Published by November 10, 2025 · Reading time 27 minutes · Created by Lix.so
In the world of digital advertising, size isn't just a detail; it's the foundation of performance. Selecting the correct display ad size is a critical first step that directly impacts visibility, click-through rates, and your campaign's return on investment. With dozens of potential dimensions across countless platforms, a single misstep in specs can render a brilliant creative completely ineffective. This is especially true when juggling requirements for the Google Display Network, programmatic buys, and various social media placements.
This guide eliminates the guesswork. We've compiled a definitive roundup of the most effective and widely used ad dimensions you need to master. Forget sifting through outdated spec sheets or vague recommendations. Here, you'll find a comprehensive breakdown of each key display ad size, including:
Think of this as your go-to technical manual for building high-performing display campaigns. We'll cover everything from the ubiquitous Medium Rectangle (300x250) to mobile-first banners and immersive interstitial units. By understanding the specific role and technical demands of each format, you can ensure your creative assets are optimized for maximum impact, every single time. Let's dive into the essential dimensions that will define your campaign's success.
The 728x90 Leaderboard is a foundational display ad size and one of the most persistent formats in digital advertising. As an IAB standard, this wide, horizontal banner is universally recognized and supported across the Google Display Network, programmatic platforms, and countless publisher websites. Its enduring popularity stems from its prominent placement, typically appearing at the very top of a webpage, immediately above the main content.
This "above-the-fold" positioning guarantees high viewability, as the ad loads before a user begins to scroll. It’s a workhorse for brand awareness campaigns, as its expansive width provides ample canvas for logos, compelling imagery, and a clear call-to-action (CTA). News outlets like The New York Times and major portals frequently use this slot for premium ad inventory due to its guaranteed visibility.
The Leaderboard is ideal for top-of-funnel marketing objectives where the primary goal is capturing immediate attention. Its horizontal layout is perfect for showcasing product lines, announcing promotions, or establishing brand identity with a strong visual and concise headline. Because it’s often the first ad a user sees on a page, it sets the tone for their session.
To maximize the impact of this classic display ad size, follow these guidelines:
The 300x250 Medium Rectangle is arguably the most valuable and highest-performing display ad size in the digital advertising ecosystem. Its versatile, near-square dimensions make it a powerhouse for both direct response and brand awareness campaigns. As an IAB-standard unit, it's one of the most widely available and requested ad slots across the Google Display Network, programmatic exchanges, and publisher-direct buys, often commanding premium pricing due to its exceptional performance.

This format thrives when embedded within or alongside main page content, such as in the middle of an article or in a sidebar. This placement allows it to appear naturally within the user's flow, increasing the likelihood of engagement. Major content publishers like Forbes and financial news sites like Bloomberg frequently integrate this unit directly into their editorial content, making it a staple for advertisers aiming for contextual relevance and high click-through rates.
The Medium Rectangle's balanced shape provides an excellent canvas for compelling creative without being overly intrusive. It's large enough to accommodate high-quality images, video, text, and a prominent call-to-action (CTA), making it extremely effective for lower-funnel objectives like lead generation and sales. Its consistent performance across both desktop and mobile devices makes it the most reliable workhorse in any display campaign. For a deeper dive into creative strategies that resonate with audiences, you can explore some Facebook ads creative management best practices for inspiration.
To leverage the full potential of this top-performing display ad size, adhere to these guidelines:
The 160x600 Wide Skyscraper is a classic vertical display ad size designed to fit neatly into the sidebars of webpages. As one of the original IAB standard formats, it gained prominence during the era of sidebar-heavy web design and remains a staple in the digital advertising ecosystem. Its tall, narrow orientation allows it to remain on-screen as a user scrolls down the page, providing extended visibility.
This "sticky" potential makes it valuable for keeping a brand or message in the user's peripheral vision. You'll often find this format on content-rich sites like news portals (e.g., CNN, BBC) and blogs, where it runs alongside the main article text without interrupting the reading experience. For e-commerce sites, it can effectively showcase products or promotions on category and product detail pages.
