Ad Standards & Guidelines

At AdLocal Value, we’re here to make local advertising easy, effective, and enjoyable—for both our business partners and our content hosts. To ensure a seamless experience and impactful results, we’ve created the following standards and best practices for video ads.

Ad Requirements

To maintain consistency across our platform and deliver the best results for our community of viewers and advertisers, all ads must meet these basic requirements:

  • Silent video format only (no audio or voiceover)

  • Length: 30 seconds

  • Must be family-friendly (no alcohol, explicit language, or adult content)

  • Visually driven with minimal, clear text

  • Focus on your unique story, value, entertainment, or education

Specifications:

  • Resolution: 1920 x 1080p

  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9

  • Frame Rate: 30FPS

  • Codec: H264

  • Format: .mkv

Whether you're showcasing a product, service, location, or telling your brand story—simplicity and visual appeal are key.

What Makes an Effective Ad?

The screens in our host locations play without sound, so video ads must make an impact visually and instantly. The best-performing ads are:

  • Visually engaging from the very first second

  • Centered around one clear idea, tagline, or value proposition

  • Designed to evoke curiosity, delight, or a quick “aha!” moment

  • Professionally presented, even if made from photos or existing footage

Not Sure Where to Start?
We’ve Got You.

Every business is different. Some clients come with polished ads, others need help developing content from scratch. Either way, we’re here to make it simple.

You have three options:

  1. Already have a great ad? Submit it and we’ll review for format and compliance.

  2. Have assets (photos, video clips, etc.) but no ad? We can create one for you at no additional charge.

  3. Need everything from scratch? We’ll help you brainstorm ideas and produce it for an additional fee.

Ad Style Inspiration

Here are a few styles that work beautifully for short, silent ads:

Brand / Origin Story

Showcase the heart behind your business with visuals and text that share how it started, why it exists, and what makes it meaningful to the local community.

Showcase The Experience

If you’re selling an amazing experience, show your audience what to expect! How is the experience unique? What do you offer that they can’t get anywhere else?

Make Our Mouths Water

Time has proven again and again that mouth watering visuals of food sell it best. Make sure the photos or footage of your food is top notch.

Photo Slideshows with Text Overlays

If you already have high quality, story telling branding or product photography, use them to create a slideshow style video ad overlayed with text that tells your story. Great for retail, photographers, and product brands

Trivia Style Ad

Create an ad that fits right in with our ADLocal Value carousel of entertaining content. Connect local facts to your brand, share an interesting historical tidbit or an entertaining story about your business or product.

How Do You Know If Your Ad Is Working?

The main goal of your AdLocal Value placement is brand awareness—keeping your business top-of-mind in the community and building trust through consistent visibility. Since ads appear in a content carousel without audio and often alongside community-focused videos, they’re designed to feel natural and engaging, not disruptive.

That said, there are creative ways to measure impact, including:

  • QR Codes: Add a QR code to your ad that links directly to a landing page, offer, or booking form

  • Ask New Customers: A simple “How did you hear about us?” at checkout or on intake forms can give powerful insights

  • Exclusive Offer Codes: Use a short, unique promo code that’s only shown in your ad

  • Landing Page Tracking: Create a webpage specifically for your ALV ad and monitor traffic with Google Analytics or UTM tags

  • Spike in Website Traffic or Inquiries: Look for increases that align with your ad run time

QR Codes & Landing Pages

Including a QR code in your video ad is a great way to drive action while keeping the format clean and simple.

How it works:

  • Just provide a link, and we’ll generate and add the QR code to your ad

  • For best results, we recommend linking to a landing page created just for your ALV ad—this makes it easy to track traffic and engagement

Landing Page Best Practices:

  • Clear, focused headline that connects with your ad

  • One call to action (e.g., book now, claim offer, join email list)

  • Mobile-optimized and fast-loading

  • Bonus: set up tracking using Google Analytics or UTM parameters to see who’s coming from your ad

Already have a marketing team? They can help develop a strong strategy and build a high-converting landing page.


Not sure where to start? A simple link to your homepage works, too!