Technical specifications

Here you will find all of the information you need relating to advertising formats, file sizes, dimensions and types. Also included are detailed instructions on what needs to be done to flash advertisements to ensure they run correctly on nzherald.co.nz.

You can scroll through the page or use the links below to find the information you need:

Ad sizes

Display advertising

Creative guidelines

Rich media specifications

Flash instructions

Contact details

Ad sizes

 

Advertising Format Dimensions in Pixels File Size
Big Banner 760x120 40k
Expandable Big Banner 760x120 expanding to 760x240 40k standard, 100k polite
Super Rectangle 440x400 50k
Rectangle 300x250 40k
Expandable Rectangle 300x250 expanding to 500x500 40k standard, 100k polite
News Direct Advertorial 150x80 image, title and body 10k. Full specs below

News Direct Advertorial:

  • 1x 150x80 image (static)
  • Header - 50 characters (including spaces)
  • Body - 250 characters (including spaces and a link)

Mobile:

For mobile display advertising 6 creatives of differing, scaled dimensions are required. This is necessary to accommodate for the differing screen resolutions between mobile devices. The advertiser may wish to create an individual creative for each size or scale one creative to the sizes required:

  • 90x15
  • 120x20
  • 168x28
  • 216x36
  • 228x38
  • 300x50

All sizes listed are given in pixels and creatives should be static or animated gifs weighing no more than 20Kb each.
A backup Text Link is also requested and should be no more than 25 characters. Only one Text Link is necessary.

Text Links

Special Offers - Text only

  • Maximum 65 characters (including spaces)

Special Offers - Text & Logo

  • 50x50 pixel logo - static .jpg/.gif, 5 KB maximum
  • 1X90 characters including spaces or
  • 3x30 characters including spaces, each line can have an individual URL
These placements are not ad served, click tracking provided on request.

Relevant Offers (Contextual Text Links)

  • 50x50 pixel logo - static .jpg/.gif, 5 KB maximum
  • Text – Maximum 180 characters (including spaces)
  • Keyword lists – Unlimited keywords, 5 groups maximum
  • Keywords are matched to the first 250 characters including spaces on story pages only. Excludes “if, and, but,” etc.

 

Display advertising

 

Regular Formats:

  • .gif
  • .jpeg
  • Animated .gif
  • Adobe Flash (.swf), including back up gif

Regular Rich Media Formats:

  • HTML
  • Javascript
  • Adobe Flash

Please contact us if you’d like to discuss other formats.

Accepted third party redirects:

  • Double Click – short tags preferred
  • Facilitate
  • Eyeblaster (All Eyeblaster ads must be loaded into The nzherald.co.nz NZ account)
  • Atlas
  • Mediaplex
  • Eyewonder

Creative files must be included with third party tags.

 

Creative guidelines

 

  • All click through urls must open in a new browser window or tab
  • nzherald.co.nz reserves the right to reject any insertion, graphic, text description, or URL
  • Ads may not employ rapid/"strobing" animation of any graphic, copy, or background elements(s)
  • Ads should not replicate or mimic computer error messages
  • Ads should not have messaging designed to mislead members into going to a site that is unrelated to the content of the banner ad
  • Banners should be encased in a border and distinct from the content. If borderless, a banner must contain the advertiser’s name to signify that it is an ad creative banner, not content
  • Television and print advertising standards prohibit advertisers from issuing ads, infomercials, or infotisements in such a manner that the viewer or reader believes the content is news, rather than advertising. nzherald.co.nz standards also follow this policy
  • nzherald.co.nz properties may not be used to imply affiliation with or an endorsement by any nzherald.co.nz product, content, or service - unless such a relationship exists

Flash Guidelines:

  • Must be published for Adobe Flash plug-in 8 or 9. If you are unable to publish in Flash 8 or 9 then you must send the .fla file to and we will publish it for you. This will resolve issues with Internet Explorer's Pop Up Blocker.
  • All creatives must be designed with a solid-colour object for your background to avoid unwanted colour conflicts with the displaying page
  • Must be targeted to a new window ("_blank")
  • Must include the appropriate ClickTag specific to nzherald.co.nz*
  • Frame rates should not exceed 18 frames per second
  • A Flash ad shouldn't consistently use more than 20% of CPU on a standard computer (aprox Pentium D 3GHz). Please see the optimising flash section below for more information.

