Google Ads display banner sizes

Most people are familiar with banners on various news sites. Some like them, while others dislike them. The banners you see may sometimes be specifically targeted at you (and people similar to you), while at other times, they are sent out more broadly. Banners have been around as long as the commercial internet itself, but they are no longer as disruptive as they were in the 1990s and 2000s, when they often flashed, beeped and sometimes appeared as pop-ups.

Fortunately, those days are over, and there are now stricter requirements to ensure your banners are not disruptive, such as using flashing effects, pop-ups, etc.

Regardless of your opinion on banners, banner advertising can be highly effective when you want to create awareness and drive sales for your product or services. In this article, you will learn about the different display banner sizes offered by Google. Additionally, you will get a brief introduction to some of the targeting methods available when displaying your new display banners.

One of the most widely used programmes for banner advertising is the Google Display Network, which you manage via Google Ads. There are numerous display banner sizes available – Google has chosen to support the most common industry-standard sizes. By adhering to Google’s display banner sizes, you cover a wide area – including across other networks.

Google’s display banner sizes are standardised worldwide. In some countries, however, there are additional sizes that are only regionally available. In this overview, we focus on banners available globally on Google’s Display Network.

Further down this page, you will find a comprehensive list of all available Google display banner sizes. Click here to go directly to the full overview.

If you prefer to create only a few banners, choose the banner sizes that typically perform best here.

Different shapes of banner ads

The various Google display banner sizes can generally be divided into four categories:

Square and rectangle
Banners shaped like small boxes

Skyscraper
Skyscrapers are banners that are tall and narrow. Yes, you guessed it – like a skyscraper.

Leaderboard
Leaderboard banners are wide and not very tall

Mobile
Mobile banners are small banners and are now used less frequently as mobile screens have become larger

NB: The shape may vary slightly depending on the chosen size.

We generally recommend using all sizes, as this increases your chances of achieving as many relevant impressions as possible. Which of the above categories you choose is ultimately up to you and the graphic style you prefer. The sizes displayed on different websites are determined by each website. However, special mobile banners are rarely used now, as most sites have become responsive.

All banners can be created with or without animation (movement). Some users find animated banners particularly distracting, so consider this carefully if you choose to use them. Whether you opt for animated or static ads, there are certain requirements that must be met. You can read the requirements for display ads here.

Overview of display banner sizes

Create the banner sizes that typically perform well

If you have limited resources for creating banner ads, you can choose to make fewer variants. However, the banner sizes that convert best may vary, so we recommend creating as many of the available sizes as possible. There may be various reasons for opting for fewer variants, and in such cases, we typically recommend starting with the sizes below to achieve the best possible results.

Please note that if you only want to advertise on certain selected sites, the sizes must fit their design. So if you only want your ads to appear on a few media outlets, feel free to ask us which sizes are available on each site before you get started.

Requirements for your display banners

There are a few requirements from Google that your banners must meet to be approved. Below, you will find the requirements for both animated and non-animated banner ads.

Who should see your banners (and who shouldn’t)

Once you have created your banners (or had someone do it for you), you need to decide who should see your new banners. With Google Ads display banners, you have several options for targeting your banners. You can also combine several of the targeting methods below. This way, your banners may be shown less often, but you can be very specific about who sees your banner ads.

When targeting as below, be careful not to be too specific, as this may result in your banners not being displayed at all. Conversely, there are many pitfalls that can cause your ads to appear in inappropriate places, so you need to stay focused and remember that it often requires substantial experience to display your banner ads effectively.
On the other hand, avoid being too unspecific, as your ads could be shown to too many people, risking burning through your marketing budget.

Remarketing

Remarketing allows you to show your banners to previous visitors of your site. You can choose to show ads to everyone who has visited your site, or you can be more specific and only display ads to users who have visited a particular page or performed a specific action (e.g. a purchase). Of course, you can also do the opposite and show ads to everyone except those who have visited a certain page or completed a purchase.

The possibilities are almost endless. However, you must have at least 200 people on your remarketing list before you can send targeted banner ads. This is to ensure that visitors cannot be identified, in accordance with Google’s guidelines.

Selected sites/apps

With banner advertising on selected sites, you can choose to show ads only on the websites you have selected. These might be specific news sites whose audience matches your target group. For example, you could choose to display ads only on the website of a particular financial newspaper. If you combine this option with other targeting methods, you can also specify that your ads are shown everywhere except on certain sites that are not compatible with your brand’s values.

A good way to save money on banner advertising is to exclude ads in mobile apps. If your banner ads appear in mobile apps, you risk many accidental clicks. Unless you specifically want to advertise in mobile apps, we recommend excluding these. Read here to learn how to exclude ads on mobile apps.

Keywords

If you do not know all the sites you would like to appear on, but would like to be shown on sites containing content relevant to you, you can choose to display on pages where your keywords are present. This way, your ads can be shown on pages with information relevant to your product. You can also choose negative keywords to ensure your ads are displayed unless a specific negative keyword appears on the page.

Interests and topics

You can choose to advertise to people with specific interests and on pages covering certain topics. For example, if you run a pet shop and want to appear on pages for “animal lovers” or more specifically “dog lovers” when advertising your new dog food product. The depth of interests and topics varies greatly from category to category, and it is not always easy to find something that exactly matches your products.

Demographics

With the option to target your banners by demographic, you can refine your targeting very specifically. Google does not know with certainty whether a user is male or female or their exact age. However, you can choose who your banner ads should be shown to in the following categories: Gender, Age, and Parental Status.

Read more about how WeMarket can help you with Google Ads advertising or developing a consistent communication strategy.