Updated: Dec 31, 2020


5353 Dundas Street West, Suite 400
Toronto, ON M9B 6H8
Telephone: (416) 614-2200
Fax: (416) 614-8861


6450 rue Notre-Dame ouest
Bureau 100
Montréal (QC) H4C 1V4
Téléphone : (514) 938-0639
Télécopieur: (514) 335-5540

Newcom Media Web Advertising Guidelines

General Creative Requirements

  • All ads subject to Newcom approval
  • Sponsor of advertising placement must be clearly displayed
  • All animation must stop after 30 seconds and must not exceed 3 loops per load
  • Max file size: GIF/JPG 60 KB,  HTML5 75-100 KB
  • Complete border required for all ads. Do not use white.
  • Audio: User-initiated, no looping
  • Video: See Rich Media Below
  • All ads must spawn a new window.
  • Newcom requires that the entire creative be clickable to increase click through ratio and performance.
  • The use of the word "Free" in any ad MUST fully comply with all government guidelines, and disclose all material terms and conditions to obtain the free item; in particular, ad units which claim to offer "free gifts" which in face require the user to sign up for one or more offers, trail-subscriptions, etc., must disclose how many offers the user must complete before receiving the gift
  • Adobe Flash is not longer supported.

Banner Sizes

  • Big Box - 300 x 250px
  • Run Of Site Leaderboard - 728 x 90px & 300 x 90px required for mobile.
  • Responsive Newsletter Leaderboard - 640 x 90px & 300 x 90px required for mobile.
  • Text Ad - 100 x 70px - Max 120 characters (with spaces)

Newsletter Requirements

  • GIF or JPG Format
  • Newsletters to do not support HTML5 or Flash (SWF)
  • Animated GIFs are not recommended as some email clients will not render multiple frames. As such only the first frame will show.

HTML Requirements

  • The total number of supporting files can not exceed 8 components per creative unit.
  • Navigation to the landing page must be via http:// or https:// hyperlinks URLs.

Third Party Creative

  • Third party creative must fit within the proper guidelines specified above
  • Individual third party tag must be generated for each unique creative.

Third Party Newsletter (e-Blast) Guidelines

  • Please provide creative and/or materials are received with a minimum lead time of 5 business days prior to email deployment date
  • Creative Specifications can be found here.

Rich Media constitutes an ad that includes advanced features like video, audio, or other elements that encourage viewers to interact and engage with the content. As such they are subject to special pricing.

Delivery Guidelines

  • All 3rd party tags (creative serving AND tracking-only) and accompanying technologies being served by the tags must be SSL (HTTPS) and Safeframe Compliant.
  • All units need to be built in HTML5, JPG or GIF. Flash is no longer supported.
  • All Rich Media ads require an approved third party-served tag. Assets must be hosted and served via approved third party. Non-hosted HTML5 assets may not be accepted
  • Tags should be sent as .txt or in an Excel / spreadsheet document. Do not supply tags in .rtf or in the body of an email
  • Total Animation Time: 30 seconds - 1 animation loop (*No strobing elements after 30 seconds)
  • Initial load - 60k
  • Additional "Polite" File Load - 190k
    Polite load represents the additional user-initiated files downloaded after the page loads.
  • Max Combined file size: 250k;
  • Video to be initiated by user and served via OVP such as YouTube, Vimeo, JW, etc.
  • Please note fallback images are not supported when using HTML5 via DFP.
  • Also see DoubleClick developer best practices

Submission Guidelines

  • Max of 5 individual creatives in rotation at one time, unless otherwise specified for a particular placement.
  • Max of 1 code change per week, unless otherwise specified.
  • Submit all 3rd party creative tags to your Campaign Manager, 3 days prior to campaign launch for static creative, 5 days prior for rich media.

  • 300 x 250 (Big Box Banner) can expand left, and/or down
  • Dimensions: Can expand horizontally to a total width of 700px and vertically to a total height of 500px
  • Initial banner size should not exceed 60k
  • Method of expansion and collapse must be the same (mouseover or click)
  • All expandable ads must have: a "call to action" message, a close button with clearly defined copy, "Close X". All expandable ads must be 3rd party served. Rollover to initiate expansion are not permitted on any units
  • Expansion must be user-initiated
  • Mandatory prominent and persistent "Close" button on top right
  • All sound in ads must be click-initiated

  • Autoplay
    • Sound must be click-initiated
    • Maximum 15 seconds
  • Additional video play must be user initiated by click or mouseover
  • Initial banner size should not exceed 100k
  • Video should be hosted on approved Online Video Platforms: YouTube, Vimeo, JW Player
  • Only tags are accepted. e.g. Provide us this YouTube embed tag: JW Player embed tag using script:
    JW Player embed tag using iframe:

Wallpaper/Background Ad Guidelines:

  • Max File size: 100KB x 2
  • Format: Static single-image .jpg or .gif. Animation or rich media not accepted.
  • Width: 480px (wallpapers are designed for minimum resolution size of 1280×1024)
  • Height: 800-900px suggested but it can be as long as file size allows

Wallpaper Design Guidelines:

  • Wallpaper ads present a unique design challenge. The wallpaper will display differently on different resolutions. Please see this sample on a low-end laptop at 1366x768 as well as this high-end monitor at 1920x1080
  • In order to accommodate most users’ screen resolution, the advertiser message and branding elements should be positioned close to the website page borders. See Sample Resolutions. If copy or designs fall outside of designated section then many users may not see it.
  • If possible design your ad with the same background colour as the website you are advertising on. If this is not possible any fading to a background color should be included in the image. We recommend using a gradient to a flat color when the main design of the wallpaper ends, so it looks as if it continues outward. The visual result will be better for users with high resolutions (screen width more than 1260px)
  • Wallpaper ads are stationary and will not move when the page is scrolled
  • Please view this Sample Creative on different resolutions

Social Media Guidelines

  • View Full Spec Sheet Here

Native Ads / Native Articles

Homepage, Landing Page, Archive Page

  • A native article appears on these pages where a list of articles of the same type are shown
  • For example, a native article that is a Product post type will appear in the Product section of the homepage, on the Product archive/landing page. It is mixed with other Newcom articles in a list and the list is usually ordered chronologically
  • A native article appears on a list may have teaser and thumbnail shown depending on the responsive layout of the website

Single Article Page

  • All our websites are responsive. Displayed images can have 100% width of the article.
  • Tracking pixels are acceptable