The Times · Production
Technical specifications.
Creative requirements for display, video, rich media, vertical video and newsletters, drawn from The Times Digital Ad Specifications. We handle trafficking and approvals with the London ad operations team on your behalf.
Display
Standard units.
| Ad unit | Pixel size | Mobile | App | Max asset |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard | 970×250 | No | No | 100 KB |
| Leaderboard | 728×90 | No | Yes | 100 KB |
| Mobile leaderboard | 320×50 | Yes | No | 50 KB |
| MPU | 300×250 | Yes | Yes | 100 KB |
| Double MPU | 300×600 | Yes | Yes | 100 KB |
| Interscroller | 640×1200 (safe area 640×854) | Yes | No | 500 MB |
Accepted file formats: GIF, JPG, PNG, HTML5 and third-party tags. Max initial load 150 KB, polite load 1 MB, subsequent user-initiated load 2.2 MB progressive video.
High impact
Rich media formats.
Video Skin
Billboard at the top of content with vertical video on both sides. Subject to editorial approval.
Pushdown Billboard
Premium billboard at the top of content, expanded on user click.
Carousel / Swipe
Mobile format; users swipe to reveal further products (minimum two images).
Shake
Mobile format activated by shaking the phone.
Spin Carousel
Mobile format; users swipe to initiate a product spin.
Colour Carousel
Users swipe to view product colourways within one frame.
Magnifying Glass
Lets users inspect product detail close-up.
V-Studio
Vertical video, built in-house.
A full-service studio producing, publishing and distributing vertical video exclusively for mobile environments across The Times — including re-framing your existing 16:9 assets.
V-Edit
Re-frames existing 16:9 assets into vertical video.
V-Skin
Adds a branded skin and custom CTA to a 16:9 asset.
V-Select
Multiple vertical videos edited into a single format.
V-Social
Vertical video carrying the brand's social accounts.
V-Shop
Shoppable CTA driving the audience to purchase.
V-Drive
Geo-targeted CTA driving users to their nearest store.
V-Talk
Tap-to-call CTA.
V-Cal
Tap to add an event to the calendar.
V-360
Vertical video rendered as a 360° virtual reality experience.
Slide
Toggle-slide format for product reveal.
3D Object
Interactive 3D product viewing from any angle.
Delivery
Production notes and deadlines.
- Supply all assets 3–5 working days prior to launch; later submissions may delay the campaign start.
- All tags must be HTTPS secure. Blocking tags are not accepted, and data pixels are not accepted.
- Maximum three animation loops of 15 seconds each, finishing on a static frame.
- Sound must be user-initiated and every video ad requires a clearly defined mute control.
- Outstream video: MOV, FLV, MPEG4 or AVI, VAST tags accepted, VPAID not supported, 15–30 seconds maximum (6–9 seconds performs best), 100 MB advised and 500 MB maximum.
- Rich media builds carry a flat £1,000 production rate, waived when final assets are supplied or media value is £30,000+. Allow 5–10 working days before the live date.
- Newsletter creative is static only (GIF, JPEG, PNG), 100 KB maximum: billboards 970×250 in header and footer, logos 320×50.
- Skins: content area 1180px, nav exclusion 95px, two 460×1500 assets, 100 KB each, static only.
- Creative QA is typically completed within 24 hours; Google Studio HTML5 builds need 3 working days, other HTML5 builds 10 working days.
- Screengrabs of live placements are supplied within 24 hours; mid-campaign and end-of-campaign reports are provided for all display campaigns.
- Maximum accepted cookie duration is 12 months.
Brand safety
Five layers between your brand and risk.
Advertisers can also supply a keyword block list, applied through Illuma on top of the standard protections across Direct, Programmatic Guaranteed and PMP.
Layer
Editorial
Ads are blocked at source — when a breaking story is judged sensitive, ad slots are removed from related content.
Layer
Illuma
Contextual analysis of nuance, emotional tone and sentiment, enabling protection more sophisticated than keyword blacklists.
Layer
ADmantX
A second layer of vertical and sentiment-based content categorisation.
Layer
Integral Ad Science
Ad fraud and invalid traffic protection, applied by default to every campaign.
Layer
The Media Trust
Monitors and filters inbound programmatic advertising for malware and harmful ad sources.
Layer
Certification
IAB UK Gold Standard certified and a supporter of the Coalition for Better Ads.
Production support
We'll spec your campaign for you.
Send us the creative you already have. We'll confirm what runs, what needs adapting, and what Times Media's studio can build.
Talk to us