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All creative must meet the requirements of the MSA Creative Acceptance Policy

User Visits MSN Homepage.  Editorial content loads first, then 300x250 ad unit is populated on the page and commences 15 seconds of animation time within 300x250 space.
 

• 300x250 reveals call to action for Sidekick as user initiated only on click.
• The Sidekick experience opens to the right of the 300x250 and stays open until the user selects to close it.
• The user may click to close the Sidekick via button on the 300x250 and at the top right of the page.
• Minimum resolution to see all Sidekick elements is 1280x1024. Any resolution smaller than that ratio will only see the Sidekick but not additional elements such as a Page Skin.

 

300x250 Sidekick





DEMO LINK:  http://ads1.msn.com/ads/demos/Honda/042209_Homepage(US)_Honda_Sidekick.htm

From time to time there will be text links featured outside and beneath the landing position for the over the page ad experience. These text links are used to provide information about the ad type featured as well as gather feedback from our users on their advertising experience on MSN. These labels will be featured sporadically and all data collected will be for internal purposes only.

MSN.com is the front door to our diverse network. As such, we want to display innovative creative within our home page display ad placement that can appeal to the broader audience. Below are specific guidelines which need to be applied to all creative featured on the MSN.com home page. These guidelines were developed to help support the MSN brand and overall look and feel of the home page.

 

MSN reserves the right to prohibit any advertisement from being featured on the home page.

 

Ads should contain

• A clear message and offer/promotion
• Clutter-free design
• Relevant imagery to the offer or promotion
• Consistent branding (Use of similar/same logos & messaging)
• Landing pages should provide relevant content to the ad featured

 

Not allowed

 

• Ads with fake HTML
• Ads that are misleading in anyway (specifically within creative messaging/offers/promotions etc…)
• Inappropriate graphics: included but not limited to graphic images which generate an adverse emotional response from users (i.e., overly graphic medical conditions/images, images of distressed animals or humans), or overexposure to nudity (i.e., swimsuits, sports bras)
• Rapidly flashing images/multiple flashing images (no more than 2 flashing images at the same time)

 

For more information, please view MSN's Creative Acceptance Policy.

SIDEKICK AD PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS:

1. Required elements:

 
Elements to be provided for all solutions:

 

• One (1) .fla for the 300x250
• One (1) .fla for the Sidekick Panel
• One (1) rendered .swf for the 300x250
• One (1) rendered .swf for the SideKick Panel
• Back-up .gif or .jpeg for 300x250
• Any custom fonts that were used in the execution
• Please use the program “Stuffit” to compress the fonts if the creative shop is using Mac fonts.
• For PC fonts please use .zip files
• Mapped clickthrough URLs
• Third Party Tracking (if required)

 

Additional elements to be provided for panel element only:

 

• Any .fla source files for child file loads into panel unit
• Rendered .swf files for child file loads into panel unit
• If Streaming Video is used, any source videos in .mov format.  Also be sure to include the associated .flv files.    

 

    2.    Specifications:

 

All Elements
 

• Flash elements: Flash 9.0+ accepted  (AS3 is supported)
• 300x250 Back-up image: gif / jpg
• Must provide user with opportunity to close the SideKick panel with  “Close X” button contained within the 300x250 and at top right of the flash stage area.

  

300x250 Ad Unit.  The 300x250 must abide by the following requirements:

 

• Limited to 8 seconds of animation after floating element has resolved
• Not exceed 50k total file weight in flash (includes float element)
• Published in flash versions 9.0+  (AS3 is supported)
• Cannot exceed 24 frames per second
• Cannot have constantly animating elements
• Creative must feature a 1 pixel border (gray [#666666] or black recommended, though any color that clearly distinguishes the ad from the content may be used)

 

SideKick Panel.  The Sidekick panel must abide by the following requirements.

 

• Total image size no larger than 700x430 pixels
• Contained within the 1000x850 pixel staging area.
• Cannot cover the MSN Search Bar.
• Panel cannot have a background image covering the entire stage size (disabling content).
• Panel must have close button during animation sequence allowing user to close the Sidekick experience
• SideKick experience is user initiated only.

  

If purchased with skin element:

Page Skin Unit.  The Expanded must abide by the following requirements:

 

• One (1) skin in .gif or .jpg format
• Total graphical area should not exceed 1292x900
• Can be up to 150kb in size, but should be as small as possible to limit loading time

Audio:

 

• Audio must be user-initiated and never automatic
• Audio controls must be present.
• If audio is used, creative must include an On/Off switch for users.
• Audio insertion into Flash file may begin no earlier than the second frame.

Video:

 

• Video is streamed from Akamai, not progressively
• Video Controls must be present:  Play/Pause, Volume Control or Mute/Unmute buttons are required.  Time Scrubber & Replay button are suggested but not required.

 

CPU Usage:

Idle CPU usage typically falls within 8-12%. When testing a Flash file for this ad, CPU usage after the initial loading of the file must be between 20% and 30%.  An initial spike of up to 60% is acceptable in the first five seconds. (Idle CPU usage devised upon computer with a 1.8GHz Intel Pentium Processor and 512 MB of RAM running standard programs.)

 

Browser Support:

 

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 to 8.0 are supported.
• Firefox is a supported browser on a case-by-case basis (dependent upon test results and execution design).
• Limited support may be provided for Safari based on test results.
• In cases in which a browser is not supported (i.e. Firefox or Mac browsers), users will receive the backup image.

 

Back-up .gif Impression Serve Rate:
 

• Expected Back-up .gif Impression serve rate varies from 8-12%.

Ad Launch Time:

• Ad starts no earlier than midnight (12AM), Eastern Standard Time. Specific times can be discussed.

 

Rich Media File Validation (Standard Process)
Core Rich Media Product built to spec	10 Business Days
Premier Media Group Creative Services
Build (Animate) and implement approved concept	15 Business Days
Concept, build and implement	30 Business Days
Custom Features/ Editorial Specification Exceptions	Additional SLA will apply on a case-by-case basis

Note: Additional or custom features may have an additional cost associated with them. Please contact your Microsoft sales representative for more information.

Any element not meeting spec or submission requirements will be returned for revision, which may delay the expected live date. If you have any questions regarding creative submissions, please e-mail your Microsoft sales or PMG representative. 


REFERENCE GUIDES:

• MSN Rich Media Guide
• MSN Rich Media Solutions
• Individual site pages for product acceptance

MSN Homepage Ads are not 3^rd party served.  They are served solely via MSN’s Rich Media Servers.

• Overall third-party impression tag can be implemented, and would track both the flash and backup (down-level) experiences.
• Third-party click tags can be implemented for the flash and backup experiences.
• Currently we do not support implementation of a separate third-party tracking tag for backup (down-level) impressions.  MSN is able to capture this data and provide the number of backup impressions.

Overall Impressions
 

• Back-up .gif Impressions
• Clicks from 300x250
• Clicks from Back-up .gif
• Number of Expands

If video is used:

• # of Video Plays
• Average Video Play time
• Video Control clicks (Play, Stop, Pause, Mute)

Custom Brand Interaction Metrics (based on execution layout) are available on a case-by-case basis.

Microsoft permits advertisers to collect user-provided personal information (for example, through web forms embedded in ads).
 

• Advertisers may be required to modify ad units or provided additional disclosure in order to be acceptable for advertising on Microsoft sites.
• Advertisers wishing to collect personal information within advertisements (according to specifications above) must follow these guidelines:
  • Clearly identify organization  
  • Provide link to privacy policy (usually adjacent to the web form’s “submit” button)
  • Identify purpose for collecting information

All creative must meet the MSA Ad Submission Guidelines