The Internet Advertising Bureau

A number of industry standards have been designed around display advertising. The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB)—a nonprofit organization made up of 500 media and technology companies that are leaders in online advertising—has created a series of standards, guidelines, and best practices for how to set up and deliver display ads.

The IAB has standardized many elements of display advertising, including the different types of display ads (image ads, video ads, Flash animation ads) and the different pixel sizes, file sizes, and dimensions. They have also created standard contracts for setting up display ad campaigns, with specifications for how advertisers pay for display ad campaigns, and how website owners get paid for displaying ads on their site.

IAB standards have tremendously simplified the process of creating a display ad campaign, which could have been very complicated for advertisers. Often, websites that provide space for display ads base their standards for ads (in terms of what types of ads, pixel sizes, file sizes, etc., they will accept) on the IAB guidelines. Also, many websites and companies that specialize in display advertising campaigns use IAB standard contracts or variations of them. IAB standards change over time, and will continue to change as display ads evolve and adopt new forms and technologies. To get the latest version of the IAB standards for display advertising, visit their website at www.iab.net.