General
In order for ad-serving systems to track clicks when displaying Flash banners, the
Flash banners must be programmed to use clickTAG variables instead of pre-defined
URLs. The clickTAG variables are passed to the Flash file by the HTML page that
shows the Flash banner. Thereby, the ad-serving systems can track the number of
clicks and change the URL real-time, without having to modify the Flash banner.
- File size is limited to 60 KB
- Flash banners must be compiled with minimum Flash 8 version
- Fallback *.gif banners must always be supplied for all formats
- Flash Clicks/Links use clickTAG’s
- Clicks/Links must avoid being blocked by pop-up blocks
- CPU usage must be limited
Please also follow Media (Publisher) restrictions for Loops, FPS, etc.
CPU Recommendations
Complexive flash banners may be the reason of high CPU usage. Some publishers are
paying attention not only to file size but also to CPU usage. We recommend
checking some common High CPU usage factors:
- Frame Rate is over 18 frames per second; reducing the number to 18 does not degrade
visual performance.
- Multiple animated sequences across many layers animating at the same time.
- Animated sequences set to be translucent and animating on top of an imported graphic
(ex: jpeg, png, etc.).
- Action Script-generated events set to randomly generate (ex: fog and rain).
- Imported graphics scaled up over a long period of time.
- Masking and animated masking techniques can also require a large amount of CPU resources.
Flash Banners Restrictions
Due to possible security issues Adform does not accept:
- obfuscated Flash banners;
- banners with some restricted AS functions;
- banners which are Flash cookie dependant.
Please use the
Test Section to check if the banners meet the requirements.
Alternatively, you can contact Adform Traffic department for testing and suggestions on compatibility.
Also, Adform warns that when using the
dynamic publishing method in Internet Explorer or Firefox on Mac
stage.stageWidth and
stage.stageHeight might initially return 0 (note that for Internet Explorer the stage size will be available on first load,
however when reloading or revisiting a page it will initially be 0).
The solution is to define a resize handler in your ActionScript code:
stage.addEventListener(Event.RESIZE, resizeHandler);
stage.dispatchEvent(new Event(Event.RESIZE)); // force stage resize event for normal cases
function resizeHandler(event:Event):void {
if (stage.stageHeight > 0 && stage.stageWidth > 0) {
stage.removeEventListener(Event.RESIZE, resizeHandler); // only execute once
// your initialization code here
}
}
clickTAG variables
Methods for implementing the clickTAG variables in Flash banners depend on the ActionScript
version used in the banners. The methods do the same job and are only different
in the coding. Adform supports both ActionScript 2 and ActionScript 3 coded banners.
If there is more than one target URL, please see the naming convention below:
var clickTAG; // variable no. 1
var clickTAG2; // variable no. 2
var clickTAG3; // variable no. 3
var clickTAG4; // variable no. 4
var clickTAG5; // variable no. 5
Implementation of clickTAG variable
Implementation of the clickTAG variable depends on the version of ActionScript you
are using. Also, due to constantly increasing online security measures in internet
browsers, pop-up blocking is becoming a common problem in online advertising.
ActionScript 2.0 code:
on (release) {
getURL(_root.clickTAG, "_blank");
}
ActionScript 3.0 code:
- Download and install "Adform Creative Toolkit" extension (detailed info can be found here).
- When "Adform Creative Toolkit" is installed, all Adform components are placed in your Adobe Flash installation directory.
You are able to see them by selecting Window → Components in the top Flash API menu:
- Then drag and drop the AdformCore on the stage.
- Create a button symbol on Flash API stage, and give it an instance name (e.g. button).
- ClickTAG then can be implemented by following example:
button.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, ADFclicked);
function ADFclicked(event:MouseEvent) {
AdfURLNavigator.navigateToUrl( AdfFlashVarsUtil.getParameter("clickTAG"));
}
Note: always make sure you attach the ActionScript code that opens a new browser
window to an instance of a button, not a movie clip. Also, the event, which triggers
the opening of a new window, must be "release", not "press" because opening a new
window on "press" event will definitely trigger the pop-up blockers.
If you need to implement some additional functions on the same button instance,
make sure that the opening of the new browser window is the first action that happens
after user clicks the banner/button (any delay between click and call to the function
that opens a new window increases the possibility of triggering the pop-up blocker):
ActionScript 2.0 code:
on (release) {
getURL(_root.clickTAG, "_blank"); // don’t place any functions before this line
YOUR_FUNCTION();
}
For testing clickTAG implementation, please use the Test Section.
Due to constantly increasing online security measures in internet browsers, pop-up blocking is
becoming a common problem in online advertising. Adform has compiled a PDF document
of tips how to create banners that do not trigger pop-up blockers.
Transferring Variables in the Query string
Transferring variables in the querystring is often desired when the user
inputs some data interactively in the Flash banner, e.g. his/her e-mail or
telephone number etc. This can be achieved by appending a ";cppar=1&" parameter
to the clickTAG. This method to transfer these variables in the querystring is
best described by an example:
ActionScript 2.0 code:
var EmailFlashVariable = "aa@aa.com";
on (release) {
getURL(_root.clickTAG+";cppar=1&EmailURLVariable="+ EmailFlashVariable, "_blank");
}
ActionScript 3.0 code:
var EmailFlashVariable = "aa@aa.com";
button.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, ADFclicked);
function ADFclicked(event:MouseEvent) {
AdfURLNavigator.navigateToUrl( AdfFlashVarsUtil.getParameter("clickTAG")
+ ";cppar=1&EmailURLVariable=" + EmailFlashVariable);
}
If the clickTAG is e.g. set to http://www.site.com the user gets redirected to http://www.site.com?EmailURLVariable=
aa@aa.com when the Flash banner is clicked.
This method can be used for multiple querystring values:
ActionScript 2.0 code:
var a = 1;
var b = 2;
var c = "Hello";
on (release) {
getURL(_root.clickTAG+";cppar=1&a="+a+"&b="+b+"&c="+c, "_blank");
}
ActionScript 3.0 code:
var a = 1;
var b = 2;
var c = "Hello";
button.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, ADFclicked);
function ADFclicked(event:MouseEvent) {
AdfURLNavigator.navigateToUrl( AdfFlashVarsUtil.getParameter("clickTAG")
+ ";cppar=1&a=" + a + "&b=" + b + "&c=" + c;);
}
The corresponding target URL then becomes
http://www.site.com?a=1&b=2&c=hello.
However the parameter ";cppar=1&" works only when landing page contains symbol "?". In other cases there should be used ";urlappend=" parameter:
ActionScript 2.0 code:
var DestinationVariable = "London";
on (release) {
getURL(_root.clickTAG+";urlappend=" + DestinationVariable, "_blank");
}
ActionScript 3.0 code:
var DestinationVariable = "London";
button.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, ADFclicked);
function ADFclicked(event:MouseEvent) {
AdfURLNavigator.navigateToUrl( AdfFlashVarsUtil.getParameter("clickTAG")
+ ";urlappend=" + DestinationVariable);
}
If the clickTAG is e.g. set to http://www.site.com/ the user gets redirected to http://www.site.com/London when the Flash banner is clicked.
Rich Media banner instructions
To test clickTAG implementation, events and passed parameters please use the
Test Section.