Our sites accept static JPEG (up to 50KB file size), animated GIF (up to 50KB file size) or Flash (up to 50KB file size) provided animations are no longer than 15 seconds. Any rich media DHTML must be user-initiated (click-to-expand, click-to-play video, etc.). Rich media creatives must have an acceptable load profile when running on FM sites, as determined by FM using a standard CPU / OS / Browser setup

All ads must be compatible with Firefox 1.5+, Safari 2+ and Internet Explorer 6+ on both Mac and PC.

If using third-party ad tags:

• Max file size is 100KB
• Initial load (with pre-loader) 100KB max
• Subsequent load 1MB max (2MB if streaming)
• Video creative should be 18FPS
• Expanding ad unit may expand up to 3x (upon approval by site)
• All rich media must be user-initiated (ads subject to approval by individual sites)

Rich media vendors we work with

• Eyeblaster
• Unicast
• DoubleClick - Motif
• Atlas
• EyeWonder
• Pheedo
• Bright Roll
• Media Plex
• PointRoll - we don't support expandable placements on some of our sites that run ads in iframes

We require conventional backup ads for all rich media placements.

Ad Sizes

Please review our authors to see which ad sizes are accepted on each site. The sites all accept a combination of IAB-standard units, including: 728×90, 300×250, 160×600, 120×600, 300×600, 468×60, 125×125.

IAB Video Units

• Must have a prominent pause / stop button
• A volume control or mute option must be present

RSS Ad Units

• Must be a static jpeg or gif
• Dimensions: 468×60, 468×120, 300×250
• File size: up to 50KB file size

In-video Ad Unit

• Dimensions: 640×480
• Encoding: h.264
• Bitrate: 1.5Mbps or greater
• Fps: 29.97
• De-interlaced
• Audio: aac
• Audio bitrate: 128kbps
• Audio Frequency: 44.1kHz
• Stereo

Text ads

• Headline: 30 characters max.
• Content: 80 characters max.
• Display URL: 25 characters max.

Flash Banner clickTAG Guidelines

Your Flash banner creative should have a button covering the entire area of the banner that uses the getURL action along with the 'clickTAG' variable and "_blank" as the target window parameter. Here is what the code for the button should look like:

        on (release) {
          if (clickTAG.substr(0,5) == "http:") {
          getURL(clickTAG, "_blank");
          }
        }
      

Important things to note:

• 'clickTAG' is case-sensitive. Make sure you reference it just as it appears here.
• You must use "_blank" as a parameter for getURL. "_top" "_parent" or "_self" will not work correctly.
• We only support one clickTAG per banner.
• Your creative can not contain any frame anchors

For more detailed instructions on adding link tracking to your Flash banners, please refer to Adobe's Designer's Guide.

Advertising Content Guidelines

FM reserves the right to reject the promotion of products, services or creative materials that (i) are hateful, obscene, profane, libelous, defamatory or slanderous, (ii) contain adult content, personals/dating services or sexual references, (iii) promote gambling or any illegal activities, (iv) mislead the users, such as with fake error messages, fake "close" buttons or misleading or inaccurate copy, (v) resemble the visual style of the content area in which they are displayed or (vi) incorporate the intellectual property of an FM Author or otherwise imply the Author's endorsement without the Author's prior approval.