Written on March 7th, 2008 at 12:03 am by Darren Rowse
Which AdSense Rectangle Ad Performs Best?
Here’s a quick AdSense tip that could make you some good money.
AdSense offers two rectangle ad unit sizes – 300×250 pixels and 336×280 pixels.
These are both great ad units to use on your blog because they are not only available as text based ads but also image and video ones. Setting your ad units to show all formats of ads increases the potential number of advertisers that will ‘bid’ for your ad unit which drives up the potential CPM of the unit.
So which is best – 300×250 or 336×280?
One might think that the larger the ad the better it’s earnings will be – I mean having more of your screen real-estate dedicated to an ad increases the chances of it being clicked doesn’t it?As a result many bloggers go for the 336×280 ad.
However it can be well worth your while to test both ad unit sizes because there’s a good reason why the smaller ad unit can perform better for you – it’s more popular with advertisers.
336×280 might be bigger and increase the chances of being noticed – but 300×250 pixel ad units are more popular with advertisers wanting to run image/banner ads. It’s a standard size that many of them (particularly larger advertisers) produce (along with 728×90 sized ads) for online advertising. I spoke to one advertising agency representative recently who says that they’ve never made a 336×280 ad for any of their mainstream advertisers.
Split Test Your Ad Units
Of course it’s worth keeping in mind my regular advice of ‘ever blog is different’. I do have one blog where the larger rectangle ad unit out performs the smaller one. This blog doesn’t attract many image ads for some reason (I think it’s because it has a more local market with less advertisers) and the larger format works better for it with text ads. The moral to the story is to test both ad units and go with the best performing one.
45 Responses to “Which AdSense Rectangle Ad Performs Best?” - Add Yours
Mr. Rajawang
March 7th, 2008 12:17 am
I think both the ads are almost the same with not a major difference in performance(clicks, etc).
ntas
March 7th, 2008 12:29 am
do have both on my site, but people have recommended 300×250..so i guess i will have to change it abit. Also Darren can you sometime do a post on “not putting all of your eggs in one basket” on advertising platforms…i was thinking of using an ad server like OpenAds (now OpenX) to flip ads from different networks…is this effective?
Caroline Middlebrook
March 7th, 2008 12:47 am
Lol Darren, I assume “best perfuming” in the last line is a typo and should be “best performing” :-)
One thing I’d observe is that unless you’re running image and video ads the content is pretty much the same. Using the example you show above, both blocks contain exactly the same text ads but there’s a lot more white space around the text of the larger one – it looks as though the font itself is the same.
This might blend better or worse with your blog theme. My theme is quite cramped so if I used AdSense on it and used the larger blog I think that would really stick out like a sore thumb but would fare better on other blogs with more whitespace.
Joe
March 7th, 2008 1:05 am
I like the smaller ad block better, but its not a huge difference. I think that the smaller rectangle one does come up with more image ads, which could help CTR…..
Kacper
March 7th, 2008 1:13 am
I prefer the smaller. In my opinion, It is visible enough. But maybe I will do some split tests in future. Anyway I bet on smaller.
elektroseyir
March 7th, 2008 1:14 am
Friend the bigger is better.i tested a lot of times.The 336*280 is better.
Chetan
March 7th, 2008 1:17 am
I would rather go for the link ads in posts, 4 links in a small column, rather than making the blog look like a MFA.
But if you are making a mind of having a big rectangle box, then 300 x 250 would be my choice!
My 2 cents though.. who knows i too might shift to use the rectangle later if link ads don’t work well.
Troy
March 7th, 2008 1:20 am
I infinitely prefer the smaller one, because it allows me to wrap text around it and integrate it properly with the content. The bigger ad unit doesn’t hold more content, so the only advantage to it would be to raise the odds that somebody would accidentally click the ad, not much of a strategy. I guess it all depends on how you blend them, though.
David
March 7th, 2008 1:21 am
I can say that Darren didn’t write this, so who did? They didn’t get credit.
Daniel
March 7th, 2008 1:28 am
Based on 1year experience with AdSemse and reading various forums and user opinions the 336×280 large rectangle is always outperforming the 350×250 one (for text links).
