Ad Quality Guidelines

Description

Participants on the Magnite platforms—i.e., the buyers and sellers that transact over our platforms, as well as the sellers, advertisers, and advertising agencies that ultimately sell inventory or place ads using our platforms—all share an interest in ensuring the quality of ads served. These Ad Quality Guidelines (these “Guidelines”) describe our ad quality standards and provide guidance on the content and behavior of ads permitted through our platforms. Please review these Guidelines carefully. Magnite may, at its discretion, update these Guidelines at any time—it is your responsibility to ensure that you adhere to these Guidelines, including any updates hereto. If you have any questions about these Guidelines, please contact your Magnite account manager.

Application

These Guidelines are not an exhaustive list of prohibitions, but rather represent platform principles – Magnite reserves the right to reject, suspend, or remove from its platforms any ad in its sole discretion, regardless of whether a basis for removal is listed here. These Guidelines do not limit Magnite’s discretion in any way.

Ads that do not meet the standards set forth in these Guidelines may be subject to, at Magnite’s discretion, platform-wide blocks, and buyers providing such ads may also be prohibited from purchasing ad inventory on the Magnite platforms. Buyers that repeatedly violate these Guidelines may have their platform access restricted. Buyers that purchase or place ads on behalf of their own affiliates or customers must ensure that the ads they purchase or place comply with these Guidelines.

Magnite maintains the right, but not the obligation, to review and approve all ads prior to the delivery to the inventory and to monitor the inventory for ad quality. Ultimately, though, it is the responsibility of each buyer (including the end advertisers or agencies that purchase through any individual buyer) to ensure compliance with these Guidelines.

Legal & Regulatory Compliance Requirements

• Your use of Magnite’s services, and every ad placed in connection with those services, must comply with all applicable laws, regulations, and self-regulatory group guidelines in any relevant jurisdiction, including but not limited to.. all laws, rules, and regulations that relate to the placement of ads through online behavioral advertising and to the delivery of ads to children; the current Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”) Code of Conduct, including the NAI Viewed Content Advertising guidance; the Digital Advertising Alliance (“DAA”)’s Self-Regulatory Principles (as updated from time to time, the “DAA Principles); the Interactive Advertising Bureau (“IAB”) Europe EU Framework for Online Behavioral Advertising; the Australian Digital Advertising Alliance’s (“ADAA”) Best Practice Guideline for Online Behavioural Advertising; and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (“APEC”) Privacy Framework, UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (CAP Code),regardless of your membership status with any of these organizations.
• All ads placed through the Magnite platforms must comply with the Ad Standards and Creative Guidelines set out by the Internet Advertising Bureau at http://www.iab.com/guidelines/iab-standard-ad-unit-portfolio/ unless otherwise authorized. Ads must also comply with the Better Ads Standards and not engage in any of the “least preferred ad experiences” as identified by the Coalition for Better Ads.
• Buyers must provide consumers with comprehensible notice of their privacy practices, including, where appropriate, enhanced notice of behavioral targeting through mechanisms such as the Digital Advertising Alliance’s “AdChoices” icon. Advertisers that engage in behavioral advertising must also provide consumers with the ability to opt out of such targeted advertising. Buyers must respect all user opt out and/or privacy signals.

Ad & Landing Page Behavior Requirements

AD BEHAVIOR:

• Ads may not force a full-page redirect that takes users away from the seller’s content without user initiation (i.e. the ad may not attempt to navigate the browser to any other page unless the user explicitly clicks or taps the ad). This restriction includes app-store redirects on mobile devices.
• In-banner video ads are supported on the Magnite DV+ platform on a case-by-case basis. It’s prohibited to purchase a display impression and run VAST video ads as part of that banner ad. If you are unsure if a unit is supported, please contact demandquality@magnite.com for approvals. 
• Ads may not auto-refresh. Only one ad creative may be served per impression purchased.
• Ads may not include pop-up windows, JavaScript dialogs, or other features that obscure content.
• Pop-unders are not permitted.
• Except for ad units specifically designated as expandable, ads may not grow beyond the dimensions of their designated ad slots. Close buttons must be present for any ad units that interrupt or obstruct the publisher content experience, such as expandable creatives, takeover, etc.
• Ads may not contain viruses, spyware, trojan horses, or malware of any sort. Ads may not attempt to download executable files without user initiation.
• Ads may not falsify any user interaction, such as faking clicks.
• Ads may not send an SMS message, or initiate a charge, without explicitly notifying a user and requiring a tap or other intentional action. Click-to-call or click-to-SMS ads must clearly indicate that clicking the ad will initiate the call or SMS message. Conventions such as a phone number that looks like a hyperlink are acceptable notifications.
• Video ads must not loop or repeat unless triggered by affirmative action by the end user.

LANDING PAGE BEHAVIOR: 

• Landing pages may not attempt to auto-download software without explicit user consent.
• Landing pages must allow a user to leave the page with normal browser navigation and without spawning a confirmation dialog.
• Landing pages and/or landing sites may not have the sole or primary purpose of displaying ads.

Ad & Landing Page Content Requirements

Ads and ad landing pages must not include or contain:

• Adult content, including full nudity, or depictions or descriptions of sexual acts, in the ad creative or on the landing page. (Ads for certain adult-oriented categories may be permitted so long as advertisers are correctly declared and the ad creatives and landing pages are not overtly pornographic. These categories include dating sites, lingerie, strip clubs, and adult products.)
• Graphic or excessive violence.
• Profanity in any language.
• Material promoting illegal drugs or controlled substances, including paraphernalia. 
•  Ads for hemp and hemp derivative products, including food, beverages, and dietary supplements that contain hemp and hemp derivatives are permitted; provided, however, ads for hemp derivative products which make healthcare claims are not permitted. You are responsible for ensuring that any ads for hemp and hemp derivative products comply with all applicable laws.