Audio Guidelines:

  • All audio must be user initiated by click
  • Must contain visible stop/play and pause or mute functionality
  • Looping: User can select additional loops by using play functionality. No automatic looping

Video Guidelines:

  • Video may be automatic
  • Must contain visible stop/play and pause or mute functionality
  • Looping: User can select additional loops by using play functionality. No automatic looping

 

Rich media specifications

 

nzherald.co.nz offers a number of innovative rich media formats. A few are listed below and your Account Manager is able take you through a more comprehensive list of possible rich media solutions.

Rich media on the homepage is available, subject to negotiation.

Please note that many types of Rich Media are only available via Third Party Suppliers such as Eyeblaster, Doubleclick or Facilitate and that 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, please consult your Account Manager.

Floating Layer

Description: An ad that plays within a limited area in a transparent layer, over a Web page.
Cost: Additional 40% of Big Banner rate
File size: 100k
Dimensions: 300 x 300 pixels
Duration: 8 seconds maximum
Frequency cap: 1 per unique user per day (maximum of 3 per week)
Sound: User initiated
Other:
  • Close button must be active and clearly displayed
  • Animation, colour, speed, and other design elements will be coded so that the ad creative does not overwhelm the reader's general experience of the page on which it appears
  • No element shall pass over another advertisers ad
  • Must be supported by a corresponding display ad

Expandable Banners

Description: Advertisements that expand when a user moves their cursor over or clicks on the ad. Please note that the Rectangle is click activated only.
Cost: Additional 20% loading
File size: 35k Standard Banner, 100k Polite Banner
Dimensions: BigBanner: 760 x 240 pixels (maximum area when expanded is 760 x 240 pixels).
Rectangle: 500 x 500 pixels (maximum area when expanded is 500 x 500 pixels).
Sound: User initiated
Other:
  • Close button must be active and clearly displayed
  • Image Display must contract once scrolled off (close automatically).

Polite Big Banner or Rectangle

Description: The Polite Banner is a Flash enabled banner ad that uses polite, sequential downloading and proprietary compression technology to allow for extra large file sizes that load after the page content has loaded. The Eyeblaster Polite Banner plays one time per impression. An example of a Polite Banner can be found here.
Cost: Additional 10% loading
File size: 35k Initial. Up to 1mb.
Sound: User initiated

Video

Description: Video is enabled using Polite download technology and can be served via Third Party provider or the APN Online adserver. For more information regarding our video direct solution please consult your Account Manager.
Cost: Additional 10% loading
File size: 35k Initial. Up to 1mb.
Sound: User initiated
Other:
  • Video must have a maximum duration of 30 seconds
  • Video content must not loop and can be re-initiated by a replay button
  • The video or video player should have obvious "play/stop" and "mute" buttons

Additional Notes

  • Rich Media creative must be submitted at least Five working days in advance.
  • All Eyeblaster ads are to be loaded into the nzherald.co.nz NZ account.
  • Campaign/flight dates must be set up in Third party supplier to start at least one day prior and end one day later than the actual campaign is due to be run. The ads will not be served in these extra days, which are required only to ensure that potential timing issues with supplier do not affect the flight.
  • Where there are multiple campaigns for the same advertiser, multiple creatives may be required.
  • nzherald.co.nz reserves the right to refuse ads not in compliance to these specifications.
  • All Eyeblaster ads must be loaded into the nzherald.co.nz NZ account.

 

Flash instructions

 

Please find detailed below, guidelines to ensure that the delivery of your Adobe Flash advertisements are consistent and fully maximised. They also explain how to use Flash ActionScript to track through rates of your ad. This information is relevant for nzherald.co.nz and all sites we represent.

Checklist before submitting your ad to nzherald.co.nz:

  • .gif image of the ad (.gif file)
  • Publish Flash File (.swf file)
  • Adobe Flash File (.fla file) *
  • Click tag embedded within .swf file (refer to the following instructions)
  • Required click-through URL for the ad
  • A Flash ad shouldn't consistently use more than 20% of CPU on a standard computer (aprox Pentium D 3GHz). Please see the optimising flash section below for more information.

* It is necessary that we have the .fla file in order to ensure the click tag is inserted correctly.

Testing

nzherald.co.nz requires at least 3 working days to load and test an ad.

