Standard Banners

2013 Digital Advertising Guidelines Ad Unit Name: Initial Dimensions: (W x H) in px Maximum Initial File Load Size : Creative Format Accepted: Frame Rate :

Super Leaderboard Full Banner Leaderboard

Half Page Banner

Super Banner

Vertical Rectangle

Wide Skyscraper

Skyscraper

Medium Rectangle

970 x 90

728x90

468x60

300x600

220x550

240x400

160x600

120x600

300x250

40kb

40kb

40kb

40kb

40kb

40kb

40kb

40kb

40kb

.GIF, .JPG, .GIF, .JPG, .GIF, .JPG, .GIF, .JPG, .GIF, .JPG, .GIF, .JPG, .GIF, .JPG, .GIF, .JPG, .GIF, .JPG, .SWF, 3rd party .SWF, 3rd party .SWF, 3rd party .SWF, 3rd party .SWF, 3rd party .SWF, 3rd party .SWF, 3rd party .SWF, 3rd party .SWF, 3rd party HTML tags HTML tags HTML tags HTML tags HTML tags HTML tags HTML tags HTML tags HTML tags 24fps

24fps

24fps

24fps

24fps

24fps

24fps

24fps

24fps

Multiple times within 15sec

Multiple times within 15sec

Multiple times within 15sec

Multiple times within 15sec

Multiple times within 15sec

Multiple times within 15sec

Multiple times within 15sec

Multiple times within 15sec

Multiple times within 15sec

Video Option :

NO

NO

NO

YES

YES

NO

NO

NO

YES

Maximum Video Length :

N/A

N/A

N/A

30sec

30sec

N/A

N/A

N/A

30sec

N/A

Must be user initiated (on click: mute/un-mute): Default state is muted.

Must be user initiated (on click: mute/un-mute): Default state is muted.

N/A

Must be user initiated (on click: mute/un-mute): Default state is muted.

Maximum Animation / Loops :

Audio Initiation :

N/A

N/A

N/A

Labeling Requirements, Font Size, Borders:

The ad unit content must be clearly distinguishable from the normal webpage content. It must have clearly defined borders (Required 1 pixel).

Submission Lead Time:

Minimum 3 business days before the campaign launch

Material General Guidelines:

ClickTag:

Disclaimer for Material Testing:

We can accept version up-to Flash 9, and action script 3 For times when the user's browser does not support creative functionality (eg. Flash™, HTML5), provide a standard image file. All ads must open the destination URL in a new browser window or tab “_blank” Ads should not mimic computer error messages on (release) { if (clickTAG.substr(0,5) == "http:") { getURL(clickTAG, "_blank"); }}

N/A

Ads may not advertise or contain misleading messages where the content of the ad leads to a URL with unrelated product/content All ads must have a border and distinct from the content CPU Resource Max 30%

NOTE: To be copied & pasted “as is”

Gulf News Digital Media team will conduct acceptance testing of all supplied advertising material. This is primarily to maintain a high quality user experience and detect any negative impact on our websites, content or audience. To facilitate pre-viewing of the ads for sign-off, some ads will be loaded onto our live websites. Whilst every care is taken to prevent obvious exposure of these ads, there may be a brief period where ads would be visible in the public domain. Should you consider the sensitivities of your campaign launch too high for this method of testing & proofing, please inform us in order that we can make alternative test arrangements on a secure server. This will have restricted access and unfortunately we will not be able to share access or a test link with you. Please note - Material should be submitted at least 3 working days prior to give sufficient time to carry out acceptance tests & sign-offs. “Al Nisr Publishing and its staff cannot be held liable for any damage suffered by you, your affiliates or your agents arising out of or in connection with the exposure of advertising material in relation to online acceptance testing and by proceeding, you indemnify Al Nisr Publishing accordingly.“

NON-STANDARD BANNERS

2013 Digital Advertising Guidelines Expandable MPU

Billboard

Gallery Sponsorship

3:1 Rectangle

Square Button

Top of Listing

Wallpaper / Skin

Initial Dimensions: (W x H) in px

300x250

970x250

640x60 (Top) 640x40 (Bottom

300x100

125x125

526x93

1280x1050

Maximum Expanded Dimensions : (W x H) in pixels

600x400

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Maximum Initial File Load Size :

