Ad Validation Checklist (50+ data points)

Written by Roy

Apr 5, 2022 • 46 min read

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Ad Validation

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Host-initiated subload, document.write(), CPU usage... Are you working in ad ops and have to validate ads regularly?

Use this checklist to tick off ad validation tests you've performed on a creative.

List for Ad Tags and HTML5 Ads

	Data point	Description
check	Load Size: Total	The total load size of all network responses after loading the creative.
check	Load Size: Initial	The total load size of all network responses before the DOMContentLoaded event.
check	Load Size: Subload	The total load size of all network responses after the DOMContentLoaded event.
check	Time to Visual Start	The time it took for something to the painted on the screen.
check	Animation Duration	The time it took for all pixels to stop moving, after the first pixel was painted on the screen.
check	Network Requests	The total number of network requests after loading the creative.
check	CPU Usage	The total CPU time devoted to loading the ad.
check	DOMContentLoaded	The time it took for the DOMContentLoaded event to fire.
check	Dimensions	The detected width and height of the creative.
check	Has Video	Whether or not the creative plays video (even muted).
check	Memory Usage	The amount of RAM the ad claimed when fully loaded.
check	SSL-Compatibility	Whether or not all requests were made over TLS
check	Iframe Count	The number of iframes created by the ad.
check	Cookies Dropped	The number of cookies dropped by the ad.
check	Heavy Ad Intervention	Removed by Chrome's HAI, based on an educated guess.
check	Console Errors	Errors thrown while loading the ad. Usually JavaScript errors.
check	Console Warnings	Console warnings thrown while loading the ad.
check	Creative Rendered	Returns true if something was painted on the screen.
check	Blocked by AdBlock	Probability to be blocked by ad blockers.
check	Uses document.write()	Based on the detection of synchronous JS calls.
check	Creative Border	High-contrasting border, based on image edge detection.
check	Missing Assets	Requests to non-existing assets, resulting in 404s.
check	Dialogs and Modals	Detection of JavaScript's confirm() and alert().
check	Measurement Pixels	Pixels sent using IMG, XHR and sendBeacon.
check	Local Storage	Items set in window.localStorage after loading the ad.
check	Syntax Errors	Syntax errors in the HTML code.
check	Landing Page Working	Checks if the landing page works on click-through.

Extra tests for HTML5 Ads

	Data point	Description
check	Meta tag ad.size	Presence of the meta tag ad.size to define the dimensions.
check	Click Through	Determines how a click-through is handled. Valid types are click_tag, exit_event, hard_coded or none.
check	CSS/JS Minified	Whether or not all CSS/JS files have been minified by removing non-essential white space and line breaks.
check	Images Optimized	Whether or not all images have been optimized by crunching without quality loss.
check	External Assets	Requests to third-party servers, not hosted by the publisher.
check	Uses jQuery	Detection of jQuery used in HTML5 ads.
check	HTML5 Library	Library detection, based on AdValify's database with fingerprints.
check	Hosted File Size	This test checks the total size of all files within the ZIP package that will be served when the ad is displayed.
check	Hosted File Count	The total number of files and folders inside the zip archive.
check	Index File Check	This test will pass there's an index.html file in the root of the directory.
check	Backup Ad Found	This test will pass if a backup ad has been found inside the Zip folder.
check	CSS Embedded	This test will pass if a all CSS has been embedded in the index.html file.

List for VAST Video Ads

	Data point	Description
check	Ad System	As reported by the VAST document.
check	CORS Header	Based on the HTTP header of the XML document.
check	Creative Count	As reported by the VAST document.
check	SSL-Compatibility	Returns true if all assets were loaded over TLS/SSL.
check	VAST Version	As reported by the VAST document.
check	Contains VPAID	A boolean indicating whether or not the tag contains VPAID.
check	Wrapper Redirects	Based on internal VAST wrapper redirects (not 302's).
check	XML Content-Type	Based on the HTTP response header of the XML file.
check	XML Load Time	Time it took to download the XML file.
check	XML HTTP Code	Based on the HTTP response header of the XML file.
check	XML File Size	The total size of the XML file.
check	Video Bit Depth	Detected video bit depth.
check	Video Scan Type	The scan type of the video.
check	Video Letterboxing	Detects if the video is letterboxed (black bars).
check	Audio Channels	Detected number of audio channels.
check	Audio Compression	Detected audio compression.
check	Audio Sample Rate	Detected audio sample rate from the video.
check	Audio Codec	Detected audio codec from the video.
check	Audio Loudness	Detected audio loudness from the video.
check	Audio True Peak	Detected audio true peak.
check	Audio Bit Rate	Detected audio bit rate.
check	Video Aspect Ratio	Detected aspect ratio from the video.
check	Video Dimensions	Detected dimensions from the video.
check	Video Duration	Detected video duration in seconds.
check	Video Bit Rate	Detected video bit rate.
check	Video Bit Rate Mode	Detected video bit rate mode.
check	Video Chroma Subsampling	The chroma subsampling of the video.
check	Video Color Space	The color space of the video.
check	Video Frame Rate	Detected video frame rate.
check	File Size	File size of the video.
check	File Format	Detected video container format.
check	File Extension	File extension of the video.
check	Video Codec	Detected video codec.
check	MOOV Atom Location	Should be in the beginning for direct playback.
check	Delivery Type	As reported by the VAST document.
check	Skip Offset	As reported by the VAST document.
check	Video Mime-Type	Based on the HTTP response header of the video.

Perform all tests in a couple of seconds?

No time to check each test manually? Use these free online scanners to validate Ad Tags, HTML5 Ads or VAST tags. Here's a screenshot of what the result looks like. Scanners provided by AdValify.io

Automated scans using APIs

Increase your workflow by scanning hundreds of ads automatically. First, download this PHP class from Github:
https://github.com/AdValify/ad-validator-php

Then, run these lines of code:

include("AdValify.php");
$AdValify = new AdValify();
$result_tag = $AdValify->scanTag("This is an ad tag...");
$result_zip = $AdValify->scanZip("Binary Zip data here...");
$result_vast = $AdValify->scanVAST("URL pointing to VAST document...");

The result will be an array, which you can use further down in your logic. Check out the complete API Documentation for a list of all data points collected by the scanner.

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