Common Advertising Specifications
These are the specifications for LinkedIn-approved formats.
General Information
- We accept IFRAME/Javascript tags.
- We accept in-banner surveys – no floating layers or pop-ups.
- 3rd party tags must be allowed for click tracking by our ad server via a click URL macro or redirect.
- All creative must function uniformly on both MAC and PC formats as well as multiple browser versions of Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, and Chrome.
- We do not allow the setting of "Flash cookies" (also known as LSO - Local Shared Objects).
- Please notify LinkedIn before making creative swap. Campaigns running creatives which do not meet spec may be paused.
Creative Submission
- All ads, including those running through third party code, must be submitted to LinkedIn for approval
- Standard ads – three (3) business days
- Rich media ads – five (5) business days
- Premium positions & Sponsorships – seven (7) business days
- Third party servers should contact LinkedIn at least one (1) business day before rotating new ads into an existing ad campaign and provide those new ads for review.
- Submit all creative to your assigned Account Manager.
Inadmissible Advertising
- Pop-ups and Pop-unders
- Floating ads or Floating layers.
- Ads containing trademarks not controlled by the advertiser or their clients.
- Ads with non-functioning drop-down menus, radio buttons, and text boxes
- Ads that contain fraudulent, deceptive or misleading statements or illustrations.
- Attacks of personal nature
- Advertisements that are overly competitive or that refer abusively to the goods or services of others.
- Offensive to Good Taste - Indecent, vulgar, suggestive or other advertising that, in the opinion of LinkedIn, may be offensive to good taste.
- Discrimination Advertisements that fail to comply with the express requirements of federal and state laws.
- Investments Advertisements that do not comply with applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations.
- Political advertisements that do not identify the paid sponsor in every frame of the ad will not be accepted.
- Tobacco Advertisements for cigarettes and other tobacco products.
- Occult Pursuits Advertisements for fortune telling, dream interpretations and individual horoscopes except when the emphasis is on amusement rather than serious interpretation.
- Endangered Species Advertisements offering furs or products made from the furs or hides of animals included on government endangered species lists.
- Online Gaming Advertisements promoting online gaming or wagering sites.
- Advertisements that, in our opinion, simulate LinkedIn.com web pages and/or other LinkedIn products or that may be confused with our web pages are unacceptable.
160x600
| Regions | Global | Dimensions | 160x600 |
|---|---|---|---|
| IAB Name | Wide Skyscraper | File Types | GIF, JPG, PNG, SWF |
| Size Limit | 40kb | Border* | 1px* |
| Rich Media Options | Yes | Animation Limit** | 15 sec for video quality autoplay 30 seconds otherwise** |
| Video/Audio | On user click | 3rd Party Tracking | Yes |
| Polite Download SWF Max | 80kb | Polite Download Video Max | 1.2mb |
| Ad Expand Direction & Area | Left - 480x600 |
Sound/Audio
- Sound must be user click-initiated with clear icon or appropriate text
- All sound must be muted/paused at start of animation.
Flash
Flash swf file export version 9 (or below) / Action Script 2.0 format (or earlier)
- 24 FPS maximum (18 FPS in the US)
- Third party served Flash ads must be have a wmode set to "transparent" in their object/embed code.
- Third party served Flash ads using CSS style should not include "z-index:" parameter.
- All creatives must be designed with a solid background color, or 1 pixel border, to avoid unwanted color conflicts with the displaying page.
- All .swf files must be accompanied by .gif creative
- All .swf files must contain the following ActionScript code for a clickable button:
on (release) { if (clickTag.substr(0,4) == "http") { getURL(_level0.clickTag, "_blank"); } } - All Expandable Creative Must Be User-Initiated (Either Click-Initiated or Mouse-Over Initiated)
Rich Media
- Full motion video must be user initiated
- Auto-play video should be 15 seconds max in length
- All sound must be user initiated
- Roll over ads must have roll over hotspot of up to 1/8 size of the ad. Entire ad cannot be roll over.
- Must include clear CLOSE X button in at least 10 pt type (single "X" not acceptable)
- Mouse-Over Creative Must Retract On Mouse-Off
- Mouse-Over Expansion Should Include Language Specifying Functionality (e.g. Rollover To Learn More)
- LinkedIn cannot host expand or video ads; must be third party served from our LinkedIn Certified Vendors.
For information on our certification process or to get certified, contact us today about Ad Certification.