Tracking Code

In order to track the click-through rate of an Adobe Flash ad it needs to be coded with the ‘clickTag’ tracking code. The clickTag tracking code (outlined below) is attached to the button within the ad. When the user clicks on this button the interaction will be recorded by nzherald.co.nz and the user will be directed to the URL you supply. The ‘clickTag’ ActionScript is:

on (release) {
getURL (clickTag, “_blank”);
}

Please do not cut and paste the above ActionScript as this can lead to errors.
The ‘clickTag’ ActionScript is case sensitive and variations such as ‘clickTAG’ or ‘clicktag’ can not be accurately recorded.
Please do not link directly to the destination URL within the ad as nzherald.co.nz will not be able to record the click-through rate.
Please note this code will not work correctly if applied to a movie clip and will only work using the getURL ActionScript method.

Click Tag

1. Once you have created a button or link that’s intended to track the clicks, attach the following ActionScript to the button or link.

on (release) {
getURL (clickTag, “_blank”);
}

Click Tag

2. The file can now be ‘published’, please ensure the .swf is published to version Flash Player 8 or 9.

Publish Flash

Flash Actionscript 3 ClickTag instructions:

Please note that we recommend the use of Actionscript 2 for Flash creatives. If your creative requires implementation of the clickTag in Actionscript 3, please use the following instructions:

  • In your Flash document create 2 new layers at the very top. Call the top one “ActionScript” and the bottom one “Button”.
  • With the Button-layer selected, draw a rectangle which covers the area you want to respond to the mouseclick.
  • Highlight the rectangle and convert it to a Button symbol (F8 and select the button option)
  • Chose as the fill colour of the rectangle a total transparent colour or shift the keyframe to the “Hit” frame
  • Now return to the scene and name the button instance on stage “clickTagButton”
  • Select frame 1 in the ActionScript layer and open the Actionscript Editor (F9 key)
  • In the Actionscript Editor type the following to create your clickTag:
clickTagButton.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, onMouseClick);

function onMouseClick(e:MouseEvent):void {
getClickTagURL(LoaderInfo(root.loaderInfo).parameters.clickTag, "_blank");
}

function getClickTagURL(url:String,window:String):void
{
ExternalInterface.call('window.open("' + url + '","' + window + '")');
}
  • Firstly an event handler needs to be setup so that actions can be supported on the button. In the example above, the handler is attached to a MovieClip with instance name "clickTagButton".
  • Secondly a function is set up to retrieve the click URL that has been dynamically embedded using the LoaderInfo property. The click URL is then established as a string.
  • Lastly, the ExternalInterface.call will cause the click action to open in a new window via JavasScript in order to avoid being blocked by Pop-up blocker.

Optimising Flash:

Adobe's Flash Player uses a computer's CPU (central processing unit) to handle all animation, masking, and computation contained within a Flash file. If a Flash file requires heavy amounts of mathematical computation for elements such as animation, loops, or timers, it will use a much greater percentage of CPU usage. As a result, the Flash file is forced to compete with other Flash files and other applications for CPU usage, which causes all Flash elements on the page to slow down significantly.

One way to estimate how CPU intensive your Flash file may be is to open "Task Manager" (control+alt+delete) and view the "Performance" tab (if you have other programmes running, use the Processes tab instead) - this gives a graphical estimate of CPU usage.

With Task Manager open, open your swf file in the Flash player - you may see a spike as your Flash file is animating. A small spike of 20-40% is normal; if your CPU Usage jumps up to 50% or more, the Flash file will need revising until it uses less CPU resources. A Flash ad shouldn't consistently use more than 20% on a standard computer (aprox Pentium D 3GHz). Remember, there will almost always be at least 2 other flash ads on the page at the same time competing for resource.

The following add considerably to CPU usage so use them sparingly:

  • math-based animation (animation which is controlled by mathematical-based action script)
  • looping functions that are associated with timers
  • masking and animated masking techniques
  • simultaneous animation tweens
  • bitmaps
  • embedded fonts

More Optimisation Tips:

  • preload symbols and images
  • limit the amount of information stored within the first few frames of the flash movie
  • simplify graphical elements
  • group objects wherever possible
  • make use of device fonts and symbol fonts
  • avoid "snowflake syndrome" - a large number of animated elements moving all at once
  • get the intense animations out of the way early and then don't loop back to that portion of the timeline for the remainder of the ad
  • For more information on optimizing Flash files, see this article in the Macromedia Flash Support Centre.

 

Contact details

 

For all advertising enquiries, please contact our dedicated business team on 0 9 373 9154 or email
For further information relating to technical specifications, please contact our Traffic team on +64 9 373 9162 or email