Image Ad Guidelines & Best Practices

Image Ad Guidelines & Policies

Static image ads can be formatted in .gif, .jpg and .png. Animated image ads can be formatted in .gif or Flash. The file size limit of an image ad is 50 KB.

Image ads can be in the following sizes:

• 250 x 250 Square
• 200 x 200 Small Square
• 468 x 60 Banner
• 728 x 90 Leaderboard
• 300 x 250 Inline Rectangle
• 336 x 280 Large Rectangle
• 120 x 600 Skyscraper
• 160 x 600 Wide Skyscraper

Image ads should clearly and accurately reflect your site and emphasize unique benefits of your product or service.

If your image ad doesn't meet these rules, it won't be allowed to run. See a full list of guidelines on our image ad page.

Image Ad Best Practices

Here are some best practices we've put together to help you get the most from your image ads:

• Display advertising isn't that different from text-what works for text ads generally works for image ads. Here are 7 points to keep in mind:
1. Use a compelling call to action such as "learn more," "buy now," or "visit us today."
2. Prominently show your display URL which typically contains a company's name, is a major component of a text ad. You have more room in an image ad, so don't be afraid to use your brand or logo as well.
3. Include details like prices, delivery details, and relevant special offers.
4. Relevance is key. Make sure your ads lead to a relevant landing page.
5. Use appropriate capitalization-the nice thing about display is that you can have all caps. Try to use these effectively.
6. Promote a sense of urgency in your display ads if you have time-sensitive pricing or offers. Use phrases like "hurry!," "limited time," and "special offer" to capture a user's attention and push them to take action.
7. Keep it simple. No one responds well to clutter-get your point across as simply as possible.

• Include clear images of your product and/or people using your product, which will help users connect with an advertisement.

• Align all of your advertising messaging, which will help build a more cohesive brand. If you have effective advertising offline, chances are it will be effective online. Make your online image ads consistent with your television and print ads.

• Interactivity can be effective, but keep it simple and don't make people work for your message. Get your message across and then let users interact.

• People have short attention spans-that means if you don't entertain them or grab their attention right away (within three seconds!), they'll move on and your message will be lost.

• If you have a multi-ad campaign, or if your ad contains several frames, make sure that each ad stands on its own merit. One way to achieve this is to include your brand or logo in every frame. 
• If you're creating image ads using our free Display Ad Builder tool, take a look at these best ad practice