Ad Sizes for Web

Ad sizes for web pages are set by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). Due to the nature of the business, the standards are often updated and old ones retired.

Web Ad Dimensions Standards

Note: all the measurements are in pixels.

The core standard ad units 300 x 250 IMU – (medium rectangle), 180 x 150 IMU – (rectangle), 728 x 90 IMU – (leaderboard) and 160 x 600 IMU – (wide skyscraper). Also part of the standards are 300 x 600 IMU – (half page ad), 120 x 60 IMU – (button 2) and 88 x 31 IMU – (micro bar).

The recommended maximum file weight for the medium rectangle, rectangle, leaderboard and wide skyscraper is 40 kilobytes. For the micro bar it is 10 k; for button 2 it is 20 k. The ideal animation length is 15 seconds maximum. This is regardless of the ad sizes used for web pages.

Retired Ad Unit Specifications

The following are no longer widely used by advertisers. 20 x 600 IMU – (skyscraper), 250 x 250 IMU – (square pop-up), 125 x 125 IMU – (square button), 240 x 400 IMU – (vertical rectangle), 120 x 240 IMU – (vertical banner), 336 x 280 IMU – (large rectangle), 120 x 90 IMU – (button 1) and 300×100 IMU – (3:1 rectangle). The 468 x 60 IMU – (full banner) and 20×300 IMU – (pop-under) are no longer used also.

Purpose

These advertisements are meant to do more than just grab your attention. Ads can be used for enhancing customer service or creating a following in social media. Many companies use ads to improve sales. To judge its efficiency, these firms establish a target sales number. Ads can also be used to foster brand loyalty or boost traffic to their website.

Target Audience

Internet advertisements focus on the target audience. Advertisements may target specific genders, age brackets and so on. Through ads, companies try to communicate with their target audience. By using them properly, their product’s benefits will be carried across. Well made ads will try to get a single point across. Trying to get too many points across, the reader will get confused. That is also the reason why selecting a target audience is a must.

Ad sizes for web pages are carefully thought out by companies. They have to strike a balance between catching a reader’s attention and turning them off. Because Internet connections differ, the dimensions and file size are crucial.