LightAd Creative & Content Policy
To maintain a high-quality advertising environment, LightAd enforces strict guidelines around ad content and behavior. Demand partners must adhere to the following rules when submitting creatives for distribution across our network.
Banned Content & Creatives
Disallowed Creative Types
The following creative formats are strictly prohibited:
- (8) Pop-up, pop-under, or pop-on-exit creatives
- (14) Ads mimicking system or application-level alerts (e.g., Windows dialog style)
Unacceptable Ad Behaviors
Creatives must not exhibit the following behavior:
- Auto-redirects without user interaction (click, tap, etc.)
- Deceptive UI such as fake input fields or misleading interfaces
- Click-to-call or Click-to-subscribe without a clear intermediary screen explaining charges or consent terms
Restricted Ad Practices
- Rotating Tags/URLs – Each creative must link to a single, consistent advertiser. Using one tag for multiple advertiser destinations is forbidden and may lead to penalties by exchanges.
- Network Abuse – Including but not limited to:
- Malicious ads, landing pages, or apps
- In-banner video ads (unless explicitly allowed)
- Clickbait or low-value traffic arbitrage sites
- Attempts to manipulate auctions or bypass LightAd’s approval processes
User Data Misuse
Advertisers must protect user privacy and must not collect or misuse sensitive data such as:
- Names, emails, phone numbers, or addresses
- National ID, tax ID, or driver’s license numbers
- Financial, medical, or political data
- Information on race, religion, or sexual orientation
False Representation
Ads must be honest and transparent. Creatives must not:
- Mislead users into purchases or subscriptions
- Misrepresent the product, service, or entity shown
Prohibited Content Categories (IAB)
LightAd does not allow ads in the following IAB categories:
- IAB25 – Non-Standard Content:
- UGC without moderation
- Graphic violence, pornography, profanity, hate speech
- Under-construction pages or incentivized content
- IAB26 – Illegal Content:
- Warez, malware, spyware
- Copyright-infringing materials
Other Disallowed Content
Demand partners must not promote content that includes:
- Hate speech, violence, or sensitive social issues
- Sexual services or adult products
- Illegal drugs or drug paraphernalia
- Weapons and weapon-related accessories
- Tobacco or vaping products
- Counterfeit goods
- Unlicensed ticket resellers
- Products made from endangered species
- Political ads (except where legally permitted)
- Alcoholic beverages (only allowed in regions where legal and must exclude Smaato)
- Healthcare and pharmaceuticals (must meet legal and licensing requirements)
- Gambling (allowed only where legal and must exclude Smaato)
- Financial services (must comply with local legal standards)
Restricted Content & Creative Attributes
Some publishers restrict certain types of ad behavior or content based on preferences. Demand partners should honor these blocking requests, as indicated in the bid request.
Commonly Blocked Creative Features
If these attributes are flagged in a publisher’s block list, they must not be included in the creative:
- Auto-play or User-initiated audio
- Expandable ads (automatic or user-initiated)
- In-banner video
- Flashy, flickering, or provocative images
- Text-only ads, surveys, or games
- User-interactive formats (e.g., embedded games)
- Skippable videos or audio toggle buttons
Attributes (8) Pop ads and (14) Windows-style alerts are universally blocked and never allowed on LightAd.
Blocked IAB Categories by Publishers
Demand partners must classify creatives under the correct IAB category and avoid blocked categories in bid requests. Some commonly blocked categories include:
| Content Type | IAB Category |
| Real-money gambling | IAB9-7 (Card Games) |
| Lotteries/scratch-offs | IAB3-7 (Government) |
| Casino-type games | IAB9-30 |
| Dating or lingerie | IAB14-1 |
| Antivirus software | IAB19-3 |
| Wine, beer, spirits | IAB8-18, IAB8-5 |
| Ringtones | IAB1-6 (Music) |
| Tobacco | IAB9-9 (Cigars) |
| Social networking | IAB14 (Society) |
IAB25 and IAB26 content are always blocked across all LightAd inventory.
Best Practices for Demand Partners
To support transparency and enable publisher-level controls, please ensure the following fields are accurate for every creative:
- Image URL – Must exactly match the image shown in the creative
- Landing Page – Should direct to the correct store (e.g., Kindle, Play Store, etc.)
- Advertiser Domain (adomain):
- Must reflect the true advertiser (not the app store link)
- Should use the root domain (e.g., lightadclient.com)
- For apps without a domain, use: [appname].com
