By the end of February The Globe will require all Digital creative to be SSL (secure) compliant.
Providing data security between server and publisher to prevent malware and ensuring encrypted and secure advertising are main elements of IAB’s LEAN Guidelines for 2017. Many of our clients are already providing us with their campaigns in this format as the industry moves toward this being mandatory. Please explore our FAQs below to learn more on what’s now required from your Digital advertising.
What defines secure/SSL complaint creative? Is there an industry standard?
When you serve ads to secure environments, such as web pages beginning with https://, all advertising creatives need to be compatible with the environments’ security settings. Otherwise, some browsers and apps might display warnings about mixed content, or simply fail to show the creative at all.
SSL compatibility isn’t an issue when all creative assets are hosted by The Globe and Mail within our primary ad server DFP. However, if your creative is hosted on a third-party server, we now require that all resources be secure. SSL compliance for creatives is determined by the protocol of the resources loaded in serving the ad, including HTML, JavaScript, images, videos, and tracking pixels.
What is required by a designer/agency to provide The Globe with secure creative?
All resources of a creative, including images, stylesheets, JavaScript, and tracking pixels, must be secure for a creative to be SSL-compliant. These resources can reference other secondary resources, but all resources referenced must be secure. Note that an SSL-compliant creative can include an insecure click-through URL.
Are there any changes to the ads specs themselves?
No.
I am an agency providing creative on behalf of my client – what does this mean for me?
If you are using a 3rd party server to host the creatives, then please make sure that the tag has been set up to be secure. Most third party vendors have an option for this.
If you are sending us static creatives, then no changes are required. We will handle the SSL compliance on our end.
If you are sending us HTML5 files it is important than any references to external sources be “https” not “http”.
If I don’t provide secure creative – what happens?
Unfortunately, non-SSL creative will not be able to run on The Globe’s sites. Some of our Alliance partners have not yet made the change to SSL so we may be able to deliver your campaign there. In some cases we may be able to host the ad on your behalf. If you are concerned that your creative may not be SSL compliant, please coordinate with your sales rep so that we can work towards an optimal solution.
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