How to Choose the Best Digital Ad Formats

With so many digital advertising formats available and flickering here and there, we can only imagine how hard it can be to choose one. Luckily, you don’t have to go through this exhausting process alone! 

We believe that knowing what digital formats there are and how they work, understanding the many forms of digital ads and their advantages and disadvantages is necessary to discover the secret ingredient to a successful formula! And we are going to help you get to it! 

Together we will uncover (listen carefully) NINE types of digital formats and go through all pros and cons! We will also treat you with tips and tricks to make your life easier 😋. 

Stay with us!

 

Top Digital Ad Formats 

Strong words and a positive premonition of awesome things to come! Many moving parts drive the online advertising machine forward (building, tracking, optimizing, testing). We’ll throw some limelight on the creatives. 

While numbers bring the picture together, the Ad Formats have the power to make or break a campaign. 

The formats are automated and optimized for various regions, payout models, operating systems, and verticals/niches. Stay tuned as we uncover all of the forms further!

Leave a lasting impression.

Each format has its unique set of features and driving metrics that leave a lasting impression in the user’s mind, generating the best clickthroughs, conversions, signups, or any other image that can be tracked and monetized. 

A massive pool of online ad formats catering to different sites (Google, Facebook, Youtube, etc.). But, we’ll swing the focus to the original online Banner Ads (or Display Advertising).

 

Types of Digital Ad Formats 💻

From Interstitial and Native to Banner, Push, and the high visibility Pop-Under, digital ad formats are lasting features.

Adblocker technology continues to crack down and limit the flow of ads to different websites.  

But, so too do online advertisers continue to refine their efforts and grow their traffic to optimum performance. 

Below you can find our pick for the top digital ad formats in the market today. 

Pop-Under

Pop-under ads offer massive potential for advertisers to increase awareness and publishers to maximize their earning potential. 

The ads seamlessly integrate into the UX flow by appearing behind the user’s browser window, staying behind the scenes until the user logs out of their actions. 

As the last thing the user sees before exiting the website, they also stay top of mind for the future. 

Pop-Unders are also an effective way to bring in the highest publisher RPMs. They can also be tailored and optimized according to their display frequency. There are many more reasons why Pop-Unders are so effective. Check out to get to know more!

In-Page Push

This leading format is the 2.0 version of the original Push Notification.

These alert-like ads are to mimicking the traditional push notification in their design. 

They are well-targeted, highly engaging, and less intrusive to the end-user experience. 

They are increasing the Advertisers’ onsite performance and the Publishers’ earnings, blending high-quality UX with market-tested returns. 

This format is red-hot, with loads of websites using it to monetize traffic, regardless of the content they’re running/hosting or their vertical. 

What sets them apart is that they are shown directly to a Publisher’s website (once the advertiser has won the bid). 

They also give advertisers multiple targeting options and the ability to reach new audiences. 

Interstitial Ads

Known as a Cure for Banner Blindness!

Interstitials appear while a website or page is loading. The time between browsing helps to reach the end-user with an immersive, tailored, and engaging ad experience. 

The ad also has a hard-coded 5-second countdown window, meaning a guaranteed delay in exit times and a more substantial monetization potential. 

Interstitials are an extremely versatile and cost-effective ad format for advertisers and deliver maximum exposure in return for a minimal investment. 

Publishers get access to unique features and filters to create a better site experience (which ultimately comes with higher earnings).

With larger display frames and high-quality visuals, Interstitial Ads are designed for maximum visibility and reach.

Choose between the full screen or overlay option and keep the composition of your site at an all-time high. 

Native Ads

Native ads are still as effective today as they were ten years ago and remain an incredibly effective way for advertisers to promote products and services online. 

The format blends seamlessly with the surrounding onsite content, working tirelessly to generate high engagement rates and conversions along the way. 

When onsite, Native Ads are regarded as less intrusive and provide publishers with an easy way to boost their ad revenue. 

Not only does this equate to higher monetization, but the lack of UX interference keeps the audience on-site for an extended time and brings in new prospects.

These ads can blend perfectly with the audience’s experience. They match the look, form, and function of the site where they appear. 

Banner Ads

And last but not least, we’ve got the original Display Banner, known for versatility and complete delivery.

Skyscraper

A tall and narrow banner type, available for both desktop and mobile web. Typically placed to the side of the page content for higher exposure and increased visibility. 

Rectangle

Compatible with almost any operating system globally, the rectangle banner is what you first think of when it comes to digital advertising.

Versatile, flexible, and constantly adapting to the requirements of the web page, Rectangles are mobile-web compatible and by far the most commonly utilized format. 

Leaderboard

This top-performing Display Banner is usually placed at the top of a webpage for maximum visibility and reach. 

These are often the first ad a website user sees when logging onto the site. 

Appearing above the content rollout, leaderboard banners are uniquely eye-catching, larger than life, and easy to read. 

There are plenty of digital ad formats to boost your strategy. The challenge is knowing which one to deploy. Here are 3 of them!

 

Tips and advice 😏

Try Diversifying your digital ad formats 🌚 🌝

Multiple ad formats (and AB testing your results) will help maximize your reach.

The more popular the format is among advertisers, the higher you need to bid to increase the likelihood of reaching your target audience.

Spread your digital ad format budget 💨 💸

Strike a balance between allocating your budget to pricier variants and spreading it across multiple sources. 

Some publishers restrict specific formats, such as interruptive types.

What if a publisher’s traffic is your target audience, but the formats you deploy are restricted?

Viewability should also factor into your campaign strategy. 

Your audience may use mobile devices, which will influence the format.

Monitor your digital ad format disruption tolerance 🔭 🫡

As a Publisher, You’ll need to take control of your traffic’s onsite experience. Generally, the higher the value of your onsite content, the higher your users’ disruption tolerance.

If you’ve ever visited an unregulated streaming site or similar, most likely you were bombarded with dozens of site-under ads. The reason is that sites “under’s” typically have the highest payouts. 

As a rule, the higher the user disruption, the higher the payout, a strategy like this can only work if the content’s value outweighs the poor/average user experience. 

But, as a website owner, your onsite content and resulting monetization strategy will most likely be completely different. 

You need to analyze your content and UX in detail, finding the balance between payout potential and the end-user experience. And lastly, 

Follow your own audience/traffic source 👨‍💻 📲

There is a wealth of data available today for publishers and advertisers to gain the upper hand.

That said, these trends are affected by your audience or traffic. You’ll need to know your audience. 

Whether advertiser or publisher, you must understand the overall trends, follow feedback, and adjust your strategy accordingly.

 

All the best for the road ahead; find your format and let us know in the comments below.

Bye for now!