40kb

40kb

40kb

40kb

40kb

40kb

80kb

3rd party HTML tags

.GIF, .JPG, .SWF, 3rd party HTML tags

.GIF, .JPG, .SWF, 3rd party HTML tags

.GIF, .JPG, .SWF, 3rd party HTML tags

.GIF, .JPG (No animation)

.GIF, .JPG, .SWF, 3rd party HTML tags

.JPG

24fps

24fps

24fps

24fps

Static

24fps

Static

Multiple times within 15sec

Multiple times within 15sec

Multiple times within 15sec

Multiple times within 15sec

Static

Multiple times within 15sec

Static

YES

YES

NO

NO

NO

NO

NO

30sec

30sec

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Must be user initiated (on click: mute/un-mute): Default state is muted.

Must be user initiated (on click: mute/un-mute): Default state is muted.

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Top right cornier (Prominent and obvious, preferably 11 pixel font size bold text and 4 pixel padding arroung the text) Close button MUST include the word “CLOSE” in visible bold letters and should include a large BOLD X

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Ad Unit Name:

Creative Format Accepted: Frame Rate : Maximum Animation / Loops : Video Option : Maximum Video Length:

Audio Initiation :

Close Button :

N/A

Labeling Requirements, Font Size, Borders:

The ad unit content must be clearly distinguishable from the normal webpage content. It must have clearly defined borders (Required 1 pixel).

Submission Lead Time:

Minimum 7 business days before the campaign launch

Material General Guidelines:

ClickTag:

Disclaimer for Material Testing:

We can accept version up-to Flash 9, and action script 3 For times when the user's browser does not support creative functionality (eg. Flash™, HTML5), provide a standard image file. All ads must open the destination URL in a new browser window or tab “_blank” Ads should not mimic computer error messages on (release) { if (clickTAG.substr(0,5) == "http:") { getURL(clickTAG, "_blank"); }}

Ads may not advertise or contain misleading messages where the content of the ad leads to a URL with unrelated product/content All ads must have a border and distinct from the content CPU Resource Max 30%

NOTE: To be copied & pasted “as is”

Gulf News Digital Media team will conduct acceptance testing of all supplied advertising material. This is primarily to maintain a high quality user experience and detect any negative impact on our websites, content or audience. To facilitate pre-viewing of the ads for sign-off, some ads will be loaded onto our live websites. Whilst every care is taken to prevent obvious exposure of these ads, there may be a brief period where ads would be visible in the public domain. Should you consider the sensitivities of your campaign launch too high for this method of testing & proofing, please inform us in order that we can make alternative test arrangements on a secure server. This will have restricted access and unfortunately we will not be able to share access or a test link with you. Please note - Material should be submitted at least 7 working days prior to give sufficient time to carry out acceptance tests & sign-offs. “Al Nisr Publishing and its staff cannot be held liable for any damage suffered by you, your affiliates or your agents arising out of or in connection with the exposure of advertising material in relation to online acceptance testing and by proceeding, you indemnify Al Nisr Publishing accordingly.“

2013 Digital Advertising Guidelines

RICH MEDIA BANNERS

Super Pushdown (Auto - Initiated)

Pushdown (User - Initiated)

Sidekick

Overlay

Page Peel

970 x 90

970 x 90

300x250 or 120x600

450 x 450

120 x 120

Maximum Expanded Dimensions : (W x H) in pixels

970 x 415

970 x 415

970 x 550

N/A

750 x 550

Maximum Initial File Load Size :

60kb

60kb

40kb

60kb

100kb

100kb

100kb

3rd Party HTML Tags

3rd Party HTML Tags

3rd Party HTML Tags

3rd Party HTML Tags

24fps

24fps

24fps

24fps

15 sec (without video option)

10 sec

10 sec (without video option)

NO

YES (upon approval only)

N/A

Video must include: Play, Pause, Mute (volume control to zero (0) output may be included instead of or in addition to Mute control)

Ad Unit Name: Initial Dimensions: (W x H) in px

Subsequent Max Polite File Load Size: Creative Format Accepted: Frame Rate : Animation Time : Video Option :

Video Settings :

Maximum Video Load Size : Maximum Video Length :

3rd Party HTML Tags 24fps 7 sec (Auto-close after 7 sec if without video option) YES Video must include: Play, Pause, Mute (volume control to zero (0) output may be included instead of or in addition to Mute control)

