With Google Ads evolving over the years, advertisers must always catch up with the latest available Google ad formats, placements, and specifications.
At the time of writing, there are 5 types of Google Ads campaigns to pick from:
- Search: Get in front of high-intent customers at the right time on Google Search.
- Shopping: Showcase your products to shoppers as they explore what to buy.
- Video: Reach viewers on YouTube and get conversions.
- Display: Reach customers across 3 million sites and apps with engaging creative.
- Demand Gen: Drive demand and conversions on YouTube, Discover, Gmail with image/video ads.
- Performance Max: Reach audiences across all of Google with a single campaign.
As highlighted above, we will delve into Google Display Ad and Demand Gen in this article. As for the video, you can check out these 5 YouTube video ad formats & placements.
Table of Contents
You can click on the links below to easily navigate within this article.
Ad Formats & Placements
— Display Ad
—— Standard Display Ad
—— Responsive Display Ad
——— Responsive Display Ad on Websites & Apps
——— Responsive Display Ad on YouTube
——— Responsive Display Ad on Gmail
— Demand Gen
—— Demand Gen: Single Image Ad
——— Demand Gen: Single Image Ad on YouTube
——— Demand Gen: Single Image Ad on Discover
——— Demand Gen: Single Image Ad on Gmail
—— Demand Gen: Video Ad
——— Demand Gen: Video Ad on YouTube
——— Demand Gen: Video Ad on Discover
—— Demand Gen: Carousel Image Ad
——— Demand Gen: Carousel Image Ad on YouTube
——— Demand Gen: Carousel Image Ad on Discover
——— Demand Gen: Carousel Image Ad on Gmail
Ad Specifications
— Standard Display Ad
— Responsive Display Ad
— Demand Gen: Single Image Ad
— Demand Gen: Video Ad
— Demand Gen: Carousel Image Ad
Display Ad vs Demand Gen
If you’re not sure about the difference between Display Ad and Demand Gen ads, here’s a quick guide.
Display Ads come in two kinds – Standard Display Ad and Responsive Display Ad.
- Standard Display Ad is the Google Display Network (GDN) you’ve known all this while. These are banner ads in various sizes and often include animations to grab attention.
- Responsive Display Ad is a newer, simpler format. With this, you just use the images you already have, add some basic information, and you’re set. Google takes care of making your ad fit different spaces automatically. Watch this video to learn more.
Both Display Ad types appear across Google AdSense network sites (over 3 million of them) and on Google’s own platforms like YouTube and Gmail.
Demand Gen ads (previously known as Google Discovery Ads), on the other hand, are only shown on Google’s sites like YouTube, Discover, and Gmail. As you can imagine, Demand Gen ads are mostly served on YouTube.
Do take note that Google’s lead form can be used for Search, Display or Video but not Demand Gen campaigns.
In terms of setup, Demand Gen ads are a lot like Responsive Display Ads. They’re easy to create even without the help of a designer; you just need a few details and images.
Here’s a table to break down the differences more clearly.
Type | Standard Display Ad | Responsive Display Ad | Demand Gen | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Format | Static Image Ad | |||
Animated Image Ad | ||||
HTML5 Ad | ||||
Video Ad | ||||
Carousel Image Ad | ||||
Placement | YouTube | |||
Discover | ||||
Gmail | ||||
AdSense Network |
Ad Formats & Placements
1. Standard Display Ad
2. Responsive Display Ad on Websites & Apps
There are many more variations/formats available for Google Responsive Display Ad like below:
3. Responsive Display Ad on YouTube
4. Responsive Display Ad on Gmail
5. Demand Gen: Single Image Ad on YouTube
Note: On mobile, all image sizes (landscape, square, portrait) can be rendered on YouTube Home Feed, while only the square image will be rendered on YouTube Watch.
6. Demand Gen: Single Image Ad on Discover
Note: The Discover feed ad format plays on mobile devices only.
7. Demand Gen: Single Image Ad on Gmail
8. Demand Gen: Video Ad on YouTube
Note: All video sizes (landscape, square, portrait) can be rendered on every placement above.
