Google Ad Sizes: Which Google Display Ad Size You Should Use (and Why It Matters)

Getting your Google Ads image sizes just right is not an easy task.

While popular paid ad platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn have (mostly) dedicated sizes and aspect ratios, Google display ads vary significantly.

Failure to understand these variables will inevitably result in wasted time, effort, and ad budget. Thankfully, there are resources like this article that can help you get up to speed faster.

Below, we'll dive into the recommended Google display ad sizes for both desktop and mobile, so that you can better optimize your campaigns for a better ROI.

Why Do Google Ads Sizes Vary?

Google Ads run through the Google Display Network.

Whenever a website opts in to allow ads on their website, they get to choose what types of display ads they want to appear. Depending on the site layout and UI, the ad image size needed is unpredictable.

What makes preparing your ad campaigns more challenging is the sheer number of image sizes that Google Ads supports. If you quickly scan through this Google AdSense guide, you can gain a better understanding of why so many marketers and brands struggle to make their display ad campaigns work effectively.

How Does This Impact My Google Display Ads Campaign?

To put it simply, using the same strategy from your paid social campaigns will prove ineffective for your Google display ad campaigns.

While those platforms allow you to get away with creating 2-3 ads, your team will need to do some additional work to give your Google Ads the best chance possible to appear before users.

It might seem intuitive to simply track statistics for the most commonly used Google Ads image sizes, you run the risk of limiting your reach. If you generate one ad size, you're left hoping that websites select that display ad type and that users will follow up with a high CTR (click-through rate). Guesswork and prayer are not reliable indicators of a successful ad campaign.

Furthermore, the overwhelming use of ad blockers on desktop computers can further negate the potential successes of any display ads you've cooked up.

Is Using Google Display Ads Still Effective for Marketers?

With all this said, the Google Ads display network remains one of the most important platforms for advertisers. The only website that comes close is Facebook thanks to its over 3 billion active users.

Google, on the other hand, dominates the entire world wide web as the number one search engine. According to a Statista study, Google possesses an 85% worldwide market share compared to its competitors. The only other competitor worth mentioning is Bing at just 7.61%, but the disparity in audience numbers is self-explanatory.

In other words, it's outright foolish to ignore the potential reach that Google provides to advertisers. We simply need to adjust our approach to ad campaigns when using the Google Display Network.

Instead of relying on one to two ad creatives, get in the habit of crafting and optimizing your ads to support at least 5 image sizes. This helps alleviate the potential of being overlooked and will help your ad get seen in a variety of different formats.

To get started, we should examine the top-performing and most commonly selected Google Display Ad sizes available.

The Top Google Ads Image Sizes for 2022

To help us make an informed decision about which ad sizes to use, we're going to trust Google's direct recommendations.

The Medium Rectangle Ad

The medium rectangle ad is the #1 highest performing size available according to Google.

The exact dimensions are 300 pixels x 250 pixels. This sizing is fairly small, which allows website owners to place your ad in a variety of different places on the page. Google recommends placing this ad within the body of the text or at the end of the article for the greatest impact.

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It offers just enough space to provide a powerful image, a company logo, and a quick CTA to grab the user's attention while they enjoy the page content.

This can be used for text, display, and mobile ads, making it a go-to choice for anyone advertising on the Google Display Network.

The Large Rectangle Ad

Fairly comparable to the first ad, the large rectangle is exactly 336 pixels x 280 pixels. It's just barely larger and offers slightly more breathing room for the text and image.

The drawback is that this is not an ad that's supported on mobile devices. Grabbing the mobile audience is vital as nearly 55% of all web search traffic comes via such technology. Despite this, the 336x280 display ad / responsive ad ranks as the #2 performer for advertisers.

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The limitations, however, illustrate our argument as to why you should rely on multiple ad sizes to ensure an optimal ROI.

