Sizmek to start counting the file size of external libraries on Feb 1st

[ohem 326 Likes (Leader)]

I'm really disappointed about this news; in the past they had always been very accepting of external libraries.  

 

Even though they even host some of the main libraries including GSAP on their own CDN, it seems that they will now start counting them against the file size of banner ads.  (I discovered this today when I uploaded an ad and it gave me a new warning message about the file size, even though without the libraries the zip was well under 200k).

 

Hopefully the IAB reevaluates their stance on this, since Sizmek is just following their guidelines...

 

Details below:

 

https://support.sizmek.com/hc/en-us/articles/206239683

 

 

Last Update: 

Wednesday at 01:47

The new methodology for calculating the HTML5 ad size follows the preliminary guidance of the IAB.

The size of an HTML5 ad is the total size of all assets in the ad’s Workspace, at the compressed size. This includes images, the largest video, fonts, javascript files, html files and any other files. We do not count additional assets for dynamic creative or videos. Compression is automatically applied which reduces the size of each asset type to the compressed size.

Note: Only one video is counted. The platform counts only the largest video in the Workspace. So if there are five videos in the Workspace, Sizmek counts only the largest video.
One exception to this rule: If there’s an asset in the ad’s Additional Assets folder, (outside the Workspace), that is larger than the largest video in the Workspace, that asset is counted instead of the largest video.

The new method takes effect on February 1, 2016 and applies as follows. 

• Ads created before February 1, 2016 will be counted at the current methodology, even if they are not attached to a campaign.
• Ads created prior to February 1, 2016 and are copied to a new campaign after this date, will be counted according to the former calculation method.

[ohem 326 Likes (Leader)]

The latest IAB guide says "Although website developers have been using shared libraries for some time, we must observe and monitor the use of shared libraries for ad creative before we can exclude them from file weight calculations. The impact of shared libraries in file weight calculations will be reviewed in 3-6 months and an appropriate update made in 2016."

 

so I guess we'll just have to stay tuned.

[GreenSock 8,352 Likes (Superhero)]

I'm pretty sure that this doesn't apply to GSAP. We saw some publications from Sizmek recently too saying the same thing, so we reached out to them directly and we were told that GSAP is indeed still exempt from file size calculations and there is no plan to change that policy. That's obviously great news for GSAP users. But the stuff they're sending out sure seems to send a very different message, so it's confusing. 

 

So again, we were told directly by Sizmek that GSAP will remain exempt from file size calculations. 

 

If anyone else gets information to the contrary and confirms it with Sizmek, please let us know. 

[ohem 326 Likes (Leader)]

Oh, that's good news if that's true about GSAP!  

 

I created some HTML5 Canvas banners using Flash CC for the first time, and I used the (Sizmek-hosted) CreateJS libraries to cut down on k size.  

 

Unfortunately, Sizmek did seem to be counting those libraries in the warning message I got for a larger banner, because although my zipped file size was still way under 200k, it warned me that with the new calculations on Feb 1st, it would be over the limit.

 

 

It's weird because I thought that the whole point of them hosting libraries is that they weren't supposed to count towards the file size:

 

https://support.sizmek.com/hc/en-us/articles/206566866--howto-Use-Sizmek-s-Shared-Libraries-to-Shrink-Your-Ad-s-Size

https://support.sizmek.com/hc/en-us/articles/206136366--reference-glossary-HTML5-Shared-Libraries

[somnamblst 186 Likes (Specialist)]

Hosting libraries is also about cache.

 

Couple possibilities.

 

The bandwidth bills are higher than projected, and Wall St. is not happy.

 

Or maybe so many designers were going right up to the 200K limit because they thought they got to go to 200k with bitmaps, and the ads were not loading in a real world test.

 

I have always been my own personal K Weight police. If i could make a 32 color GIF that was only 23K, i would.

 

They did just buy Pointroll for big $$$$$$$$$$$$

[GreenSock 8,352 Likes (Superhero)]

Our contact at Sizmek said that he's pretty confident that nothing is changing with regard to GSAP specifically - it should still be exempt from file size calculations when properly referenced even after February 1st. Furthermore, he said:

 

That calculator “Sizmek Ad Calculation Methodology Changed” dialog, may be counting ALL js files towards the overall weight of the creative if they are included in the creative upload instead. In order for them not to count, they should be linking to the Sizmek shared versions or the CDNJS hosted versions, then they should not be calculated towards the overall weight. That is how is is supposed to work according to my understanding. 