The 350×250 are always designed for images based ads and not text ads, thus the 336×280 has more room for an explanation of the ad and always performs better then the other one.
Nick's Traffic Tricks
March 7th, 2008 1:29 am
Just as improtant as
Nick's Traffic Tricks
March 7th, 2008 1:32 am
Blending and color choice are as important as size. I usually get rid of the border and blend the color so the ad looks like part of the content.
Location
Student Loan Advice
March 7th, 2008 1:36 am
I’m sticking with my 728 x 15 link units.
DE
March 7th, 2008 1:43 am
I like the small ones and make the color the same as your page.I also have found that a banner ad at the botton of the page works well.
Jeremy Steele
March 7th, 2008 1:57 am
The best adsense block is the rare 0 by 0 one. Looks much better.
Seriously… adsense looks so 90s. Maybe it’s just me, but it looks really cheesy. I’m surprised anyone still clicks on the things.
Erica
March 7th, 2008 2:09 am
The best perfuming one? They all smell the same to me.
Stanley
March 7th, 2008 2:31 am
I have more success with smaller ads
Solo Programmer
March 7th, 2008 2:37 am
Seems to me that the smaller hold exactly the same amount of ad as the larger but in a smaller space. That “denser” ad looks more visually appealing to me. Don’t really see the upside of the large one.
bob cobb
March 7th, 2008 3:05 am
300×250 is the best. It will perform just as good, if not better than the bigger one, and it takes up less space.
ITrush
March 7th, 2008 3:08 am
I also prefer smaller ads with good blending colors.
nhick
http://www.itrush.com
Kanak Bhandari
March 7th, 2008 3:32 am
I can’t imagine Darren wrote this. If I think myself as an advertiser who want to promote, then I will make sure that I reach maximum people. So, if I create a 300X250 add unit, I will also create a 336X280 add unit, knowing the fact that it will increase my exposure to wide audience. So its just the same, that both unit perform equally well. Isnt it ??
roel
March 7th, 2008 3:33 am
Hmmm, I always like the rectangle ads on my sites, though I have not used it on my blog. But yeah, I did noticed, aside from minimizing lowering CTR value, the 300 x 250 looks better on sites. However, if you really have some big space, the larger also looks great – and I have seen several advertisers now making image ads on that format.
Debs
March 7th, 2008 3:49 am
The best perfuming one? Ah, 300×250 makes my blog smell goooood ;)
@Jeremy Steele: You’d be surprised. When I watch non-web/tech people search for something in Google, they often go for the sidebar ads rather than the search results.
MTO
March 7th, 2008 4:53 am
336×250 used to be the best… till Google changed their criteria on the clickable area of the adsense ads, so now they are one of the worst. It used to be that the white space was clickable, changing that changed the results.
Kevin
March 7th, 2008 6:08 am
Even though these two are the most gauranteed revenue generator ad units, it is not applicable to all kind of blogs. Some blogs may be successful, and some may not.
However there are couple of things which matter along with these ad units :
1. Your blog layout. If your blog layout doesn’t fit properly with this unit then its not worth to use them.
2. Placement on the blog. This is not specific to these ad units, but in general placement of ad unit is most important. It should not iritates your blog visitors
3. Number of ad units per page. How many 300×250 or 336×280 unit you want to place on a page ?
That’s it as of now ;)
Lose2WinnerGuy
March 7th, 2008 6:17 am
MTO,
yeah, I keep hearing about people dropping adsense from their sites altogether now because of diminished earnings. Too many people chasing the same dollar causes earnings to decrease for all publishers, and then Google changing their criteria on the clickable area only makes matters worse.
Also, it’s interesting to note that so many small publishers are getting banned from the program at the moment. I think Google might just have a strategy here. If they don’t take care of their publishers (the BUSINESS publishers, not the tiny hobbyist ones) it won’t help their revenue….