2.2mb

15 sec (without video option) YES Video must include: Play, Pause, Mute (volume control to zero (0) output may be included instead of or in addition to Mute control)

2.2mb

60kb

YES Video must include: Play, Pause, Mute (volume control to zero (0) output may be included instead of or in addition to Mute control)

N/A

100kb

2.2mb

N/A

2.2mb 15 sec

15 sec

30 sec

30 sec

N/A

Audio Initiation :

Must be user initiated (on click: mute/un-mute); default state is muted

Must be user initiated (on click: mute/un-mute); default state is muted

Must be user initiated (on click: mute/un-mute); default state is muted

N/A

Close Button :

Top right corner (Prominent and obvious, preferably 11 pixel font size bold text and 4 pixel padding around the text). Close Button MUST include the word "CLOSE" in visible bold letters and should include a large BOLD X.

Minimum Required Controls:

Uninitiated expanded panel closes automatically and collapsed ad provides expand button that can be initiated with a click

Close button on expanded pushdown, initiated by click

Close X on expanded Sidekick that closes and returns user to publisher page content Userinitiated expand control in the in-page display unit “slides” page content to the left

Overlay ad will not hinder any existing ad slots

Must be user initiated (on click: mute/un-mute); default state is muted

Creative can be set to expand with user click; the panel retracts when the user clicks a clearly marked close button The action that causes the peel to expand MUST also cause the peel to retract

Labeling Requirements, Font Size, Borders:

The ad unit content must be clearly distinguishable from the normal webpage content. It must have clearly defined borders (Required 1 pixel).

Submission Lead Time:

Minimum 7 business days before the campaign launch

Rich Media General Guidelines:

Gulf News offers a number of rich media formats as part of the standard rate card. Any special rich media execution, besides the ones listed in the rate card, is subject to negotiation and implementation possibilities. Please note - We accept rich media only via third party suppliers such as Mediamind, Doubleclick. Additional costs incurred for third party serving are to be absorbed by the client or advertiser. If you require further information regarding third party serving or wish to explore other innovative solutions and possibilities, please consult your Account Manager.

Material General Guidelines:

Disclaimer for Material Testing:

For times when the user's browser does not support creative functionality (eg. Flash™, HTML5), provide a standard image file. Ads should not mimic computer error messages Ads may not advertise or contain misleading messages where the content of the ad leadsto a URL with unrelated product/content

All ads must have a border and distinct from the content CPU Resource Max 30%

Gulf News Digital Media team will conduct acceptance testing of all supplied advertising material. This is primarily to maintain a high quality user experience and detect any negative impact on our websites, content or audience. To facilitate pre-viewing of the ads for sign-off, some ads will be loaded onto our live websites. Whilst every care is taken to prevent obvious exposure of these ads, there may be a brief period where ads would be visible in the public domain. Should you consider the sensitivities of your campaign launch too high for this method of testing & proofing, please inform us in order that we can make alternative test arrangements on a secure server. This will have restricted access and unfortunately we will not be able to share access or a test link with you. Please note - Material should be submitted at least 7 working days prior to give sufficient time to carry out acceptance tests & sign-offs. “Al Nisr Publishing and its staff cannot be held liable for any damage suffered by you, your affiliates or your agents arising out of or in connection with the exposure of advertising material in relation to online acceptance testing and by proceeding, you indemnify Al Nisr Publishing accordingly.“

2013 Digital Advertising Guidelines Ad Unit Name:

Initial Dimensions: (W x H) in px Maximum Expanded Dimensions : (W x H) in pixels Maximum Initial File Load Size :

Creative Format Accepted:

Creative Notes:

MOBILE AND TABLET BANNERS

GN Mobile (m.gulfnews.com)

GN iPAD APP

GN Mobile APP

GN Cricket APP

GNWheels APP

300 x 50

1024x68 (home and inside pages) and 1024x707 (splash page)

320x53

320x50

320x53

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

35kb

40kb

35kb

35kb

35kb

3rd Party HTML Tags

.GIF and .JPG

.GIF and .JPG

.GIF and .JPG

.GIF and .JPG

Landing URL, hyperlinks and other redirects required.

Landing URL, hyperlinks and other redirects required.

Landing URL, hyperlinks and other redirects required.

Landing URL, hyperlinks and other redirects required.

