A display ad—also known as a visual ad or banner ad—is an image or picture. When you create display ads in our system, you describe your product or service and create categories that we use to reach your intended audience, such as who they are and what they like. Display ads appear on websites, apps, and blogs that are relevant to your product or service based on the categories you choose.
Display ads come in many sizes, but the five most commonly used sizes are (if you can't see these, try turning off your ad blocker 😁):
Medium Rectangle (300×250)
Large Rectangle (336×280)
Leaderboard (728×90)
Half Page (300×600)
Large Mobile Banner (320×100)
Here are additional ad sizes we can serve:
250 x 250 – Square (social size)
200 x 200 – Small Square (social size)
1200 x 1200 - Large Square (social size)
468 x 60 – Banner
728 x 90 – Leaderboard
300 x 250 – Inline Rectangle
336 x 280 – Large Rectangle
120 x 600 – Skyscraper
160 x 600 – Wide Skyscraper
300 x 600 – Half-Page Ad
970 x 90 – Large Leaderboard
320 x 50 – Mobile Leaderboard (not show on desktop/tablet)
Websites tend to reserve space for the most common sizes, so those are easier to sell.
Having a broad set of creative sizes allows your ads to be served across a wide selection of inventory.
The following file types are accepted: JPG, PNG, GIF.
Recommended file size for JPG and PNG: 750 KB.
Maximum GIF file size: 3.5 MB.
Best Practices: Display Ads
Display ads can come in many different shapes and sizes, however there are a handful of best performers across the board and your campaign should consist of a few of those best performing sizes. Those are listed in our help center - just search “display ads”. For the ads themselves, make sure you don’t have too much text, conveying your idea with as few words as possible. Add your logo if you have one, and provide a clear call to action for the user like “discover more” or “sign up now”. Last but not least, an easy to read font, and enticing imagery will go far in reaching your goal.
What makes for a good display ad?
Generally, we find that less is more when it comes to display ads. Eye-catching images with limited text and a clear call to action (like 'Shop Now', or 'Learn More') are typically the most successful. Display ads should reflect the product or service. A dynamic ad might increase curiosity and entice people to click, but if they visit your website and it isn’t what they were looking for, you will end up paying for clicks that don’t bring you business.
Which is better: search or display?
Both have advantages! If your product or service is easily searched for (e.g., “physical therapy” or “coffee shop near me”), then a search ad is a good place to start. Display ads are more eye-catching, and are useful for cultivating awareness of a brand or new product.
We recommend using search and display together in different proportions, depending on campaign goals. If you are running an awareness campaign that is mostly display, having a small search campaign helps people who may have seen the ad but not converted find the product again. If you are running a search campaign, having a small display campaign that is sent to people who visited the website but did not convert is helpful in bringing them back to close the deal.