Background: The Canadian Universal Ad Package (CUAP)
Following the successful creation of the US IAB's Universal Ad Package (UAP), a joint task force of IAB Canada Publisher and Agency Members worked to define a similar set of Online ad standards for the Canadian market.

In January of 2005, IAB Canada released a Canadian Universal Ad Package (CUAP) of Standard leaderboard, skyscraper and big-box ad units, that both IAB Publisher and Agency Members agreed to support.

In April of 2006, IAB Canada released similar standards for Rich Media Expandable, Floating and Transition ads.

2008 Updates To The CUAP As of June 2008, in accordance with its commitment to perform periodic reviews of all standards, IAB Canada has:

• Updated the CUAP for both Standard and Rich Media ads;
• Introduced a NEW! Video Ad standard;
• Developed a Recommended Creative + Ad Tag Naming Convention;
• Compiled an Ad Features By Publisher Database; and,
• Created a NEW! Universal Ad ClickTAG standard

2) In-Stream Video Ad Standards
Definition: In IAB Canada's CUAP for Standard, Rich Media and Video Ads, In-Stream Video Ads refers to video-formatted commercial ad units that may appear before, during, and after a variety of content including (but not limited to), live or archived streaming video content. These ads are also commonly referred to as "pre-roll" video ads.

Scope: The above definition does not apply to video that appears within Advertiser-based Rich Media ads (e.g. video which plays within an expandable leaderboard, big-box or skyscraper ad). For information related to these units, please consult the Rich Media portion of the CUAP. The In-Stream Video guideline also does not address streaming audio-only commercials.

Digital Copyright Clearance: Before creating ad materials and purchasing ad placements for In-stream Video Ads, Advertisers must acquire all the rights necessary to serve and play submitted ad materials. Publishers are not responsible for ad materials that are submitted without proper copyright clearance/payments.

3) Creative/Tag Naming Conventions
In order to make sure creative is properly trafficked and reported, IAB Canada recommends using the following naming conventions for ad creative and ad tags:

Naming Convention: Ad Creative
language_size_client_campaign_creativeversion
Example: en_300x250_gm_cadillac_c01.swf

Naming Convention: Ad Tags
language_size_client_campaign_tagversion
Example: en_300x250_gm_cadillac_t01.txt

NOTE: Versioning
The c01 or t01 at the end of either an ad creative or ad tag, stands for "creative version one" or "tag version one". Any time ad creative is revised and resent to Publisher Ad Operations, the version should be changed to c02, c03, etc., so that Publisher Ad Operations can traffic the correct ad.

NOTE: Date Stamp (Publisher Ad Operations Only)
When ad creative has been received by Publisher Ad operations, a date stamp should be added to the end of the creative as follows:
language_size_client_campaign_c01_yearmonthday
Example: en_300x250_gm_cadillac_c01_081204.swf

4) Ad Features By Publisher Database
Ready to book an Online ad campaign, but not sure which Canadian Online Publishers support 3rd party adserving, rich media, video, geo-targeting, behavioral targeting, ad sequencing, frequency capping, conversion tracking, etc.? IAB Canada's NEW! Ad Features By Publisher Database is your one-stop reference guide to all of the above and more!

5) NEW! IAB Canada Universal Ad ClickTAG standard
IAB Canada's NEW! Universal ClickTAG is compliant with all major ad servers across Canada, and is designed to simplify the development and tracking of Flash ad creative by:

• Removing the need for ClickTAG case sensitivity of any type;
• Allowing the ClickTAG to function within Flash files that stream content from external files;
• Allowing the ClickTAG to function within files that are nested inside other Flash files;
• Allowing for increased security, by verifying that the ClickTAG is a valid URL;
• Making sure the ClickTAG is compatible with pop-up blockers and won't result in a valid click being blocked;
• Making sure the ClickTAG provides a mechanism for target window changing; and,
• Displaying a debug message when no valid ClickTAG has been found.