The Leaderboard Ad

The leaderboardā  is a very wide ad with minimal height. The exact dimensions are 728 pixels by 90 pixels making it optimal to place above the core content at the top of the page. You're likely accustomed to seeing this type of banner auto-populate at the top of articles or on website forums.

Due to the sizing, this is another Google display ad size that's limited to desktops only. However, when selected, your brand can have access to a significant portion of the page, while being one of the first things the user sees.

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The Half Page Ad

This is a meatier ad size, offering similar width to the first two ad sizes, but also offering significantly more height. The exact dimensions for a half-page ad are 300 pixels by 600 pixels.

While this again does not offer mobile support, the sheer real estate is unmatched on desktop devices. Google also purports that the half-page ad is quickly becoming a top performer when it comes to overall impressions.

If you've drawn up some excellent creative ideas and need more room to get your message across, this banner is the right one for you.

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The Large Mobile Banner

Finally, at Google's #5 ranking, we have the large mobile banner that's hugely popular for gaining mobile clicks.

This is Google's recommended option out of its top two performing mobile banners with a size of exactly 320 pixels by 100 pixels.

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The alternative banner is the “mobile leaderboard,” but offers half the height at 320 pixels by 50 pixels. The additional height offers advertisers a little more breathing room on smaller screens without negatively impacting the user experience.

Alternative Display Ad Sizes

Aside from these top 5 recommendations from Google, there exists an additional 20+ supported image sizes that vary greatly in use cases.

Other popular ad types include the standard “banner,” “vertical banner,” and “billboard.” For those operating or advertising outside of the United States, Google offers region-specific ad sizes that trend toward popular demand in those regions.

We strongly recommend reviewing the source courtesy of Google to learn more about the ad sizes you should use in these niche cases.

Google Display Ad Image File Types and File Sizes

In addition to the supported ad image sizes, Google also provides strict guidelines for usable file types and image file sizes for static ads.

For all of the ad sizes discussed above (as well as the additional sizes in the linked resource), Google supports the following file types:

• JPG
• PNG
• GIF

Furthermore, all image files must not exceed 150 KB. Do your best to keep this in mind, especially when preparing images with slightly larger resolutions.

For animated GIF ads, the loop cannot be longer than 30 seconds and cannot exceed 5 FPS.

HTML5 Google Display Ads

Certain users may be eligible to submit and utilize HTML5 ads for their Google Ads campaigns.

HTML5 Ads are created by using Google Web Designer and offer advertisers the ability to create more engaging, dynamic creatives to serve users. You can learn more about how to gain access to HTML5 ads courtesy of Google's help article here.

Regarding file size requirements, these are the same for HTML5 ads as they are for static images. For the file type, it's recommended to upload a ZIP file containing HTML. However, you may also utilize CSS, JS, GIF, PNG, JPG, JPEG, and SVG file types.

Choosing the Right Google Ad Size

There is no definitive answer as to which Google Ad size is bestā  for your campaign needs. Unlike other paid ad platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, Google offers more variability that can make your pathway to success a little more complicated.

However, this same variability can also offer brands more pathways for advertising in more locations if they're up to the task. The answer is to simply optimize your latest campaign with enough creative ad sizes to support a variety of different page placements. Sticking with Google's top 5 performing ad sizes is a great place to start.

Likewise, if you're looking to capitalize more heavily on the mobile market, you may want to stick to ad sizes that cater more to mobile screens. This would include ad types like the large mobile banner and the mobile leaderboard. Though, utilizing a variety of sizes for different platforms is best for extending your reach.

In addition to staying up-to-date with Google's latest recommendations, a good advertiser should always A/B test their creatives to see which perform best with your campaign. Thorough analysis may illuminate troubles with the ad size itself or may point to issues with the creative regardless of the chosen ad type.

It's best practice to find opportunities to sprinkle in a variety of ad sizes to see what types of results you can obtain. At the end of the day, a quality ad will generally perform well regardless of the supported size that you choose.