Note: All video sizes (landscape, square, portrait) can be rendered on every placement above. Shorts ads don’t currently play on TV screens when optimizing for conversions.
9. Demand Gen: Video Ad on Discover
Note: The Discover feed ad format plays on mobile devices only. Also, video ads don’t appear on Gmail.
10. Demand Gen: Carousel Image Ad on YouTube
Note: On YouTube, the carousel image ad format serves on mobile devices only.
11. Demand Gen: Carousel Image Ad on Discover
Note: The Discover feed ad format plays on mobile devices only.
12. Demand Gen: Carousel Image Ad on Gmail
Note: On both mobile and desktop, all image sizes (landscape, square, portrait) can be rendered on Gmail.
Ad Specifications
Standard Display Ad
Here are the assets you can upload:
- Image ads as GIF, JPG, and PNGs
- HTML5 or AMPHTML ads as ZIP
There are many sizes available for animated or non-animated image ads, you can check the full list here. You can also refer to the best GDN sizes for mobile and desktop placements but this article was updated in 2020.
Do take note that animated image ads cannot last longer than 30 seconds. As for HTML5 ads, check here first to understand the requirements before you begin.
Responsive Display Ad
Here are the info and assets required:
- Business Name
- Logos (up to 5 logos)
- Images (up to 15 images)
- Videos (optional, portrait and landscape around 30 seconds work best)
- Headlines (up to 5 headlines, up to 30 characters each)
- Long Headlines (1 long headline, up to 90 characters)
- Descriptions (up to 5 descriptions, up to 90 characters each)
- Final URL
Read more on the creative best practice guide, and common sizes for Responsive Display Ad.
Demand Gen: Single Image Ad
Here are the info and assets required:
- Business Name
- Logo (up to 5 logos)
- Images (up to 20 images)
- Headlines (up to 5 headlines, up to 40 characters each)
- Descriptions (up to 5 descriptions, up to 90 characters each)
- Call-to-action (Automated, Apply now, Book now, Contact us, Download, Learn more, Visit site, Shop now, Sign up, Get quote, Subscribe, See more)
- Final URL (can set a different URL for mobile)
For images, upload only static images with a maximum file size of 5,120KB each, at least 1 landscape (1.91:1) or square (1:1) image is required:
- Landscape image (1.91:1) – Recommended: 1200 x 628; Min. required: 600 x 314
- Square image (1:1) – Recommended: 1200 x 1200; Min. required: 300 x 300
- Portrait image (4:5) – Recommended: 960 x 1200; Min. required: 480 x 600
Demand Gen: Video Ad
Here are the info and assets required:
- Business Name
- Logo (1 logo)
- Videos (up to 5 videos)
- Headlines (up to 5 headlines, up to 40 characters each)
- Long Headlines (up to 5 long headlines, up to 90 characters each)
- Descriptions (up to 5 descriptions, up to 90 characters each)
- Sitelinks (optional, up to 5 sitelinks, learn more here)
- Call-to-action (Automated, Apply now, Book now, Contact us, Download, Learn more, Visit site, Shop now, Sign up, Get quote, Subscribe, See more)
- Final URL
Choose 1-5 videos that are at least 10 seconds long. Best practice ad length is 15 seconds. Google recommends including videos for each aspect ratio (landscape 16:9, portrait 9:16, square 1:1), as this will allow your ads to show across the best possible placements to meet your goals. Read more here.
Demand Gen: Carousel Image Ad
Here are the info and assets required:
- Business Name
- Logo (1 logo)
- Cards (up to 10 cards)
- Card Images (up to 3 images, add up to 1 image for each aspect ratio)
- Card Headline (1 headline, up to 40 characters)
- Card Call-to-action (Automated, Apply now, Book now, Contact us, Download, Learn more, Visit site, Shop now, Sign up, Get quote, Subscribe, See more)
- Card Final URL (can set a different URL for mobile)
- Headline (1 headline, up to 40 characters)
- Description (1 description, up to 90 characters)
- Final URL
p/s: This article is published in May 2024 so Google might make changes by the time you read this. You can also check the Google ad specifications and Rich Media Gallery as additional references.
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