Ad types & formats

Every creative on the platform is described by two things: an ad type (the broad kind of ad) and an ad format (the exact technical spec a creative asset must meet). A device declares which formats it can render, a flight books a creative against one format, and the exchange only ever serves a device a creative in a format it declared. The ad-format id is the stable string that ties all three together.

Ad types

An ad type groups the formats that belong to the same kind of ad. The platform defines two:

Ad type	Enum value	Status	Description
Display	AD_TYPE_DISPLAY	Supported	Standard display creatives — video, image, and HTML5. All formats below belong to this type.
Promotion	AD_TYPE_PROMOTION	Not yet supported	Promotional creatives. Defined as an ad type but not yet supported — it has no creative formats and cannot be booked or served today.

Promotions are not yet supported

AD_TYPE_PROMOTION is reserved in the platform but not yet supported. It has no creative formats defined, so promotion creatives cannot currently be declared on a device, booked on a flight, or served. Every format in the catalog below belongs to AD_TYPE_DISPLAY. Support for promotions is planned; don’t build against AD_TYPE_PROMOTION yet.

Ad formats

An ad format pins down the aspect ratio, pixel size, accepted file formats, on-screen duration, and maximum file size for a creative. Each format has a self-describing id:

<MEDIA>-<ORIENTATION>_<ASPECT>_<WIDTHxHEIGHT>_<FILE FORMATS>

For example IMAGE-HORIZONTAL_16:9_3840x2160_JPG+PNG is a horizontal 16:9 image at 3840×2160, accepted as JPG or PNG.

Supported formats

These are all the ad formats the platform currently supports:

Ad-format id	Name	Media	Aspect	Size (px)	File formats	Duration	Max file size
VIDEO-HORIZONTAL_16:9_1920x1080_MP4	Video Horizontal	Video	16:9	1920×1080	MP4	10 s	30 MB
VIDEO-VERTICAL_9:16_1080x1920_MP4	Video Vertical	Video	9:16	1080×1920	MP4	10 s	30 MB
IMAGE-HORIZONTAL_16:9_3840x2160_JPG+PNG	Image Horizontal	Image	16:9	3840×2160	JPG, PNG	10 s	5 MB
IMAGE-VERTICAL_9:16_2160x3840_JPG+PNG	Image Vertical	Image	9:16	2160×3840	JPG, PNG	10 s	5 MB
HTML5-HORIZONTAL_16:9_1920x1080_ZIP	HTML5 Horizontal	HTML5	16:9	1920×1080	HTML5 (zip)	15 s	10 MB
HTML5-VERTICAL_9:16_1080x1920_ZIP	HTML5 Vertical	HTML5	9:16	1080×1920	HTML5 (zip)	15 s	10 MB

Duration is the maximum clip length for video, and the on-screen display time (the VAST <Duration>) for image and HTML5, which have no natural timeline.

File formats and delivery

Each format accepts one or more file formats, delivered with the MIME type the player dispatches on:

File format	MIME type	Notes
MP4	video/mp4	H.264 codec, 25 fps, up to 8 Mbps, no audio.
JPG	image/jpeg	—
PNG	image/png	—
HTML5	application/zip	A self-contained bundle (index.html + all assets) delivered as a zip; nothing is fetched at render time.

How ad formats are used

• Declaring device support — a device advertises the formats it can render through supported_ad_types, pairing an ad type with a list of ad-format ids. The exchange serves a device only the formats it declares. See Managing inventory.
• Rendering a creative — at play time the player dispatches on each creative’s <MediaFile type> MIME and renders video, image, or HTML5 accordingly. See Creative formats.