The Wide Skyscraper is particularly effective for campaigns that benefit from sustained exposure. Its vertical canvas is well-suited for storytelling, showcasing multiple products in a stack, or presenting a message that unfolds as the user scrolls. It's a strong choice for consideration-stage campaigns where the goal is to reinforce a message or drive traffic to a specific landing page.
To leverage the unique dimensions of this display ad size, consider these best practices:
The 300x600 Half Page is a dominant and high-impact display ad size that offers significantly more creative real estate than its smaller rectangular counterparts. Initially championed by the IAB's "Rising Stars" initiative, this large vertical format has become a premium staple for publishers and a favorite for advertisers seeking to tell a richer visual story. Its substantial size commands user attention, often occupying a significant portion of the viewable screen alongside editorial content.
This format performs exceptionally well for engagement and brand recall metrics because it cannot be easily ignored. You’ll often find it embedded within articles on premium news sites like Vox or running alongside product listings on major e-commerce category pages, where its size allows for more detailed product showcases or lifestyle imagery.

The Half Page is ideal for brand-centric campaigns and performance goals where visual storytelling is key. Its vertical canvas is perfectly suited for showcasing fashion, automotive, or travel imagery, as well as for integrating video or interactive elements that draw users in. Because of its large size and high viewability rates, it commands higher CPMs but often delivers a stronger return on ad spend through increased engagement and conversion rates.
To leverage the full potential of this powerful display ad size, implement these best practices:
The 320x50 Mobile Banner is the quintessential display ad size for the mobile-first era. As an IAB standard, this compact, horizontal format is the workhorse of in-app and mobile web advertising, designed to deliver a brand message without disrupting the user experience on smaller screens. Its ubiquity is a direct result of the explosion in mobile traffic, making it an essential component of nearly every modern digital campaign.
This ad unit is typically anchored to the top or bottom of the mobile viewport, often referred to as a "sticky" or "anchor" ad. This placement ensures it remains visible as the user scrolls through content, maximizing impressions and viewability. You'll commonly see this format in mobile news apps like Apple News, social media feeds, and countless free-to-play mobile games where it serves as a primary monetization method.

The Mobile Banner excels at driving brand awareness and consistent messaging to a massive mobile audience. Its small footprint makes it less intrusive than interstitial or pop-up ads, leading to lower user frustration. This format is ideal for campaigns with simple, direct objectives, such as driving app installs, promoting a limited-time offer, or maintaining top-of-mind brand presence with users on the go.
Given its small canvas, every pixel counts. To create an effective 320x50 ad, adhere to these mobile-specific guidelines:
The 336x280 Large Rectangle is a high-impact display ad size that offers a slight but significant upgrade over its smaller counterpart, the Medium Rectangle. This IAB standard ad unit provides advertisers with more creative real estate, making it a preferred choice for premium publishers and performance-focused campaigns. It commonly appears embedded within content, often at the end of articles or in sidebars.
This format strikes an excellent balance between visibility and page integration. It’s large enough to capture user attention without being overly intrusive, a quality that makes it valuable for programmatic guaranteed deals on high-traffic content sites. Its performance is often strong because it provides just enough extra space for more compelling visuals or an expanded message, leading to higher engagement rates.
The Large Rectangle is ideal for campaigns where both branding and direct response are key objectives. The additional 36 pixels of width (compared to the 300x250) can be used to add more product details, a stronger value proposition, or more visually engaging elements. This makes it a powerful format for rich media ads and interactive content that benefits from the expanded canvas.
To get the most out of this versatile display ad size, implement these best practices:
The 120x600 Vertical Rectangle, often called the original Skyscraper, is a tall and narrow display ad size that fits neatly into website sidebars. As an early IAB standard, it offered a vertical alternative to horizontal banners, allowing advertisers to remain visible as users scrolled down a page. While its wider cousin, the 160x600, has become more common, this slender format remains a viable option for publishers with tighter layouts.
Its primary advantage is its compact footprint, making it a go-to choice for content-heavy sites like forums, older news portals, and legacy blogs where sidebar space is at a premium. The ad’s persistent vertical presence alongside the main content provides a continuous opportunity for brand exposure, even if it offers less creative real estate than wider formats.
