Booking an Ad
Booking an ad on Adkit is a three-step process: choose your dates, upload your creative, then review and pay. You don't need an account to book — one is created automatically when you check out.
Finding a slot to book
Every Adkit ad slot has a unique booking URL. Publishers share this link directly. Clicking it opens the booking flow for that specific placement.
Step 1: Choose dates
The calendar shows the slot's availability in the publisher's timezone. Dates already booked by another advertiser are grayed out and unselectable. The earliest available start date is determined by the publisher's buffer period — publishers can require anywhere from 6 hours to 30 days of advance notice.
The calendar note shows the publisher's timezone abbreviation (e.g., "EST", "PST") so you know how dates are interpreted.
A price summary below the calendar updates in real time as you select dates, showing your daily rate, total days, and total cost. If the publisher has discounts that apply to your booking length, they appear automatically in the summary.
If the slot has no available dates or is currently inactive, you'll see a message explaining that bookings are paused.
Booking page step 1 showing calendar with some dates grayed out, date range selected, and price summary
Available offers
If the publisher has created discounts, an "Available offers" panel appears alongside the calendar showing what's available. Discounts that require a minimum number of days are grayed out until your selection meets the requirement. Discounts that qualify are applied automatically — click Apply to use one.
Step 2: Upload your ad
Upload a PNG, JPG, or GIF up to 32MB. The aspect ratio required for this slot is displayed in the guidelines section. Recommended resolutions by aspect ratio:
| Aspect ratio | Recommended resolution |
|---|---|
| 16:9 | 1920 × 1080 |
| 4:3 | 1600 × 1200 |
| 1:1 | 1200 × 1200 |
| 9:16 | 1080 × 1920 |
| banner (8:1) | 1600 × 200 |
If you're signed into an existing advertiser account, you'll also see an option to import a creative from a previous campaign. This carries over the image and destination URL from the previous booking.
Cropping your image
After uploading, a live preview shows how your ad will look at the slot's aspect ratio. If your image doesn't match the slot's proportions, click "Crop image" to open a crop tool. The crop area is constrained to the correct aspect ratio. Drag to reposition it, or drag the corner handles to resize. Click "Apply crop" to confirm, or "Cancel" to go back to the original.
Destination URL
Enter the URL visitors will be sent to when they click your ad. URL parameters can be added from a dropdown menu — common options like utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, ref, and via are available pre-filled. The full URL including parameters is shown in real time below the input.
Company name
Your company name is visible to the publisher and appears on your invoices. It is not shown on the ad itself.
Booking page step 2 showing upload area, live ad preview, destination URL field, and guidelines panel
Step 3: Review and pay
The review step shows a compact preview of your ad, a promo code input, a full booking summary, and the payment button.
Promo code
If the publisher has created a promo code discount, you can enter it here. If the code is valid and better than any automatic discount you already have, it's applied. If it's invalid or doesn't meet the minimum booking length, an error is shown explaining why.
Booking summary
Shows: site name, placement aspect ratio, start and end datetime (with timezone abbreviation), price per day, number of days, any discount, and total.
Payment
If you're signed in with a saved card, it's shown here and you can pay with one click. A "Change" button opens Stripe's billing portal to update your payment method. If you don't have a saved card, clicking "Pay and launch ad" redirects to a Stripe Checkout page.
Booking page step 3 showing booking summary card, promo code field, payment button
What happens after you pay
The "What's next" section on the review step explains the flow based on the publisher's settings.
If the publisher reviews ads manually
- If you're not signed in, you'll receive an email with access to your advertiser dashboard.
- The site owner reviews your ad — the average wait time shown is 6 hours.
- You receive an approval email with desktop and mobile previews of your ad.
- Your ad goes live automatically at the start of your booking window (midnight in the publisher's timezone).
- Track performance from your dashboard.
If the publisher has enabled auto-approval
- Your ad goes live automatically at the start of your booking.
- Track performance from your dashboard.
Progress is saved automatically
Your booking progress is saved as you go. If you navigate away and return to the same booking URL, the calendar, creative, and review step are restored to where you left off. If any previously selected dates have since been booked by another advertiser, the calendar is reset and you're returned to step 1.