General Guidelines for Passing Creative Audits

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To ensure your creatives successfully pass the auditing process, it's important to follow the guidelines outlined in this article. Adhering to these guidelines can help ensure that your creatives meet the necessary standards and policies required for approval. For more information on common reasons creatives are rejected during an audit, refer to the Creative Standards.

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Malvertising

Significant efforts are made to prevent malvertising (malicious advertising) on the platform. This includes enforcing strict policies and utilizing automated systems to ensure all creatives meet security and quality standards.

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Key Points:

• Anti-Malvertising Policy: All clients must comply with this policy to avoid suspension or termination.

• Automated Systems: These systems continuously monitor creatives for malvertising threats, including malware, viruses, and enforcement of domain blocklists. They also ensure that ad tags are from approved third-party servers.

• Immediate Deactivation: Any malvertising threats detected will result in the immediate deactivation of the affected creatives.

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Creative Content

There are specific guidelines regarding the content and types of offers that can be displayed to ensure a positive user experience.

Key Points:

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• Language Consistency: The language of the landing page should match the language of the creative. For example, if the creative is in Spanish, the landing page should also be in Spanish.

• Offer Categories: Creatives will be assigned a brand category based on the content of the landing page.

• Sensitive Categories: Creatives containing sensitive content or offers (such as adult content or controversial themes) will be flagged and categorized accordingly. Creatives with sensitive content may face restrictions depending on the publisher’s policy.

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Brand

The creative and landing page must represent one identical and recognized brand/product offering. Combining multiple unrelated brands into a single offer is not accepted.

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Key Points:

• No Brand Rotation: Creatives should not rotate between different brands or brand names.

• Brand Approval: If the brand on the creative or landing page isn't already recognized, a new brand will be created at the time of the audit. A functional URL must be provided to create a new brand.

• Brand Name & Category: The name and category for new brands will be determined during the audit process.

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Actions

Certain actions associated with creatives must adhere to specific standards to prevent rejections.

Key Points:

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• Downloads: Clicking on a creative should not initiate any file downloads. This ensures that the ad is safe for users and avoids any potential security risks.

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Landing Page Requirements:

• The landing page content must adhere to all guidelines.

• The landing page must be live and functional at the time of the audit.

• The landing page must be viewable from specific IP addresses used during the audit process.

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Creative Audit Best Practices

To streamline the creative audit process and ensure timely approval, it’s essential to follow these best practices:

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Key Points:

1. Submit Creatives Early:

   • Submit your creatives at least one week ahead of your scheduled flight dates.

   • Submitting early gives you enough time to address any potential issues identified during the audit, ensuring your creatives meet all compliance standards.

   • This is especially important during peak advertising periods (such as holidays) when the audit queue is busier.

2. Pace Creative Submissions:

   • Avoid submitting a large number of creatives all at once. Instead, pace your submissions over an extended period to maintain the health of the audit queue.

   • Bulk submissions can overwhelm the system and cause delays across the platform, which may result in your creatives being de-prioritized.

3. Avoid Automated Submissions:

   • Avoid using scripts or automation tools to submit creatives. Automated submissions often lead to complications such as glitches, high audit fees, and unnecessary delays.

   • Bulk submissions made by scripts can result in incorrect submissions or technical issues that can cause creatives to fail the audit.

   • Ensure that each creative is ready and thoroughly reviewed before submission to reduce the number of rejections.

4. Stay in Contact:

   • Keep in touch with your representative or the Audit Client Services team if you plan to submit a large batch of creatives for audit.

   • If bulk submissions are necessary, inform the relevant teams to ensure they are aware of the volume and can help mitigate delays.

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By following these guidelines, you can help ensure that your creatives pass the audit process efficiently and successfully. Always be proactive in ensuring your creatives meet all technical, brand, and content requirements to minimize delays and optimize ad performance.