column empty. You can find the full list of Google certified vendors in the Google Certified Vendors section
google attribute (Optional)	Enter Google creative attribute IDs for your creatives, separating them by commas. If you don’t use Google creative attributes for your creatives, leave this column empty. You can find the full list of Google creative attributes in the Google Creative Attributes section

When you have your .xlsx file ready, please proceed as follows.

1. Select Creatives ‣ Upload Creatives.

2. Assign your creatives to an Advertiser.

3. Use the Select File option to find your .xlsx file, then press Upload and Continue.

4. After having the .xlsx file uploaded and processed, the BidCore UI displays a list of uploaded creatives for you to review. On the top you will see a list of creatives containing errors if there are any, with a description of each error. Creatives with errors will be ignored by the system. To have them uploaded, use one of the following options.

   • Press Cancel to discard the upload and return to editing your .xlsx file in order to fix the errors.

   • Proceed with uploading by pressing Upload and Continue, then create a new .xslx file for the ignored creatives, fix the errors and upload the file following the steps above.

     If the file contains no errors, press Upload and Continue to finish uploading and return to the list of creatives.

3rd Party Impression Trackers

You can assign 3rd party impression trackers to your creatives if necessary, find more information in the 3rd Party Impression Trackers section.

Creative Categorization

Ensure you set the correct creative categories and attributes, as these are required for targeting.

• Set the IAB Creative Categories, they categorize the creative and are used as part of targeting. These categories are required for all creatives.

• The Brand Safety Creative Categories field should only be set for creatives that fall into at least one listed category, e.g. advertise alcoholic beverages or tobacco products. Not declaring brand unsafe creatives may result in being banned by SSPs.

• The IAB Creative Attributes field is optional but should be specified in case of any specific behavior of the creative, e.g. being expandable, having autoplay or inbanner video. Not declaring such attributes may result in failing creative approval.

• The Google Certified Vendors field is also optional but should be filled if your creative includes any 3rd party calls.

• If trading with Google, set the Google Creative Attributes to signal how your creative interacts with the page and the user. Google Creative attributes should declare any specific behavior of the creative.

  You can find full lists of all creative categories and attributes in the Categorization Guides section.