Sizmek Tag Examples That Actually Work (Copy, Paste, Ship)

Getting Sizmek tags right should not feel like a guessing game. Over years of building and shipping multi-size creative for agencies and brand teams, we’ve seen just about every kind of tag mishap out there. In this deep-dive, we’ll show exactly how to build Sizmek tags that work every time, explain the anatomy of a typical tag, and cover copy-paste examples for every major use case—so your QA cycles (and designers) can breathe a sigh of relief.

What Makes a Sizmek Tag Actually Work?

To be recognized—and to track impressions and clicks—a Sizmek tag needs:

To point to a bs.serving-sys.com or serving-sys.com domain.
The correct query parameters for FlightID, Page, Position, and/or Placement ID.
Valid click and impression URLs when using simple image tags.

Most importantly, the tag needs to work no matter where it’s pasted—whether that’s Google Ad Manager, your DSP, AdButler, or a publisher system.

Sizmek Tag Structures: Standard Examples You Can Adapt Now

Vanilla Sizmek Image Tag (Click + Impression)

<!-- CLICK URL -->
http://bs.serving-sys.com/BurstingPipe/adServer.bs?cn=brd&FlightID=YOUR_FLIGHT_ID&Page=&PluID=0&Pos=YOUR_POSITION

<!-- IMPRESSION TAG -->
<img src="http://bs.serving-sys.com/BurstingPipe/adServer.bs?cn=bsr&FlightID=YOUR_FLIGHT_ID&Page=&PluID=0&Pos=YOUR_POSITION"
     width="300"
     height="250"
     border="0"
     alt="Advertisement">

Swap in your actual FlightID and Position.
Adjust width and height to your creative size.

Wrapped Sizmek Tag With Click Macro

<a href="[CLICK_MACRO]http://bs.serving-sys.com/BurstingPipe/adServer.bs?cn=brd&FlightID=YOUR_FLIGHT_ID&Page=&PluID=0&Pos=YOUR_POSITION"
   target="_blank">
  <img src="http://bs.serving-sys.com/BurstingPipe/adServer.bs?cn=bsr&FlightID=YOUR_FLIGHT_ID&Page=&PluID=0&Pos=YOUR_POSITION"
       width="300"
       height="250"
       border="0"
       alt="Advertisement">
</a>

This pattern is crucial for ad servers or platforms that inject click or tracking macros.

Sizmek JavaScript Tag Template (Script + Noscript)

<script type="text/javascript"
        src="https://bs.serving-sys.com/Serving/adServer.bs?cn=display&placementId=YOUR_PLACEMENT_ID">
</script>
<noscript>
  <a href="http://bs.serving-sys.com/Serving/adServer.bs?cn=brd&FlightID=YOUR_FLIGHT_ID&Page=&PluID=0&Pos=YOUR_POSITION"
     target="_blank">
    <img src="http://bs.serving-sys.com/Serving/adServer.bs?cn=bsr&FlightID=YOUR_FLIGHT_ID&Page=&PluID=0&Pos=YOUR_POSITION"
         width="300"
         height="250"
         border="0"
         alt="Advertisement">
  </a>
</noscript>

Replace placementId, FlightID, and Pos with your unique Sizmek values for each placement.

Practical Sizmek Tag Tips: Getting the Details Right

Cache Busters and Timestamps

No one wants stale impressions, and no client wants to lose tracking. Always check for a cachebuster (sometimes a [timestamp] or
%%CACHEBUSTER%% macro) if your ad server requires it. SizeIM users can drop this macro right into the Sizmek tag when exporting ad sets for upload—saving headaches later.

Tag Placement & Macros

Place click macros or tracking links at the start of the click URL. Never insert them inside the Sizmek query string unless required.
Always confirm which macro your platform expects (for example, %%CLICK_URL_UNESC%% for Google Ad Manager or
[TRACKING_LINK] if working with a DSP).

Map the Creative to the Placement: Sizmek Tag Patterns by Ad Size

We frequently see campaigns that require multiple IAB sizes mapped to unique Sizmek placements. If you’re generating multiple sizes in SizeIM, the workflow becomes almost mechanical:

Produce each creative size (like 300×250, 728×90, 160×600, etc.)
Tag each with the corresponding Sizmek placement ID or FlightID

Examples:

<!-- 300x250 placement -->
<script type="text/javascript"
        src="https://bs.serving-sys.com/Serving/adServer.bs?cn=display&placementId=11111111&ord=%%CACHEBUSTER%%">
</script>
<noscript>
  <a href="https://bs.serving-sys.com/Serving/adServer.bs?cn=brd&FlightID=13304997&Page=&PluID=0&Pos=300250"
     target="_blank">
    <img src="https://bs.serving-sys.com/Serving/adServer.bs?cn=bsr&FlightID=13304997&Page=&PluID=0&Pos=300250"
         width="300"
         height="250"
         border="0"
         alt="Advertisement">
  </a>
</noscript>

<!-- 728x90 placement -->
<script type="text/javascript"
        src="https://bs.serving-sys.com/Serving/adServer.bs?cn=display&placementId=22222222&ord=%%CACHEBUSTER%%">
</script>
<noscript>
  <a href="https://bs.serving-sys.com/Serving/adServer.bs?cn=brd&FlightID=13304997&Page=&PluID=0&Pos=72890"
     target="_blank">
    <img src="https://bs.serving-sys.com/Serving/adServer.bs?cn=bsr&FlightID=13304997&Page=&PluID=0&Pos=72890"
         width="728"
         height="90"
         border="0"
         alt="Advertisement">
  </a>
</noscript>

This mapping holds for all standard IAB sizes. SizeIM can generate every required variant from a single design, keeping your campaign asset handoff smooth.

