Expandables and rich media

Overview

Xandr provides expandable rich media support on all supply from platform networks and Xandr-enabled exchanges, including the Microsoft Advertising Exchange.

Creative specification

We have assembled a Xandr expandable specification based on the specs of our many supply sources. The goal is to have an "upload once, run everywhere" spec.

Creatives that do not meet this spec will still be allowed to run on the platform, but we expect publisher acceptance to be much lower.

Allowed sizes and maximum expanded size

Base Size	Maximum Expanded Size
120 x 600	240 x 600
160 x 600	320 x 600
300 x 250	500 x 300
468 x 60	468 x 210
728 x 90	728 x 300
234 x 60	300 x 250
120 x 60	120 x 240
180 x 150	300 x 300
300 x 600	560 x 600

Media types

Tip

For mobile interstitials, register creatives as standard banner and target interstitial sizes in the bid request.

Expandables are implemented through a broader "media type" system in Xandr. This system allows us to align placements and creatives so that all technical requirements are met for proper rendering.

Media types and subtypes are in a two-tiered hierarchy:

Media Type	ID	Media Subtype	ID
Banner	1	Standard Banner	1
		In-Banner Video	3
Text	5	Text	9
Expandable	6	Other Expandable	10
		MediaMind	11
		Pointroll	12
		EyeWonder	13
		eyeReturn	14
		Pictela	15
		Flashtalking	16
		Doubleclick	17
		Unicast	18
		Spongecell	19
		Adrime	20
		Oggifinogi	24
Skin	8	Hi-Media Skin	32
		IAB	48
		Custom	49
Image and Text	10	Outlook.com	52
High Impact	11	ReactX Left/ Right	53
		ReactX Top	54
		ReactX Bottom	55
		ReactX Custom	56
		ReactX Over	57
		ReactX Native	58
		Lightbox	59
		Foote	60
		Slide-in	61
		Peel	62
		Custom	63
Native	12	In-Feed Standard	65
		Content Marketing	66
Audio	13	15-second	67
		30-second	68
		Other	69
		Standard VAST	70
VAST	4	DEPRECATED 15-second VAST	7
		DEPRECATED 30-second VAST	8
		DEPRECATED Other VAST	23
		Standard VAST	64

Placements may accept any combination of media types or subtypes. If they accept a media type, they accept all subtypes under the media type.

Templates represent a media type and a creative format (Javascript, HTML, etc). They can be used to customize the rendering of your creatives, but in this case they simply specify the expandable vendor being used.

Creatives have one template, which specifies the format of the creative and the expandable vendor in use. A creative may serve only on placements that accept the creative template's media subtype or its parent media type.

Integration

There are two touch points for our expandable integration: a change to the RTB protocol, and a change to creative upload.

RTB protocol

There will be two new fields in the bid request to indicate the availability of expandables on an impression.

Field	Description	Notes
allowed_media_types	Array of media type IDs	This field is optional. If it appears, creatives of the specified media types may serve on this impression.
allowed_media_subtypes	Array of media subtype IDs	This field is optional. If it appears, creatives of the specified media subtypes may serve on this impression.
media_subtypes	Array of media subtype in string format	This field is optional. If it appears, it will list the allowed media in string format.

These fields will be on each "tag" object in the bid request:

{
  "bid_request": {
    "tags": [
      {
        "allowed_media_types": [1,7,20],
        "allowed_media_subtypes": [5,23,40]
      }
    ]
  }
}

To determine if your expandable creative will serve:

• First, check if allowed_media_types contains the Expandable Media Type.
• If Expandable is not in allowed_media_types, check if the media_subtype ID is allowed in allowed_media_subtypes.

Creative upload

When expandable creatives are uploaded to the Creative Service, you will need to denote the expandable ad server being used.

Field	Description	Notes
template	JSON object with the ID of the associated template.	To denote an expandable, select the template that corresponds to the expandable vendor in use, and the creative format used by your bidder. If the vendor in use is not listed, use "Other Expandable".

This field is required on expandable creatives.

Example:

{
  "creative": {
    "content": "<script src=...></script>",
    "template": {"id": 1}
  }
}

Note

• You are not required to set the template ID on standard creatives (non-expandable). Continue uploading those creatives as you did before.
• Traffic Skin creatives as a standard banner. We recommend using 1800 X 1000 dimensions.
  • Use template ID 6 for HTML, and 5 for Javascript.

Template IDs

The following table lists the available templates and their associated IDs.

Tip

Expandables for bidders will only work with the templates listed below. Please do not use custom templates for expandables.

Warning

Creatives that are of the media type Expandable will not serve on external mobile supply. If it's a mobile expandable creative, use a template with the banner media type and non-iframe html format, and set up alternative_landing_page_url in your creative.

Expandable Media Subtype	Creative Format	Template ID
Adrime	raw-html	167
Adrime	raw-js	129
Adrime	url-js	117
Doubleclick	raw-html	164
Doubleclick	raw-js	126
Doubleclick	url-js	114
EyeReturn	raw-html	161
EyeReturn	raw-js	123
EyeReturn	url-js	111
EyeWonder	raw-html	160
EyeWonder	raw-js	122
EyeWonder	url-js	110
Flashtalking	raw-html	163
Flashtalking	raw-js	125
Flashtalking	url-js	113
MediaMind	raw-html	158
MediaMind	raw-js	120
MediaMind	url-js	108
Oggifinogi	raw-html	168
Oggifinogi	raw-js	130
Oggifinogi	url-js	118
Other Expandable	raw-html	157
Other Expandable	raw-js	119
Other Expandable	url-js	107
Pictela	raw-html	162
Pictela	raw-js	124
Pictela	url-js	112
Pointroll	raw-html	159
Pointroll	raw-js	121
Pointroll	url-js	109
Spongecell	raw-html	166
Spongecell	raw-js	128
Spongecell	url-js	116
Unicast	raw-html	165
Unicast	raw-js	127
Unicast	url-js	115

Questions?

Please contact your Xandr account representative with any questions about expandable or video integration.

Related topics

• Rich Media Creatives on Mobile
• Creative Service
• Creative Template Service