Ad Yield Ops 103: Ad Unit Placement Best Practices

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Let’s start by discussing ad location.

Location is about as important in advertising as it is in real estate. Let’s go through some of the best practices you should know for ad location as a yield operations professional:

Number 1, you want to KEEP ADS AWAY FROM NAVIGATIONAL ELEMENTS.

When you’re serving ads to users on your website or app, you need to remember this: Users generally do not want to click on ads, and they especially don’t want to click on ads if they  didn’t intend to click on them. 

That’s why it’s critical to make sure you are keeping all ad content as far away from navigational elements, such as top-level website menus, as possible. Doing so can reduce accidental ad clicks and keep your users happier.

Accidental ad clicks can also cause problems with SSPs or DSPs if enough accidental clicks begin to look like nefarious traffic, or hurts advertiser campaigns by causing them to pay for clicks that weren’t “real”.

Number 2, you’ll want to MAKE SURE THERE’S PLENTY OF PADDING around your ads.

While you’re already thinking about how to get your ads away from your navigational menu, you might as well consider the padding around the ad altogether. 

That’s because you need to have proper padding around each ad unit for much the same reason you need to keep ads away from navigation elements. You don’t want to artificially drive up your ad click-through rate (CTR) or even risk getting Confirmed Click applied to your site by Google.

Giving ads enough breathing room, will certainly help with this.

And, number 3, you’ll want to STAY ABOVE THE FOLD, BUT KEEP IT LOW IF POSSIBLE.

You generally want to place ads above the fold — or, before the first scroll — but you might be surprised to find out that higher on the page isn’t always better. In fact, the lower you can place an ad while keeping it above the fold, the better.

Why? Because often, users will instinctively scroll past an ad that appears at the very top of the page. They didn’t load the page to see an ad, and they will immediately recognize that an ad is loading and scroll right past it to get to the content.

Putting the ad below some of the content while keeping it above the fold can eliminate that problem and assure higher ad viewability.

One of the biggest mistakes a publisher can make is forgetting about the user while they’re building their digital ad strategy. In the end, you need happy users to have great experiences on your website or app. Otherwise, your audience will dwindle and your revenue will dwindle with it. 

With that in mind, let’s cover some best practices for user-friendly ad unit performance:

Number 1, CLEARLY LABEL YOUR ADS.

If a user has to wonder whether they’re looking at an ad, you have a problem. 

First, it means you haven’t clearly labeled the advertisement as an ad, putting you in violation of all kinds of policies and guidelines from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Google. 

Second, if the user can’t tell the difference between an ad and your content, users are potentially even less likely to see it. How will it drive advertiser outcomes then?

That’s why you need to clearly label every ad on your website or mobile app. Don't try to hide that it's an ad or technically meets the labeling requirements while trying to trick users. Just be clear and upfront about it to preserve UX.

Number 2, don’t just meet expectations, EXCEED EXPECTATIONS.

There’s a theory that user engagement and satisfaction are correlated to users’ expectations and nothing else. In other words, if a user expects a great experience and gets a good experience, they’re unsatisfied. And if they expect a bad experience and get a halfway decent one, they’ll be satisfied. 

There may or may not be other factors at play in user satisfaction, but it’s clear that expectations play a big part. So, your best bet is to exceed your users’ expectations when it comes to navigating your site and being presented with ads. 

To do that, try to avoid creating environments in which a user clicks on one item and ends up seeing another, such as an ad. Make sure they know when they’re about to see an ad, and don’t ever surprise them with one if you can avoid it.

And, number 3, Test, Test, Test.

While the best practices we’ve already discussed create a great starting point, they should not be considered an endpoint. You should be testing ad unit placements and watching the effect they have on user behavior and ad revenue to find the perfect mix for your website.

A “set it and forget it” mentality when it comes to the strategy for your ad layout will hinder you in reaching your full ad revenue potential. Make sure you are regularly testing and keeping a watchful eye on how each change affects your user data.

A lot of ad unit performance comes down to the actual ad units you choose, and there are lots of them to choose from these days. So, let’s cover some Ad Unit Best Practices.

Number 1, USE STICKY AD UNITS TO MAKE AN IMPACT.

In general, sticky ad units — ads that pop out and follow users, anchored to a portion of their screens as they scroll — are high performers. Think about it: Your viewability is likely to be much higher if the ad follows the user in a non-intrusive way for a while. Compare that to the viewability for an ad that stays put in a single place, where the user can scroll past it in less than half a second.

Number 2, BOOST PERFORMANCE WITH RAIL UNITS.

Over our years in the digital ad industry, we’ve seen that rail units just have a way of working well for both publishers and advertisers. These are relatively simple ad units that occupy a highly visible place on users’ viewports. They’re elegant and effective — nothing fancy, but they get the job done well.

Number 3, PAY ATTENTION TO USER BEHAVIOR FOR MOBILE AD PLACEMENT.

Because mobile is more limited in ad real estate and mobile apps and websites can generate highly different UX, you’re going to want to track user behavior to determine where mobile ads should go and what kinds of units they should be.

For example, where do users’ thumbs fall on the screen to start scrolling after your site loads? You won’t want to put an ad right in that spot (to avoid accidental clicks), but what about nearby? Let your mobile users’ behavior choose your ad units and ad placement.

And, number 4, make sure to INCORPORATE INTERACTIVE UNITS.

In general, the more interactive your creatives are, the more advertisers are going to have to pay for them. So, if you’re looking to drive up your CPMs, interactive is the way to go. That means you will want to consider all kinds of gamified units, rewarded video, and similar units.

Up next, let’s cover ad sizes. Ad size can have a profound impact on performance. Here are the best practices to be aware of:

Number 1, STICK WITH THE STANDARD IAB SIZES.

The IAB calls these three ad sizes “standard”:

• 728×90 (typically referred to as a leaderboard)
• 300×250 (referred to as a medium rectangle)
• 160×600 (often called a skyscraper)

They’re standard for a reason. They work well in most contexts and will rarely limit you in terms of accommodating a buyer’s creative. Make sure that these are a core part of your foundation for revenue optimization.

But, number 2, BUT DON’T BE AFRAID TO INCORPORATE HIGH-IMPACT UNITS.

While the IAB standard sizes are great, some advertisers like the opportunity to get a little more exposure than those unit sizes will provide. They’ll often pay high dollar for units that are somewhat larger. For example, if you can get a 970x250 billboard to work with your website, you’ll have an extremely valuable piece of ad inventory that many big buyers would love to scoop up.

Just remember: It’s not one or the other. You want the standard-sized inventory to be plentiful, but if you can have some high-impact units also competing for that inventory, that’s invaluable.