Landing URL, hyperlinks and other redirects required.

.GIF, .JPG and

Labeling Requirements, Font Size, Borders:

The ad unit content must be clearly distinguishable from the normal webpage content. It must have clearly defined borders (Required 1 pixel).

Submission Lead Time:

Minimum 7 business days before the campaign launch

Ads should not mimic computer error messages Material General Guidelines:

Ads may not advertise or contain misleading messages where the content of the ad leads to a URL with unrelated product/content All ads must have a border and distinct from the content

Gulf News Digital Media team will conduct acceptance testing of all supplied advertising material. This is primarily to maintain a high quality user experience and detect any negative impact on our websites, content or audience. To facilitate pre-viewing of the ads for sign-off, some ads will be loaded onto our live websites. Whilst every care is taken to prevent obvious exposure of these ads, there may be a brief period where ads would be visible in the public domain.

Disclaimer for Material Testing:

Should you consider the sensitivities of your campaign launch too high for this method of testing & proofing, please inform us in order that we can make alternative test arrangements on a secure server. This will have restricted access and unfortunately we will not be able to share access or a test link with you. Please note - Material should be submitted at least 7 working days prior to give sufficient time to carry out acceptance tests & sign-offs. “Al Nisr Publishing and its staff cannot be held liable for any damage suffered by you, your affiliates or your agents arising out of or in connection with the exposure of advertising material in relation to online acceptance testing and by proceeding, you indemnify Al Nisr Publishing accordingly.“

PRE - ROLL

2013 Digital Advertising Guidelines Super Pushdown (Auto - Initiated)

Pushdown (User - Initiated)

Sidekick

Dimensions: (4:3 Full Screen)

480 x 360

480 x 360

480 x 360

Dimensions: (16:9 Wide Screen)

480 x 270

480 x 270

480 x 270

Publisher discretion

Publisher discretion

Publisher discretion

Flash 7 / Flash 8

Flash 7 / Flash 8

N/A

H.264 encoding with any profiles or levels and AAC or HE-AAC audio codecs.

N/A

N/A

Publisher discretion

Publisher discretion

N/A

Frame Rate:

30fps

Same as source or 1/2 (50%) of source (15 – 30 fps).

N/A

Key Frame:

Every 30-60 frames (2 seconds).

Every 30-60 frames (2 seconds).

N/A

Max Animation Length:

N/A

Publisher discretion

N/A

Looping Restriction:

N/A

Publisher discretion

N/A

Video Data Rate:

600kbps

N/A

N/A

Audio Data Rate:

48kbps

N/A

N/A

Total Data Rate:

648kbps

N/A

N/A

It is recommended that you crop to TV-Safe Area and de-interlace. Video should not include a leader.

N/A

N/A

Supply a click-through URL.

Supply a click-through URL and implement a clickTag function

Supply a click-through URL.

Creative Format:

Maximum File Size : Flash Version: MP4 Specifications: Video Length (in seconds):

Format:

Clickable:

ClickTAG:

on (release) { if (clickTAG.substr(0,5) == "http:") { getURL(clickTAG, "_blank"); NOTE: To be copied }} & pasted “as is”

Play / Pause Button:

Add on the 1st frame: function playAnimation() { play(); } function pauseAnimation() { stop(); }

NOTE: To be copied & pasted “as is”

Requires a 480x360 (or 480x270) rectangle with a top left registration point at (0, 0) drawn on stage for the whole movie. This bounding box can have an opacity of 0%, but must be present so the Video Cloud player can size the ad properly.

Pre Roll Guidelines:

GIF must be static. Flash 8 will only display the first frame of most animated .gifs. JPG must be non-progressive.

Ad content should begin on or after frame 5. At this point, content can be inset from the stage borders or extend outside them without it affecting sizing. A stop(); action should be placed in the final frame on the main timeline. Must not reference level0 in ActionScript. References should not be made to _root unless _lockroot=true. It is recommended that relative paths be used instead. Any reference to any methods or properties of the Stage class must be removed. ActionScript should not change the player quality. Preloaders are built into the players, so they should not be present in the movie. To get the play/pause buttons to appear when using a SWF in the video ad window, use the ad creative templates available If you are not using the creative templates supplied by the Video Cloud publisher, add these lines of code to the first frame of the file: System.security.allowDomain("*"); System.security.allowDomain ("http://admin.brightcove.com"); Third party redirect ad tags for SWF, JPG, GIFs, and FLVs are permitted to run inside a Video Cloud player, provided that the agency or third party supplies a single redirect URL (http:// or https:// path) to the asset file and has met all the required advertising specifications.

