People don’t visit the websites to view ads, they come for the content. So, the greatest thing to remember is, an ad should not look like an ad. Another thing to remember is that the ad block should have no border.
Text Ads
Google’s text ads are the most popular and also most effective ad type. These are available in various sizes:
(For details you can visit the google site at the following link: www.google.com/ adsense/adformats)
- Leaderboard (728 x 90) – View sample placements
- Banner (468 x 60) – View sample placements
- Half Banner (234×60)
- Button (125×125)
- Skyscraper (120×600) – View sample placements
- Wide Skyscraper (160×600) – View sample placements
- Small Rectangle (180×150)
- Vertical Banner (120 x 240)
- Small Square (200 x 200)
- Square (250 x 250)
- Medium Rectangle (300 x 250) – View sample placements
- Large Rectangle (336 x 280) – View sample placements
Although you are free to experiment with different ad formats, here in this article, we will discuss only the most popular and the most effective ad formats.
Leaderboard
Leaderboard is most popular ad format. It is most effective when blended into the top of the page, just beneath the navigation bar.
In the forums, it can be placed between the forum entries.
It should be avoided at the bottom of the page, unless you are sure that people are going to go up to there.
Banner
This size is the traditional banner ad and visitors are very much familiar with this ad format and tend to avoid it. If you want to use it, the best way will be to use it inside the content surrounded by the text. The banner should have no borders.
Half Banner
Half banner should be used inside the content surrounded by the text. It is also best used at the end of the blog entries.
Large Rectangle (336 x 280)
Use at the beginning of the article. Preferably the text should be wrapped around the box. This is the most effective size.
Medium rectangle (300 x 250)
This is the next best rectangle size after 300 x 280. Use this at the beginning of an article with text wrapped around. You can have two sets of these boxes side by side and it fits on most of the web pages beautifully.
Button (125 x 125)
These can be used inside the content area wrapped around by text and are best suited for the side bars. It blends well with the widgets in the side bar.
Wide skyscraper (160 x 600)
It is most suitable for the right bar. For example placements see below:
The image Ads
The greatest disadvantage of the image ads is that they look like ads and visitors tend to ignore them. Text ads should always be given preference.
You can checkout the details about image ads at the Googles website: https://www.google.com/adsense/static/en_US/AdFormats.html#image
Video ads
You can get video ads on your website if you have opted in to receive image ads on an ad unit in one of the following sized:
- Medium rectangle (300 x 250)
- Large rectangle (300 x 280)
- Square ( 250 x 250)
- small square ( 200 x 200)
- Leaderboard ( 728 x 90)
- skyscraper ( 120 x 600)
- Wide skyscraper (160 x 600)
There is no guarantee that you will get a video ad, it depends upon if AdSense has a video ad matching to your content. Video ads have been found to have very good conversion rate.
If you are getting video ads place them in the side bar or in the content area above the fold, so that they blend with the site content.
Link Units
Link units are very small but if used correctly, they can be very effective. Two clicks are required for you to get paid. First user clicks on the link and then he is taken to the ads page. If user clicks on any of the ads only then you will get paid.
How link units are different from other ad blocks?
Link units display only a list of topics that google code believes is relevant to the content of the page. When the visitor clicks on any of the links, a new window pops up that displays the ads.
Size of link units
Vertical link units are available in sizes ranging from 20 x 90 to 200 x 90.
Horizontal Link units
Placement of link units
Vertical link units are best placed in the sidebar. Horizontal units can be a great alternative to the leaderboard. They can also be placed between different blog entries.
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