The Skyscraper is effective for maintaining brand visibility without being overly intrusive. Its height allows for a top-to-bottom message flow, ideal for simple branding campaigns, subscription offers, or lead-generation forms. It's a solid choice for retargeting campaigns where brand recall is more important than showcasing complex product imagery, as its slim profile keeps the brand in the user's peripheral vision.
To make this narrow display ad size work effectively, creatives must be designed with its unique constraints in mind:
The Interstitial, or Full-Page Ad, is a high-impact display ad size designed to capture a user's full attention. These ads appear during natural transition points in the user journey, such as between articles on a news site, before a level loads in a mobile game, or upon exiting a website. Unlike standard banners, interstitials cover the entire screen, demanding user interaction (either a click-through or a dismissal) before the desired content is revealed.
This format's adaptive nature means it is designed to fit various screen resolutions, making it particularly effective on mobile devices. Because of their intrusive nature, platforms like Google and the IAB have strict guidelines to ensure they don't create a negative user experience. When used correctly, they are exceptionally powerful for driving conversions or delivering a memorable brand message, commonly seen in mobile app campaigns and on content-heavy publisher sites.
Interstitials are best suited for high-priority marketing objectives where capturing undivided attention is critical. They excel at driving app installs, promoting significant sales events, or capturing email sign-ups via exit-intent popups. Their full-screen canvas allows for rich, immersive creative, including video, which can tell a more compelling story than a small banner. This format forces a decision, making it a powerful tool for bottom-of-funnel campaigns.
To leverage this powerful display ad size without frustrating users, adhere to these best practices:
The 970x250 Billboard is a premium, high-impact display ad size that commands attention at the top of a webpage. As a larger alternative to the traditional Leaderboard, this IAB "Rising Stars" format offers significantly more vertical space, transforming the top banner into a rich canvas for immersive brand storytelling. It’s almost always placed "above the fold," making it prime real estate on high-traffic publisher sites.
Due to its sheer size, the Billboard is often sold as premium inventory and is a favorite for major brand takeovers and high-budget campaigns. You'll frequently see it on the homepages of major news outlets like Reuters and sports websites during major events. Its expansive dimensions provide an excellent opportunity for advertisers to make a bold first impression without being overly intrusive.
The Billboard is perfectly suited for top-of-funnel brand awareness and high-impact product launches where creative excellence is paramount. Its wide, panoramic layout allows for stunning visuals, detailed product showcases, or even embedded video content. Use this format when your goal is to dominate the user's initial view and deliver a memorable, visually compelling message.
To make the most of this powerful display ad size, implement these strategies:
The Mobile Interstitial is a high-impact, full-screen display ad size designed specifically for mobile devices. Unlike traditional banners, it appears at natural transition points within an app or mobile website, such as between game levels, before a video loads, or after an article is completed. This format commands the user's full attention by temporarily taking over the entire screen, making it a powerful tool for driving conversions and engagement.
Because of its immersive nature, this format is a favorite on mobile game ad networks like AppLovin and Unity Ads and is frequently used by major news apps like ESPN and CNN during content transitions. Its effectiveness comes from its ability to deliver a rich, interactive ad experience without interrupting the core user flow, provided it is implemented thoughtfully at appropriate pauses in activity.
This format is ideal for performance-focused campaigns where the goal is a specific action, such as an app install, a sign-up, or watching a rewarded video. By eliminating other on-screen distractions, the Mobile Interstitial forces the user to engage with the ad's message, leading to significantly higher click-through and conversion rates compared to smaller mobile banner ads.
