Your website may look fantastic with a 970×250 banner ad, but it may not be the best size for monetization. Optimizing ad unit sizes based on advertising demand can be a quick and easy way to increase yield.
Focus on high demand ad sizes
Buy-side partners pay for ad space that meets the needs of their buyers’ creative assets. Buyers decide which ad unit sizes to build assets for by assessing where there is healthy inventory for fill. What this means is that when an ad unit size is less common, for example a 970×250 ad, there will generally be less demand for it, and potentially lost revenue. Optimizing the ad unit sizes on your site with ones that are in high demand is a simple way to open up your site to all of the demand available.
See Figure 1 for the most common ad sizes in Sortable’s network for desktop web traffic. While you may get a higher CPM for an ad that is 970×90, the fill rate could be far lower, which could result in less revenue.
Figure 1
Update ad sizes and layout combinations
With the screen real estate available on desktops, there are numerous different ad layout combinations to choose from. Individual analysis and consultation are needed on a site-by-site basis in order to optimize yield.
For mobile web ad sizes and layouts, choices are more limited with the smaller amount of screen space. See Figure 2 for a comparison of the two main ad sizes by impression volume, 300×250 and 320×50.
Figure 2
The 300×250 ad unit size has been around since long before mobile browsing started. When the mobile revolution began, there was already an abundance of 300×250 ad demand available. This created a self-fulfilling cycle” publishers converge on certain ad sizes. This causes advertisers to create more ads for that ad size, which increases the available demand for that ad size.
Equally important to ad sizes on mobile is the layout of the ad placements. With the screen sizes of desktop and mobile, there is a fairly defined set of ad layouts that are possible. We recommend against placing a 320×50 ad at the top of the page (A). Data clearly indicates that this ad slot is very rarely viewable. Users often immediately start scrolling down the page to read content. By the time the ad slot has loaded, the ad is out of view.
Adhering to Google’s guidance on above the fold (ATF) on mobile, the most profitable display configuration on mobile is a 300×250 ad. This ad is placed within the body content, so that it is 50% viewable above the fold (B).
When determining which ad size to display, the answer isn’t always as simple as putting in the largest size that will fit. Using a size that is not very popular could negatively impact CPM or fill rate. Optimizing for ad size is key to maximizing your revenue.
Sortable’s ad ops experts are available to consult on the best possible ad size and which locations would be most likely to boost your revenue. In addition, Sortable’s analytics platform allows you to perform tests to determine the best layout to maximize your profits.
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