I have several creative entries that keep getting rejected for no reason.

Hello Larissa,

Thank you for using our Microsoft Advertising Learn Q&A Platform!

I understand that you are facing challenges with creative specs. Since your test tag renders correctly and your landing pages are working, the issue is most likely one of the technical or design requirements that are checked during the creative review. Below are the most common causes and how to fix them.

1. Most likely causes

• Zip structure: The index.html file must sit at the root of the zip file, not inside a subfolder. If you zipped the folder itself, please open the folder, select its contents and zip those instead. The index.html must be a complete HTML document (with <html>, <head> and <body> tags).
• clickTag: The creative must use the clickTag parameter for its click-through, rather than a landing page URL written directly into the code.
• Border and background: Display creatives must have a 1-pixel border (gray #666666 or black is recommended) and cannot have a transparent background.
• File size: The initial load must stay within these limits: 300x250 and 728x90 – 150 KB; 300x600 – 200 KB; 970x250 – 250 KB; 320x50 – 50 KB. The initial load plus any secondary (polite) load together cannot exceed the allowed limits either.
• Number of files: A maximum of 10 file requests is allowed on initial load (every image, script, font and tracking pixel counts), and no more than 100 requests in total.
• Secure links (https): The creative and all tracking tags must be fully SSL compliant. Please check that every font, script, image and pixel is loaded over https, not http.
• Click behavior: Clicking the ad must open the landing page in a new browser window or tab.
• Declared size: The size entered in the platform must exactly match the actual size of the creative.

2. Other requirements to check

• Expandable creatives, third-party hosting, animated GIFs and PNG transparency are not supported for display ads.
• The creative should not use more than an average of 30% CPU during the first 30 seconds after loading (this mainly affects heavy animations).
• Any audio must be started by the user, never play automatically, and always have an on/off button.
• Elements in the creative should use a z-index below 30,000.
• The click-through URL can be up to 450 characters long.
• 970x250 Billboard only: an "X Hide Ad" button in the upper right corner, an 88x31 "Show Ad" icon when the ad is hidden, and the open/closed state must be kept when the page is reloaded.

Please review your creatives against the points above, update them where needed and resubmit them. You can find the full specifications here: Creative Specs .

The full list of rejection reasons is in Microsoft's Creative Standards (Microsoft Invest - Creative Standards | Microsoft Learn), and the zip requirements are in the HTML5 Creative Guidelines (Microsoft Invest - HTML5 Creative Guidelines and Specifications | Microsoft Learn).

Our support teams are happy to discuss your account in more detail via phone, chat or email to provide review assistance, please see our support page to reach out!

I hope the information provided here will at least partly answer your question.  If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to our support. I have also sent you a private message asking for further details. You are more than welcome to respond to me so that I can begin the investigation on my end.

Kind regards,

Adrienn

Microsoft Advertising Support Specialist | 800-518-5689