To leverage this powerful display ad size without alienating users, adhere to these best practices:
| Format | 🔄 Implementation complexity | ⚡ Resource requirements | ⭐ Expected outcome | 📊 Ideal use cases | 💡 Key advantages / tips |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leaderboard (728x90) | Low–Medium — simple horizontal placement | Low — small creative, standard assets | ⭐⭐⭐ — high visibility but lower CTR | Desktop headers, news sites, brand awareness | Place above the fold; keep file <40KB; use strong headline |
| Medium Rectangle (300x250) | Medium — common placement, supports rich media | Medium — larger creative, possible video | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — top-performing standard unit | In-content ads, high-engagement articles, conversions | Position near content; use bold imagery and clear CTA |
| Wide Skyscraper (160x600) | Medium — vertical integration in sidebars | Low–Medium — tall assets, simple interactions | ⭐⭐⭐ — good visibility on desktop sidebars | Sidebar product showcases, comparison pages | Stack messaging vertically; use contrast for visibility |
| Half Page Ad (300x600) | Medium–High — larger canvas, may need layout changes | High — richer creative, video/interactive possible | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ — strong engagement and brand recall | Premium content pages, storytelling, demos | Use progressive loading; build scrollable/interactive creatives |
| Mobile Banner (320x50) | Low — standardized mobile slot | Low — lightweight assets, fast load | ⭐⭐⭐ — broad reach but limited creative impact | Mobile apps/sites, app-install promos, high-inventory buys | Keep text minimal, high contrast, test on real devices |
| Large Rectangle (336x280) | Medium — similar to 300x250 with more space | Medium — larger image/creative needs | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ — strong performance, flexible use | Premium publishers, in-content rich-media ads | Leverage extra 36px for messaging; test variations |
| Vertical Rectangle / Skyscraper (120x600) | Low — narrow, legacy sidebar format | Low — minimal creative requirements | ⭐⭐ — limited impact on modern responsive sites | Legacy sidebars, forums, text-heavy pages | Use high-contrast, simple copy; link to responsive landing pages |
| Interstitial / Full-Page (Adaptive) | High — timing, dismissal rules, compliance | High — full-screen assets, frequency controls | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — maximum viewability but UX risk | App transitions, between-page navigation, launches | Respect close-button rules; A/B test timing and frequency |
| Billboard (970x250) | High — wide canvas, requires header integration | High — panoramic creative, heavy assets | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — premium visibility and storytelling | Homepage headers, premium campaigns, events | Reserve for premium campaigns; optimize image quality and load |
| Mobile Interstitial (Adaptive Full‑Screen) | High — strict mobile guidelines and timing | High — full-screen creative, video support | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — exceptional mobile recall if well implemented | App ads, game transitions, high-impact mobile campaigns | Follow Google UX rules, set frequency caps, test impact on retention |
Navigating the landscape of display advertising can feel like learning a new language, where pixels, aspect ratios, and file weights are the grammar. We've journeyed through the most critical display ad size formats, from the universally recognized Medium Rectangle (300x250) to the immersive power of full-screen interstitials. Understanding these specifications is not merely a technical exercise; it's the foundational step in ensuring your creative vision is delivered to your audience with clarity, impact, and precision across every device and platform.
The core lesson is that size dictates strategy. A compact Mobile Banner (320x50) demands a concise, punchy message, while an expansive Half Page Ad (300x600) offers a canvas for more detailed storytelling and compelling visuals. Ignoring the nuances between a Leaderboard and a Billboard isn't just a design misstep; it's a missed opportunity to connect with users in the native context of their browsing experience. Mastering the correct display ad size is your first line of defense against wasted impressions and poor user experience.
To truly translate this knowledge into performance, we must move from a passive understanding of specifications to an active, strategic application. Here are the most important principles to carry forward:
With this comprehensive guide to display ad size in hand, your next objective is to operationalize this knowledge. The transition from theory to execution is where many marketing teams encounter friction, bogged down by repetitive tasks and the potential for human error.
The real challenge for performance marketers and agencies isn't just knowing the ad sizes; it's efficiently producing, managing, and launching dozens of creative variations across multiple campaigns and platforms. How do you QA every ad? How do you ensure the 1.5MB HTML5 bundle is correctly configured? How do you launch a multi-market campaign with localized creatives without spending a full day on manual uploads?
This is where workflow optimization becomes a powerful competitive advantage. The difference between a good campaign and a great one often lies in the speed and accuracy of its execution. When your team is freed from the tedium of manual ad setup, they can reinvest that time into what truly matters: analyzing performance data, refining creative concepts, and developing high-level strategy. Don't let operational bottlenecks diminish the impact of your perfectly sized, beautifully designed creatives. Implement these size guidelines with rigor, then empower your team with the systems and tools necessary to launch your vision at scale, flawlessly.
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