How Sizmek Tags Fit in a Modern Ad Ops Workflow

We get this question all the time—Sizmek tags by themselves aren’t your creative production bottleneck. What slows everything down is manual resizing and the risk of error when producing 10, 15, or 20 creative versions from the same core concept.

SizeIM users can start from their master design, generate all campaign sizes in minutes, and easily copy the required asset per placement for each Sizmek tag.
By scripting your tags and QA process, you can get every size loaded with the right identifiers, cachebuster, and macros—and immediately upload or traffic to Sizmek, Google Ad Manager, or any DSP you operate.

Step-By-Step: From SizeIM Creative to Live Sizmek Tag

Design Your Ad: Use a relevant template in SizeIM, add your brand assets, copy, and visual elements.
Generate Every Size You Need: Select all IAB display sizes required by your media plan. Each is tailored instantly.
Export: Download your assets (image or HTML). Clearly name each by campaign, size, and variant.
Upload to Sizmek: For each placement, upload the matching creative and make sure you get the tag associated with the correct asset.
Deploy: Use the copy-paste Sizmek tag template for your target platform. Double check click and cachebuster macros.
QA: Test every tag in Sizmek. Then preview in your downstream platforms before you go live.

This streamlined workflow makes Sizmek campaigns much less stressful and prevents last-minute errors.

The Most Common Sizmek Tag Failures (and Real Fixes)

Forgetting the cachebuster: If you ever see impressions underreported, look for a missing %%CACHEBUSTER%% or timestamp in your tag.
Incorrect click macro placement: Always prepend the macro. Never bury it mid-URL.
Mismatched creative and tag size: If your tag specifies 300×250 and you upload a 728×90 asset, tracking and rendering falls apart.
No test before going live: Always preview in Sizmek (or whatever partner gave you the tag) before uploading anywhere else. You save everyone a post-launch panic.

Want a more comprehensive QA checklist for creative trafficking? Our post Year-End Creative Ops Audit: Templates, File Policies, and Approval SLAs goes into detail on file handoff and tag validation.

Working Sizmek Tag Templates: Just Replace the Values

Standard Sizmek JS Tag with GAM Macros

<script type="text/javascript"
        src="https://bs.serving-sys.com/Serving/adServer.bs?cn=display&placementId=YOUR_PLACEMENT_ID&ord=%%CACHEBUSTER%%&c=%%CLICK_URL_UNESC%%">
</script>
<noscript>
  <a href="%%CLICK_URL_UNESC%%https://bs.serving-sys.com/Serving/adServer.bs?cn=brd&FlightID=YOUR_FLIGHT_ID&Page=&PluID=0&Pos=YOUR_POSITION"
     target="_blank">
    <img src="https://bs.serving-sys.com/Serving/adServer.bs?cn=bsr&FlightID=YOUR_FLIGHT_ID&Page=&PluID=0&Pos=YOUR_POSITION&ord=%%CACHEBUSTER%%"
         width="WIDTH"
         height="HEIGHT"
         border="0"
         alt="Advertisement">
  </a>
</noscript>

Sizmek Image Tag for HTML-Only Systems

<a href="[CLICK_MACRO]http://bs.serving-sys.com/BurstingPipe/adServer.bs?cn=brd&FlightID=YOUR_FLIGHT_ID&Page=&PluID=0&Pos=YOUR_POSITION"
   target="_blank">
  <img src="http://bs.serving-sys.com/BurstingPipe/adServer.bs?cn=bsr&FlightID=YOUR_FLIGHT_ID&Page=&PluID=0&Pos=YOUR_POSITION&ord=[CACHEBUSTER]"
       width="WIDTH"
       height="HEIGHT"
       border="0"
       alt="Advertisement">
</a>

Only change values in ALL CAPS, and confirm the exact macro names for your host platform.

Checklist: Have You QA’d Your Sizmek Tag?

Tag uses bs.serving-sys.com with all required parameters filled.
Cachebuster (or timestamp macro) is present.
Click macro (if needed) is at the start of the click URL.
Width and height match your creative asset exactly.
You’ve previewed and tested in Sizmek and in every platform where you’ll launch.

Why This All Matters for Multi-Size Ad Ops Teams

In a world where display campaigns run across every major ad network and publisher, the only way to scale is to trust both your creative asset workflow and your tag templates. At SizeIM, we designed our platform specifically so agencies, marketers, and designers never have to choose between speed and reliability when it comes to tags and trafficking. With one master layout, you get all your IAB sizes, organized, ready for tagging and export, and easily mapped to placements without stress. Less hassle, more campaigns shipped—this is why we do what we do.

Further Resources & Next Steps

If you want more technical checks or troubleshooting steps for third-party and Sizmek tags, we recommend checking out our detailed guides:

Ready to Streamline Multi-Size Creative and Tagging?

If you’re tired of manual resizing, version control headaches, or spending late nights re-QA’ing tags and assets, we’ve built SizeIM to help you. Our goal: enable agencies and marketers to deliver all their creative (in every required size) faster, with complete brand consistency, and with working tags from day one—freeing you to do what actually moves the needle for your clients.

Explore how you can design once, generate every size, and trust every tag is ready for Sizmek or any ad network at SizeIM.