One of the most common questions newbies ask after signing up for Google AdSense is: What are the best performing Google AdSense banner sizes? Some Google AdSense ad formats are more visible, which means they get more clicks and generate more revenue. In this tutorial, we'll show you the most effective Google AdSense banner sizes and formats, and where to place them for the best results.
How to correctly set up Google AdSense ads on WordPress?
Before starting, you must create an account Google AdSense. Once you've signed up, check out our guide to How to correctly add Google AdSense in WordPress.
By default, you can easily place AdSense ads on the sidebar of your website. Some WordPress themes may also have dedicated areas for displaying ads.
However, the best way to manage your Google AdSense ads on WordPress is to use an ad management plugin. We recommend that you use AdSanity, it is very easy to use and allows you to easily insert ads into iframes, publish content anywhere else.
Why do some Google AdSense banner sizes and formats work better?
Google AdSense comes with several banner sizes and ad formats that you can add to your website. However, not all of them produce the same level of results.
Ads that are closer to the content and easily visible on page load generate a higher CTR (click-through rate). You need to make sure that you choose the size of the ad that is easily noticeable. Some Google AdSense ad sizes are too small, and some may be too large to affect user experience.
Next, the factor that affects the performance of ads on your website is the number of advertisers that serve ads for that format. Some ad formats and banners are more popular among advertisers, which means using them allows you to get more inventory and higher paying ads.
Finally, some ad formats are optimized for mobile devices. If mobile users get the most out of your traffic, these ads will perform better on your website than other sizes.
The best performance of Google AdSense formats and banners
Most website owners try different sizes of banners to determine which formats work best for their websites. Google AdSense engineers also run their own tests to see how ads appear on participating websites.
We have done several tests with Google AdSense over the years on our own websites. Below are the best performing Google AdSense banner sizes and the most profitable ad formats for your real estate listings.
1. The average rectangle (300 × 250)
This ad format supports both display and text ads. It can also be used on mobile layouts. The best part about this ad size is that it's easy to fit it on the sidebar or in the content area without getting in the way of users.
This is the reason why this ad format generates a larger ad inventory, which translates into more and better paying ads for your site. Since it is perfectly sized for in-content ads, it is also reported to have the best click-through rate for most websites.
2. Large rectangle (336 × 280)
The large rectangle takes second place on our list. It's bigger and more noticeable than the medium rectangle ad above, but it can't fit into all of the site's sidebars and isn't optimized for mobile.
If your website's sidebar or content area is a bit narrow, the ad may overwhelm the content, which is not good for the user experience.
That being said, the large rectangle could easily outperform the medium rectangle on your website if placed in the content area between paragraphs. It supports both text and text ads.
Due to its size and convenient location next to content, this ad size also benefits from better ad inventory.
3. The ranking (728 × 90)
The leaderboard is a traditional banner ad size that is perfect for the website header. It supports both text and image ad formats, but does not support mobile ads.
Its ideal location to place it is at the top (inside or immediately after the site header), it gets more ads which means better ads for your website. Due to its size and prime location, it works quite well on most websites.
4. Half-page aka tall skyscraper (300 × 600)
The large skyscraper is a large vertical banner also known as a half page because of its size. It attracts the attention of advertisers who want more advertising space to effectively communicate their articles when targeting.
It is becoming more and more popular among publishers as it tends to give brands more exposure, which means higher paying advertisements.
You can place the large skyscraper in the sidebar or next to the content. However, due to its size, it may not be suitable for all websites.
5. Large mobile banner (320 × 100)
A large mobile banner is a mobile ad format, and it is equivalent to the ranking ad format in terms of effectiveness, but for mobile devices. Ideally, it works best when placed on top just below the header.
Since mobile traffic makes up a good portion of users for most websites, this ad format gets better ad inventory.
It can be placed as a less intrusive ad and as an alternative to the medium rectangle ad format.
6. Mobile ranking (320 × 50)
The ranking of mobile devices is half that of the large mobile banners. It is slightly less effective but also less intrusive and offers an even better advertising experience on smaller mobile devices.
Mobile ads are popular with advertisers, which means ad inventory is large. With proper placement, it can work very well with your mobile traffic.
7. Wide Skyscraper (160 × 600)
The Wide Skyscraper is a vertical advertising banner designed specifically for narrow sidebars. It supports text ad formats and is popular among advertisers.
It's a less intrusive advertising option and can easily blend into your website design. However, it is less effective than the larger half-page banners, which tends to draw more users' attention to the ads.
8. Portrait (300 × 1050)
Portrait is a slightly wider and longer vertical banner. Due to its size, this ad format appeals to brand-centric advertisers who want more ad space for their items.
It's conveniently placed next to the content or in the sidebar, where it's most visible when your users are analyzing the content on your page. The tricky part is implementing it without affecting the user experience on your website.
9. The display panel (970 × 250)
Billboard is another brand-centric ad format. This is a large horizontal banner that can ideally be placed at the top or bottom of your pages. It tends to get better ads because of the space it offers advertisers, but it has less ad inventory.
According to the content and keywords of your website, it could be a hit or a miss if it doesn't attract enough ads for your website.
10. The square (250 × 250)
In general, larger ads are considered more visible. However, not all websites are created equal. If you use a WordPress theme minimalist, then this small square ad format could fit perfectly into your layout and still be noticeable.
The downside is that it has a smaller ad inventory which could result in low paying ads. However, if your website is in a competitive industry then it can perform very well without affecting the user experience.