 

If its not working like that, and the linked libraries are being added to the overall weight of the creative, even if they are just linked and not actually included as files in the creative, then they should log a support request, and note the same two URL’s that were referenced in the thread that explain the shared library usage for Sizmek - re:

 

https://support.sizmek.com/hc/en-us/articles/206566866--howto-Use-Sizmek-s-Shared-Libraries-to-Shrink-Your-Ad-s-Size

https://support.sizmek.com/hc/en-us/articles/206136366--reference-glossary-HTML5-Shared-Libraries

 

 

So this all seems to be good news for GreenSock users like yourself

 

Let us know if you get any further clarification from the Sizmek folks. Our contact said he was going to do some more research internally and get back to us if he finds any additional info that's different than what he told us already (it's a big company and probably in a state of flux due to the merger with PointRoll). 

[ohem 326 Likes (Leader)]

I'm definitely using Sizmek-hosted CDN links from those specific URLs, and the file size calculation was still increased.

 

I emailed their general support email address with questions, but will try my direct Creative Developer contact too.

[ohem 326 Likes (Leader)]

I'm being told that I shouldn't have received that warning; not sure what's up yet.

[noco 2 Likes (Newbie)]

Sizmek currently counts the size of the files unzipped.  I believe that you are expecting them to count the zipped size, but they count the unzipped size.  And possibly you are thinking the extra size is coming from your external libraries. 

 

They are going to start counting the zipped size (thank goodness), but I don't see them saying that they will be counting external libraries. I sure hope not.

[ohem 326 Likes (Leader)]

Sizmek currently counts the size of the files unzipped.  I believe that you are expecting them to count the zipped size, but they count the unzipped size.  And possibly you are thinking the extra size is coming from your external libraries. 

 

They are going to start counting the zipped size (thank goodness), but I don't see them saying that they will be counting external libraries. I sure hope not.

Actually, the current way has been amazing/too good to be true, because they only counted the size of the largest asset, and not the combined file size of everything.

 

They're changing it on Feb 1st to count the size of the entire zipped workspace, and I'm concerned that they may also be counting external libraries against the file size, because I got a warning message when uploading a 160k zip; it said that it would be over the 200k file size limit after Feb 1st, which makes no sense unless it's counting the size of external libraries too.

[ohem 326 Likes (Leader)]

Apparently it was actually not the external libraries but the file size of the backup image being added to the ad, even though it was uploaded outside of the workspace.

 

Still kind of frustrating that they're counting backup images now, but good news for GSAP at least.

[Oliver16Years 207 Likes (Specialist)]

Today I was really suprised when my uploaded ads were TOO BIG. It truned out they count in the CDN libs into the ad size. These ads are Standard HTML Banners, not the "polite" kind. What is happening?

[ohem 326 Likes (Leader)]

Today I was really suprised when my uploaded ads were TOO BIG. It truned out they count in the CDN libs into the ad size. These ads are Standard HTML Banners, not the "polite" kind. What is happening?

It's probably just the backup image being counted; that was what I discovered when the file size of one of my ads was too big.  The backup image gets added to & counted in the final package.

 

If you compress your backup images more it should help.

[Oliver16Years 207 Likes (Specialist)]

It's probably just the backup image being counted; that was what I discovered when the file size of one of my ads was too big.  The backup image gets added to & counted in the final package.

 

If you compress your backup images more it should help.

Fine, thanks! I dind't noticed it. Yes my backups are quite big but earlier that din't counted. I have to read the small text more carefully

By the way. I stll don't understand this "backup image" thing. This is a separate ad. It wont be served along with the Html, only for those who don't have an html capable device. Which is weird in 2016.

[ohem 326 Likes (Leader)]

Fine, thanks! I dind't noticed it. Yes my backups are quite big but earlier that din't counted. I have to read the small text more carefully

By the way. I stll don't understand this "backup image" thing. This is a separate ad. It wont be served along with the Html, only for those who don't have an html capable device. Which is weird in 2016.

Yeah, it's unfortunate that the backup now counts against the ad size.  

 

I asked my office's Sizmek contact if there's a way around that and he said no; with Sizmek, the backup image sets the size of the div (expanded) in which the ad will be displayed.  But you can compress the image down significantly, or if you are not concerned with the backup image you can just upload a single color jpg or gif.

[Oliver16Years 207 Likes (Specialist)]

Yeah, it's unfortunate that the backup now counts against the ad size.  

 

I asked my office's Sizmek contact if there's a way around that and he said no; with Sizmek, the backup image sets the size of the div (expanded) in which the ad will be displayed.  But you can compress the image down significantly, or if you are not concerned with the backup image you can just upload a single color jpg or gif.

Really??? They need a separate asset to set the ad's dimension? I is an extremely weird idea. Why don't just they add a meta tag like adWords and other ad providers?

 

Anyway, thanks for the idea. I will compress the backup to 1% quality then