3rd Party Serving:

Note: IFRAME, ILAYER, JavaScript and HTML tags are not supported for Flash players. Flash does not support these ad tags. If you are synchronizing companion banner assets outside the Video Cloud player in Flash mode, then you can use a third party solution that includes IFRAME, JavaScript, and HTML tags for the companion banners being served on the HTML page. 1x1 impression third party tracking pixel and click tag URLs are also supported. Place 1x1 tracking pixels in either trackStartURL, trackFirstQuartileURL, trackMidURL, trackThirdQuartileURL, trackEndURL, trackPointURLs, trackMuteURL, trackUnmuteURL, trackFullscreenURL, trackExitFullscreenURL, trackPauseURL, or trackResumeURL, depending on what you want to track.

Important Note:

Writing methods and properties to any Flash object's prototype property will cause it to be added to all instances of that object. As such, it is strongly recommended that you avoid modifying the prototypes of Flash's built-in objects like MovieClip, TextField or Button in the creatives. Doing so will modify all instances of these objects in the Video Cloud player, bloating the player and possibly causing erratic behavior. The recommended method for developing in Flash using ActionScript 2.0 is that prototypes are not modified and that instead classes are created that extend the built-in objects.

Submission Lead Time:

Minimum 7 business days before the campaign launch

Material General Guidelines:

Ads should not mimic computer error messages Ads may not advertise or contain misleading messages where the content of the ad leads to a URL with unrelated product/content All ads must have a border and distinct from the content CPU Resource Max 30% Gulf News Digital Media team will conduct acceptance testing of all supplied advertising material. This is primarily to maintain a high quality user experience and detect any negative impact on our websites, content or audience. To facilitate pre-viewing of the ads for sign-off, some ads will be loaded onto our live websites. Whilst every care is taken to prevent obvious exposure of these ads, there may be a brief period where ads would be visible in the public domain.

Disclaimer for Material Testing:

Should you consider the sensitivities of your campaign launch too high for this method of testing & proofing, please inform us in order that we can make alternative test arrangements on a secure server. This will have restricted access and unfortunately we will not be able to share access or a test link with you. Please note - Material should be submitted at least 7 working days prior to give sufficient time to carry out acceptance tests & sign-offs. “Al Nisr Publishing and its staff cannot be held liable for any damage suffered by you, your affiliates or your agents arising out of or in connection with the exposure of advertising material in relation to online acceptance testing and by proceeding, you indemnify Al Nisr Publishing accordingly.“

EMAILERS

2013 Digital Advertising Guidelines Creative Format:

HTML

JPG

Dimensions : Width (pixels)

550

800

Dimensions : Height (pixels)

No Specific Requirement

No Specific Requirement

60kb

60kb

Include landing URL, hyperlinks and other redirects in the HTML coding.

Landing URL, hyperlinks and other redirects required.

Maximum Initial File Load Size :

Creative Notes:

Submission Lead Time:

Material General Guidelines:

Minimum 3 business days before the campaign launch

Main images should be placed at the topmost part of the image. Use alt and title tags on images, this will help you reading the email when no images are downloaded.

Gulf News Digital Media team will conduct acceptance testing of all supplied advertising material. This is primarily to maintain a high quality user experience and detect any negative impact on our websites, content or audience. To facilitate pre-viewing of the ads for sign-off, some ads will be loaded onto our live websites. Whilst every care is taken to prevent obvious exposure of these ads, there may be a brief period where ads would be visible in the public domain.

Disclaimer for Material Testing:

Should you consider the sensitivities of your campaign launch too high for this method of testing & proofing, please inform us in order that we can make alternative test arrangements on a secure server. This will have restricted access and unfortunately we will not be able to share access or a test link with you. Please note - Material should be submitted at least 3 working days prior to give sufficient time to carry out acceptance tests & sign-offs. “Al Nisr Publishing and its staff cannot be held liable for any damage suffered by you, your affiliates or your agents arising out of or in connection with the exposure of advertising material in relation to online acceptance testing and by proceeding, you indemnify Al Nisr Publishing accordingly.“