Boring Market
March 7th, 2008 8:09 am
I think both rectangles are way to big to be used on a blog/website. They would distract from the content and almost cheapen the brand you are trying to build. I’m not Adsense expert, but I know that if the content isn’t in the forefront then I would be less likely to comeback to a blog/website.
Cody McKibben
March 7th, 2008 10:00 am
Great tips, Darren. Thank you for sharing, because that’s very valuable for those of us trying to monetize our sites! One less possibility I have to think about, AND it gives us bloggers more space for good CONTENT!
Do the new Adsense rules (as far as clickable areas) apply to these ad units as well? Have you seen your revenue from them decrease lately?
hyms
March 7th, 2008 10:26 am
I do prefer link than others. Both of this ads are efective way to attract visitors to click. It seem both of them a famous to blogger.
Open English
March 7th, 2008 10:35 am
I prefer the smaller one, and since it is more popular with advertisers, I think I’ll stick with that one. Thanks for the info.
Make Money Talks
March 7th, 2008 10:36 am
Good point, thanks for sharing tip!
Ben
March 7th, 2008 1:49 pm
I have had both on my blog and the smaller one pays out more per click than the larger one. Also, the smaller rectangle fits well with my blog.
Nvidia GeForce Guru
March 7th, 2008 2:11 pm
I found that if you make your website more narrow (put in wide margins) your adsense CTR will go up no matter what the size because the visitor’s eyes will have less space to wander to.
Executive Hacks
March 7th, 2008 4:15 pm
If only we were all so lucky to have enough click throughs to split test our ads. It would be nice if someone published real evidence of their experiences…or is there a blog out there that has done this?
MR
March 7th, 2008 4:33 pm
For me it’s the 300×250, due to my blog design. It racks in some decent amount.
Bibokz
March 7th, 2008 4:41 pm
Any… it depends on your set-up anyway. 760 over my header works fine for me.
Mr.Gadget Australia
March 7th, 2008 9:57 pm
I’m finding that a mix of sizes, text and images is working great! I tried experimenting with this over the last week with my Adsense for yesterday double my normal intake :)
Thanks for the tip Dazza.
I’m sure you’ve covered this somewhere but success also depends where the ads are placed…
Vijay
March 8th, 2008 12:51 am
Well, for me link units are most performing ad units. I always test adsense units with different formats and positions.
The best place to put your small rectangle 300×250 in in your post just below your post title and align at left or right of post content.
Some days back I have compiled post on all possible ways to make more from Adsense ..
Here it is:
20+ practical and ethical tips to earn more revenue from Google Adsense
Paul B
March 8th, 2008 7:39 am
I’d always go for bigger ads and not worry about the image ads (which I’ve always found less targeted and pay out less) but I guess the key is still to experiment to see what works best for you.
Pradeep
March 9th, 2008 5:42 am
I don’t think it makes much of a difference.
Chris
March 9th, 2008 7:25 am
I struggle sometimes with these types of articles. I think that if you concentrate more on the content you publish rather than the placement or types of ads, you’re better off in the long run.
Not these things aren’t important. But the early focus of a blog should be giving your readers enjoyable content.
Paul Krenz
March 10th, 2008 3:43 am
Thanks for the tips, Darren. I use 336×280 now.
I was wondering though, if anyone here uses blogger/blogspot, how to put the 728×90 leaderboard into my theme. If I try putting the leaderboard at the top of the page, only half of it shows up. :-( I use a 336×280 instead and a wide skyscraper google text ad on the left side of the page and also an ad after my top post.
Brandon Lee
April 13th, 2008 7:13 am
I use the 300×250. One thing people should also consider is advertiser preference. Most advertisers use the 300×250 so therefore you will have more options and definitely do what problogger says and test them both out. But for me, the 300×250 works better.
tina
November 14th, 2008 12:31 pm
I just did a quick test – I assumed the larger add would pay better but alas the 300 x 250 cpm is double that of the 336 x 280 ad. Thanks for the post – good discussion!
Entrepreneur
March 12th, 2009 8:15 am
Wow, I see this blog post and all the comments solved nothing.
I have never heard a complaint from the 336×280 so I assume they pay the best and have the highest CTR?
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