300x250
| Regions | Global | Dimensions | 300x250 |
|---|---|---|---|
| IAB Name | Medium Rectangle | File Types | GIF, JPG, PNG, SWF |
| Size Limit | 40kb | Border* | 1px* |
| Rich Media Options | Yes | Animation Limit** | 15 sec for video quality autoplay |
| Video/Audio | On user click | 3rd Party Tracking | Yes |
| Polite Download SWF Max | 80kb | Polite Download Video Max | 1.2mb |
| Ad Expand Direction & Area | Left - 600x250 |
Sound/Audio
- Sound must be user click-initiated with clear icon or appropriate text
- All sound must be muted/paused at start of animation.
Flash
Flash swf file export version 9 (or below) / Action Script 2.0 format (or earlier)
- 24 FPS maximum (18 FPS in the US)
- Third party served Flash ads must be have a wmode set to "transparent" in their object/embed code.
- Third party served Flash ads using CSS style should not include "z-index:" parameter.
- All creatives must be designed with a solid background color, or 1 pixel border, to avoid unwanted color conflicts with the displaying page.
- All .swf files must be accompanied by .gif creative
- All .swf files must contain the following ActionScript code for a clickable button:
on (release) { if (clickTag.substr(0,4) == "http") { getURL(_level0.clickTag, "_blank"); } } - All Expandable Creative Must Be User-Initiated (Either Click-Initiated or Mouse-Over Initiated)
Rich Media
- Full motion video must be user initiated
- Auto-play video should be 15 seconds max in length
- All sound must be user initiated
- Roll over ads must have roll over hotspot of up to 1/8 size of the ad. Entire ad cannot be roll over.
- Must include clear CLOSE X button in at least 10 pt type (single "X" not acceptable)
- Mouse-Over Creative Must Retract On Mouse-Off
- Mouse-Over Expansion Should Include Language Specifying Functionality (e.g. Rollover To Learn More)
- LinkedIn cannot host expand or video ads; must be third party served from our LinkedIn Certified Vendors.
For information on our certification process or to get certified, contact us today about Ad Certification.
728x90
| Regions | Global | Dimensions | 728x90 |
|---|---|---|---|
| IAB Name | Leaderboard | File Types | GIF, JPG, PNG, SWF |
| Size Limit | 40kb | Border* | 1px* |
| Rich Media Options | Yes | Animation Limit** | 15 sec for video quality autoplay 30 seconds otherwise** |
| Video/Audio | On user click | 3rd Party Tracking | Yes |
| Polite Download SWF Max | 80kb | Polite Download Video Max | 1.2mb |
| Ad Expand Direction & Area | Up - 728x310 |
Sound/Audio
- Sound must be user click-initiated with clear icon or appropriate text
- All sound must be muted/paused at start of animation.
Flash
Flash swf file export version 9 (or below) / Action Script 2.0 format (or earlier)
- 24 FPS maximum (18 FPS in the US)
- Third party served Flash ads must be have a wmode set to "transparent" in their object/embed code.
- Third party served Flash ads using CSS style should not include "z-index:" parameter.
- All creatives must be designed with a solid background color, or 1 pixel border, to avoid unwanted color conflicts with the displaying page.
- All .swf files must be accompanied by .gif creative
- All .swf files must contain the following ActionScript code for a clickable button:
on (release) { if (clickTag.substr(0,4) == "http") { getURL(_level0.clickTag, "_blank"); } } - All Expandable Creative Must Be User-Initiated (Either Click-Initiated or Mouse-Over Initiated)
Rich Media
- Full motion video must be user initiated
- Auto-play video should be 15 seconds max in length
- All sound must be user initiated
- Roll over ads must have roll over hotspot of up to 1/8 size of the ad. Entire ad cannot be roll over.
- Must include clear CLOSE X button in at least 10 pt type (single "X" not acceptable)
- Mouse-Over Creative Must Retract On Mouse-Off
- Mouse-Over Expansion Should Include Language Specifying Functionality (e.g. Rollover To Learn More)
- LinkedIn cannot host expand or video ads; must be third party served from our LinkedIn Certified Vendors.
For information on our certification process or to get certified, contact us today about Ad Certification.
textlink
| Regions | Global | Dimensions | 960x17 |
|---|---|---|---|
| IAB Name | N/A | Size Limit* | 90 characters* |
| Rich Media Options | No | Video/Audio | No |
| 3rd Party Tracking | Yes |
Tips for writing text ads
LinkedIn is a professional site focused on making professionals more productive. We expect the tone and quality of text ads to be professional in nature. We reserve the right to refuse any text ad that does not meet our guidelines and best practices. Do not reference specific brands, such as LinkedIn.
