What is Click Tag?

A click tag is a parameter used in Flash banner ads. The parameter is a variable that defines the destination URL from the markup code. By using a click tag, the advertiser can easily see and modify the URL without a Flash developer.

The click tag is supported by every major ad server.  The click tag enables the ad serving network to gain metrics such as the amount of clicks and from which sites these clicks have been made. By reading the data gained by the click tag parameter, an advertiser can evaluate how effective the ad campaign has been.

Variations

There are no industry standards on how to program a click tag. The code for the programming is case-sensitive, but programmers format their capitalization differently so ad serving networks may require clickTAG, ClickTag, clickTag, or any variation of capitalization for that specific variable.

Some ad serving networks may also require the ad's programmer to specific the level or strata the advertisement directs to such as the Google click tag requirements. Other ad serving networks such as Myspace do not require root level specification.

Ad serving networks may also require protocol specification by forcing the URL to begin with "http:" as a security measure advised by Adobe. Adobe warns that a malicious website could source the banner and pass a URL that begins with "javascript;" or another pseudo-protocol creating a hole for malicious scripts. This would allow someone access to the site's data, cookies, or can perform actions on behalf of the website where the ad is placed.

Click tags also vary depending on the version of Flash or Action script used. And it's case sensitive in flash 7 and Above.

How to implement a clickTAG and how does it work?

You need to insert a transparent button into the top-most layer of your Flash banner. Then you assign the button an action with some special Action Script code that is designed to accept a click-tracking redirect URL as a parameter. Your button then uses that redirect URL as its link rather than having a direct link embedded inside the code.

Some clickTAG example :

AS2 Standard

on (release) {

            getURL (_root.clickTAG, "_blank");

}

AS2 Google Network

on (release) {      

            if (clickTAG.substr(0,5) == "http:") {      

            getURL(clickTAG, "_blank");}

}

ClickTAG advantages

This method offers a couple of advantages. The clickTAG might also be a script, on an ad server for instance, that tracks where the banner appears and when it is clicked. Thus this method affords you multifarious ways of launching your banner.

A further point is that in case of the clickTAG isn't passed; the banner won't work as link. This might be useful if the banner should be adopted as a header of a website.

Source: www.wikipedia.com and www.123-banner.com