Creative specs

In some markets, regulatory restrictions exist for certain types of family planning products and services.

MSN, Outlook, Mobile

XBOX

This section describes the methodology, metrics, and standards Microsoft uses to assess the performance of display ads, where ad performance in this context refers to the weight or heaviness of an ad. The standards documented below are in alignment with the IAB Guidelines published in July 2017. Ads that do not comply with the performance standards outlined below will be prohibited from displaying on Microsoft online properties.

Background: Why Display Ad Performance is Important

Better ad performance is a win-win for ad providers and publishers. Said another way:

• Poor ad performance impacts publisher business metrics
• Poor ad performance impacts ad business metrics
• Poor ad performance contributes to the use of ad blockers.

Heavy Ad Detection Methodology

At Microsoft we use a system called ADA (Ad Analyzer) to analyze each ad in isolation in a controlled lab environment to ensure the accuracy of results. ADA assesses an ad’s performance impact on two dimensions:

• Network — a heavy network tax delays loading of page content and other functionality on the page.
  Metrics: Total Bytes, Total Requests
• Interactivity — a heavy interactivity tax impacts the ability to provide a smooth and responsive experience.
  Metrics: CPU.

In addition to the metrics listed above, ADA generates detailed diagnostics including network waterfalls, CPU traces, and JavaScript call stacks that are useful for pinpointing the root cause of why an ad is heavy. We have found these diagnostics to be critical functionality that enables the ad ecosystem to improve ad performance.

Performance Standards

This section describes each of the three ADA metrics in more detail, including the thresholds used for flagging heavy ads.

1. Total Bytes — the total number of bytes (KB) downloaded over the network for all ad-related assets, including HTML, JS, CSS, images, analytics calls, etc. Total Bytes thresholds are clearly defined in the Microsoft Display ad specs and shown below.
    

   Microsoft

   IAB Guidelines

   Bytes Threshold

   The combination of Initial and Subload (Polite) cannot exceed the KB limits defined in MSN Ad Specs.

   User initiated content is not factored into the size measurement.

   If the ad contains a video element, this size is separately considered and not calculated in the Banner KB size.

   Identical. See IAB Guidelines

   Banner MAX Combined Size
   300x250 - 450 KB
   728x90 - 450 KB
   300x600 - 600 KB
   970x250 - 750 KB

   Video Max Size
   1.1MB

2. Total Requests — the total number of HTTP requests over the network for all ad-related assets, including HTML, JS, CSS, images, pixels, event beacons, etc.
    

   Microsoft

   IAB Guidelines

   Requests Threshold

   The sum of all HTTP Requests made by an ad which include calls for ad assets, pixels, event beacons, etc. cannot exceed 100.

   Note that DSP’s and Ad Networks may add additional HTTP requests to an ad which are included in this threshold.

   Maximum number of initial load file requests is 10. See IAB Guidelines.

   Note: Microsoft has found that 10 is quite strict when considering all pixels, beacons, etc. that are commonly included with the ad and/or added by DSPs.

3. CPU — the amount of CPU consumed by the main browser thread over a 30s period when the ad is loaded. A common cause of excessive CPU is JavaScript code/libraries. Because it’s impossible to represent CPU performance across the full spectrum of user machines, we take a conservative approach and choose a threshold that errs on the lenient side.
    

   Microsoft

   IAB Guidelines

   CPU Threshold

   An ad should not impose more than an average of 30% CPU utilization during the first 30s when the ad is loaded. This translates to a total of 12s of CPU consumed on a PC with average CPU power.

   30% CPU load max (based on the average CPU of the user base) per active ad. Please refer to the IAB Guidelines for additional information.