• Cannabis ads will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. You are responsible for ensuring that any cannabis ads comply with all applicable laws, including that the content, location, and intended audience of the ad complies. At a minimum, cannabis ads must not include:
  • Any cartoon or imagery appealing to minors
  • Images of marijuana plants, paraphernalia, or leaves 
  • Consumption of products
  • Any medical or health claims
  • Any link to a landing page that provides for the sale of federally illegal products
  • Giveaways or samples
• Illegal Gambling
• Content that promotes or encourages harassment, bullying, threats, or similar content that advocates against any group, organization, or individual.
• Discriminatory content, including content that promotes discrimination by race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, disability, gender, age, or sexual orientation.
• Deceptive or fraudulent content, and must not encourage criminal or any otherwise illegal behavior.
• Any content that infringes the intellectual property rights of any third party (including rights conferred or otherwise protected by patents, copyrights, trademarks, or trade secrets).
• Any claim that a third-party plug-in such as a Flash or Java player is outdated in order to entice users to download software.
• Content that can be deemed as harmful disinformation or maliciously exploiting or capitalizing on public health crises, natural disasters, death, or other relevant tragic events.

Bid Response Requirements

• When bidding on inventory, every advertiser appearing in an individual ad must be declared in the bid response. On the Magnite DV+ Platform, buyers should pass a URL or domain designating either the advertiser’s site or landing page of the campaign. On the Magnite Streaming Platform, buyers should pass only the domain representing the actual advertiser’s site, which may not be the clickthrough URL. Bid responses may not list an “advertiser” that is actually an ad network or other entity that is serving arbitrary creatives, without declaring the individual advertisers actually appearing in ads that are served.
• When bidding on inventory, bid responses must include creative IDs, advertiser URLs or domains (adomain) as described above, and all fields designated as mandatory in the Open RTB specification.
• All ads served with the same creative ID must be for the same advertiser(s). Buyers may not use a single creative ID for multiple materially distinct ads—the creative ID must be representative of the advertiser that appears in the actual creative. Notwithstanding the above, on the Magnite DV+ Platform, A/B testing of different creative treatments for the same advertiser within the same creative ID is allowed, as is “dynamic creative optimization” and testing of slightly different retargeting offers for the same advertiser.
• Buyers must comply with restrictions on creative content and formats that are described in bid requests, such as Open RTB’s imp.banner.battr, imp.video.battr, badv, etc.
• Bid responses for linear video, including companion units, must respect all limitations and flags communicated in the bid request. This includes limitations both in fields required by the Open RTB specification, such as minduration and maxduration, and those that may be communicated in fields optional in that specification, such as battr.
• Buyers must declare all advertisers in ads that include more than one brand or advertiser.
• Buyers may not resell bid requests received from the Magnite platforms onto another SSP or exchange, including back into the Magnite exchanges through a direct or indirect seller integration, without the prior express written permission of Magnite.

POLITICAL ADVERTISING

United States of America

All buyers must comply with all applicable federal and state laws regarding political advertising, including obligations with respect to verifying and making required disclosures with respect to the source of the political advertisement, obtaining applicable registrations, and maintaining certain records with respect to such political advertisements. If requested by Magnite, buyers will provide all records reasonably necessary for Magnite to verify the identity of the source of the political advertisement or otherwise comply with its legal obligations under applicable federal and state laws.  

• Note that additional requirements may be imposed with respect to content promoting candidates for state or local elections and/or ballot measures in certain regions, including, but not limited to California, Idaho, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and Washington. 

All buyers purchasing inventory for the purposes of political advertising should ensure each creative contains a clear paid for by disclaimer which identifies the entity that is responsible for the advertising.  

• Note that content promoting candidates for state or local elections and/or ballot measures in California must include click through to a URL that includes a digital copy of the advertisement, the identification of the entity that paid for the advertisement and certain other required advertising records.  

Magnite does not accept political advertisements for federal, state or local elections or ballot measures in the US that originate outside of the US.

Political advertisers must disclose when their ads contain synthetic content that inauthentically depicts real or realistic-looking people or events, except to the extent the use of synthetic content is inconsequential to the claims made in the advertisement.

Outside the United States of America

Magnite enables political advertising outside of the United States of America. All buyers must comply with all applicable National, Federal, Provincial, State, and Local laws which govern the use of Political Advertising.

Kid’s Sites

Sellers may designate some of their media as directed to or otherwise frequented by minors in one of two regulatory fields transmitted in our bid requests: coppa and regs.ext.s22580. Please note that the regs.coppa field is set by the seller to note that an impression falls within the scope of the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

Similarly, the regs.ext.s22580 field is set by the seller to note that an impression falls within the scope of California Business and Professions Code Section 22580. You are responsible for ensuring that you comply with these laws, to the extent applicable.

TAKEDOWN POLICY

If a seller raises a concern about an undesired and/or malicious ad serving on their media, or a buyer raises a concern about an ad serving against undesired and/or malicious content, they can contact Magnite for Inventory Quality Guidelines at inventoryquality@magnite.com and for Ad Quality Guidelines at demandquality@magnite.com. Once notified, Magnite will initiate an investigation into the complaint within 24 hours and make a commercially reasonable effort to take down the ad, either by internal actions or by contacting the applicable DSP, if necessary.