The banner advertisement was one of the first advertisement formats around the internet and it continues on today. Along with this format of advertising has come a slew of studies attempting to pin down the perfect size of banner; after all, you can make nearly any size you want. Every so often, you will see studies, articles, and blogs about the perfect banner ad size. But does such a thing exist or is it still very nebulous?
Many people have tried to figure out exactly how to get the best banner ad size. The Internet Advertising Bureau has a heap of tips and tricks for making good banner ads, the Ad Sizes Task Force has been trying to identify the best banner ads for over a decade and of course, zillions of bloggers and marketers have chattered about their experiences.
While this isn’t a definitive answer to the question of which size of banner ad is best, this article does serve the idea of looking at sizes from the point of view of the consumer. we cant claim to have the answers, but if we stir up your creative pot, we’ve done our job. So, with no further ado Banner ad sizes and you!
468 x 60: Its Still Offered and it May be Bad for You
Advertisement creators like the ye olde 46860 because it tends to be a standard size, easy to work with and simple to design. But from a users point of view, the design is a bit cludgy. These banner ads are not the same width as a computer screen and so content is scattered around the advertisement, making it be overlooked and it always has been.
If you need further proof of this, look at all of the different types of ways to tweak this ad size to make it better: animations, roll-overs, videos, music on and on! This tweaking cost people a lot of time and money just to sort of fix something which may well need to be scrapped outright.
The IAB didn’t precisely scrap this sizing, but it was removed from the recommended ad sizes list in 2003. However, you still often see these ad sizes floating around because many people still think of it when they think of banner ads. Its time to jump over this hurdle and think about some new banner ads.
Skyscraper Ads
Skyscraper Banner Ads The jury bounces around on skyscraper advertisements. On one hand, the 120 x 600 or 160 x 600 skyscrapers are fun and can be advantageous. They give more space, have a nice presence and are desperately easy to plunk into a website since they just sit on one column or the other. However, skyscrapers can also be problematic: users have to scroll down to read the whole advertisement and that causes a break up in their attention. Such a thing can be damaging to your chances of being clicked on because web browsers have almost no patience for adverting.
The easy way to jump this hurdle is to put your main message on the top of the ad, but then you may lose out on using your beautiful imagery to draw the attention in the first place. Its a sticky situation and one that takes some creativity to get out of.
Integrated Marketing Units
IMUs are units with smaller sizes, usually 300 x 250 or 180 x 150 or other sizes. These banner ads are considered to be very nice to have because they sit easily in a content page or anywhere else on the page and they can be easily tweaked to add mor creativity such as music or roll-over bits. Creators like them because theyre easy to work with and users can look them over in a glance. Arguably, an IMU is one of the best advertising sizes out there, though which size you choose in this bracket is completely up to you.
Experimenting with Banner Sizes
One of the very best things you can do? Experiment! Larger size ads may work really well such as full screen or half screen advertisements and just require experiments. Build your ad and then split test different sizes to see which ones perform best. Create ads that are eye catching without being intrusive and creative without being over the top and experiment on where to put them. The fun of creating your banners should be the ability to be creative and to feel free to create, so take advantage of it.
The bottom line though is that if you like your ad, chances are others will like it too and that is how you know you will be successful.
Happy designing!
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