The Google Display Network (GDN) reaches over 90% of internet users across 2+ million websites, apps, and Google-owned properties. But to reach that audience, your ads need to fit. The GDN supports dozens of banner sizes — and creating the wrong sizes means your ads simply won't show in many placements.
This guide covers every major Google Display ad size in 2026: dimensions, file specs, which sizes to prioritize, and how to generate all of them at once without manually resizing your creative.
Quick answer: The three most important Google Display ad sizes are 300×250 (medium rectangle), 728×90 (leaderboard), and 320×50 (mobile banner). These three sizes cover the majority of GDN impression inventory.
How the Google Display Network Works
When you run a Display campaign in Google Ads, your banners appear on websites that have opted into Google's AdSense program. Google matches your targeting criteria (audiences, keywords, topics, placements) to relevant pages and shows your ad in available banner slots.
Each publisher page has fixed banner slots with specific dimensions. If you haven't created an ad in the right size, Google can't show your ad in that slot — no matter how strong your targeting or bid. This is why ad size coverage matters: more sizes = more eligible placements = more reach for the same budget.
The 8 Most Important Google Display Ad Sizes
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250
Medium Rectangle
The single highest-traffic banner size on the GDN. Appears embedded in content, in sidebars, and at the bottom of articles on desktop and mobile. According to Google, this is the most popular size among publishers — always create this one first.
×
90
Leaderboard
The horizontal banner that appears at the top or bottom of pages. It's the second-most common format after the medium rectangle. High desktop visibility — this is the banner users see immediately when they scroll to the top or bottom of a page.
×
50
Mobile Banner
Essential for mobile campaigns. Appears at the top or bottom of mobile app screens. With over 60% of internet traffic now on mobile, not having a 320×50 means leaving most of your audience unreachable.
×
600
Half Page / Large Rectangle
A large, prominent format that occupies roughly half the page height in a sidebar. Premium publishers offer this placement. It gives advertisers significantly more creative space — great for storytelling or product showcase ads. Strong CPM efficiency relative to its size.
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600
Wide Skyscraper
A tall, narrow sidebar banner. Fills placements that wider 300px formats can't. Less common than the leaderboard or medium rectangle, but still offers solid reach — particularly on news, editorial, and forum sites that use narrow column layouts.
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250
Billboard
A large horizontal banner that appears at the very top of premium publisher pages — above the fold, maximum visibility. Available on a smaller set of high-quality publisher sites. Higher CPMs but strong impact when shown. Good for brand awareness campaigns.
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100
Large Mobile Banner
Double the height of the standard mobile banner. Gives you more creative space on mobile without going full interstitial. A good supplement to 320×50 if you want more room to convey your message on small screens.
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60
Banner
An older horizontal format. Lower inventory than the 728×90 leaderboard, but still active on legacy publisher sites. Worth creating if you want to maximize reach, but it's the lowest priority of the major sizes.
Google Display Ad Specs: The Complete Reference
| Spec | Requirement | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Max file size | 150 KB | Applies to static PNG/JPG/GIF. HTML5 ads have different limits. |
| Accepted formats | PNG, JPG, GIF, HTML5 | GIF animation: max 30 seconds, max 3 loops, max 5 fps in last frame. |
| Recommended format | PNG or JPG | PNG supports transparency. JPG is smaller for photos. |
| Color mode | RGB | Do not submit CMYK files. |
| Text in ads | No strict limit | Google recommends keeping text minimal — aim for clarity over density. |
| Borders | Required if ad has white/light background | Ads must be clearly distinguishable from the page background. |
| Safe zone | Keep key elements 10–15px from edges | Prevents key elements from being clipped on different screens. |
Which Google Display Ad Sizes Should You Prioritize?
If you have limited time or budget and can only create a subset of sizes, here's the priority order based on GDN inventory data:
- 300×250 — Highest reach, non-negotiable
- 728×90 — Essential for desktop
- 320×50 — Essential for mobile
- 300×600 — Premium placements, strong CPM efficiency
- 160×600 — Fills placements others miss
- 970×250 — Premium publishers, brand awareness
Creating all 6 sizes covers the vast majority of available GDN inventory. The remaining sizes (468×60, 320×100) add marginal incremental reach and are worth creating once you have the core set covered.
Common Google Display Ad Creative Mistakes
1. Text too small to read
The 300×250 is only 300 pixels wide. Text that looks fine on your 1080×1080 Instagram creative becomes unreadable at banner scale. Keep headlines large (24px+ equivalent), use contrast, and limit body text to 1–2 short lines maximum.
2. File size over 150 KB
Google's 150 KB limit is strictly enforced — ads over this limit won't serve. PNG files for complex graphics can exceed this easily. Use JPG compression for photographic creatives, or simplify your design to reduce file size.
3. No border on light-background ads
If your ad has a white or light background, Google requires a visible border around the entire ad. Without one, your ad blends into the page background and gets rejected during the review process.
4. Key elements too close to edges
Different screens and browsers render ads with slightly different clipping. Keep all important text and visual elements at least 10–15 pixels from the edge of the banner to avoid cropping.
5. Only creating one or two sizes
Advertisers who only create 300×250 and 728×90 are missing mobile (320×50), premium publishers (300×600, 970×250), and the full skyscraper inventory (160×600). More sizes = more eligible placements = better reach for the same CPM budget.
How to Generate All Google Display Ad Sizes at Once
Manually creating 6–8 sizes from the same creative concept is time-consuming — and if your brief changes, you have to redo all of them. AI tools like Creatives Gen solve this by generating all selected sizes simultaneously from a single product description and brand brief.
The workflow is simple: describe your product, upload your logo, select the sizes you want (including all 6 core GDN sizes), and click Generate. All selected formats are created at once with consistent branding and AI-written copy. You can then edit any individual size with an AI chat prompt if you need to adjust a specific placement.
Generate All 6 GDN Sizes Simultaneously
Stop resizing the same creative 6 times. Describe your product once and get all your Google Display ad sizes in one click. Free to start.
Generate Free Display Ads →Google Display vs. Responsive Display Ads
Google also offers Responsive Display Ads (RDAs) — you upload multiple headlines, descriptions, logos, and images, and Google automatically assembles and tests combinations across all available sizes. RDAs are worth running alongside your static banners because:
- They cover every placement size automatically
- Google's machine learning optimizes combinations based on performance
- They can appear in native ad placements where static banners can't
The tradeoff: you have less creative control. Your carefully crafted banner design won't always survive Google's automated assembly. Best practice: run both static sized banners (for creative control) and RDAs (for coverage and ML optimization) in the same campaign.