Third-party ad tag technical specs

Apple News Advertising SDK implements a subset of MRAID 1.0 as a standard MRAID that can be called by the ad. All tags must be MRAID compliant. Supported methods and events below.

Note that custom close buttons aren’t supported. Apple will supply a standard close button displayed in the upper-right corner of the expanded ad experience.

Ads requested by Apple News will be routed through an Apple-hosted proxy server for privacy purposes. This means that all ads served on Apple News will come from Apple IP addresses, therefore we need to make sure that the traffic isn’t identified as bots/DDOS by your servers. The ideal way for this to be solved would be for you to allowlist all IP addresses beginning with 17 (for example, 17.*.*.*), which are all owned by Apple.

Ads are loaded in a fairly standard web view (WKWebView). But there are important details that should be taken in to consideration when using third-party ad tags for ads on Apple News.

• Google Campaign Manager tags require internal redirects when booking campaigns on Google Ad Manager using standard creative workflows (no templates).

• Google Campaign Manager tags require Javascript tags when booking campaigns on Workbench, or on Google Ad Manager when using templates.

• The following Google Campaign Manager tag types are supported:

  JavaScript(<ins>withdata-dcm-rendering- mode='script')

  LegacyJavaScript

• All paths to resources that the ads load must be absolute (complete) URLs, not relative paths.

  Note that Google Campaign Manager can support both absolute and relative paths.

• Use of iFrames isn’t supported. When ads are loaded in Apple News, they can’t create or use iFrames at any time; the ad will fail loading. The MRAID object is only accessible via the document’s mainframe.

  Note that Google Campaign Manager can support the use of iFrames.

• SSL serving is required. All ads must be SSL compliant.

• Taps are supported using MRAID.open method or anchor tags <ahref>. Use of Window.open will cause the clicks to fail.

• A maximum of 100 requests per impression is allowed. This includes all pixels, JS, image, and so on. Any requests beyond the allowed limit will be ignored.

• HTML5 JS/CSS Animation

• Tap: Activates a control or selects an item

• Flick: Scrolls or pans quickly

• Drag: Move an element from side to side or drag an element across the display banner’s interaction space

To optimize user experience and ensure security and privacy, the following device features are blocked by Apple News Ad SDK.

• Accelerometer

• Gyroscope

• In-banner forms

• Tap to SMS/Call/Email

• Camera access

• Video/audio

• Device location

• Bonzai

• Celtra

• Dianomi

• Google Campaign Manager

• Polar

• ResponsiveAds

Note that only Celtra and Google Campaign Manager ad tags are supported when using standard creative workflows in Google Ad Manager 360 for Apple News campaigns. See specific support plans below:

Third-party macros embedded within ad or VAST tags aren’t supported and must be removed from tags to be used on Apple News when using Workbench or creative templates in Google Ad Manager. Macros usually begin with a % sign. These macros will not be expanded and may cause the tag to function incorrectly. Macros are included by Google when using standard creative workflows. If you’re unsure about macros, contact your tag vendor to verify that your tag doesn’t contain macros.

• Absolute URLs only

  Google Campaign Manager tags can support absolute or relative paths.

• URLs must use HTTPS protocol

• Apple IPs (17.*) Allow Listed or not blocked

• No iFrames

  Google Campaign Manager tags can support the use of iFrames.

• SSL compliant

• All clicks using MRAID.open() or <ahref>

  Google Campaign Manager tags are flagged as invalid for the following reasons:

  • Invalid impression/click URL format includes invalid characters (such as [ ] < > “ # % { } \ ^ ~ \\ ` or unicode characters such as \u2018, \u2019, \u201c, \u201d)

  • Invalid article ID, article header, or advertiser name for native templates

  • Invalid or missing creative ID, size, type, or body for template-less ads

  • Invalid DCM tracker or VAST tag

  • Known blocked creatives (deny-listed)

  • Network issues in accessing the tag

  Note that use of Window.open will cause the clicks to fail.

• No fourth-party tracking

• < 100 requests per impression

• All ads are to spec in portrait and landscape mode

• Expandable ads (No custom close, Two-part expand only)