Google Display banner sizes: the handful that cover most of your impressions
Google Ads accepts more than twenty sizes for uploaded image ads. If you make a banner for every one of them, you spend days resizing, and some of those sizes almost never get impressions. This guide covers the five sizes to make first, the two to add after them, the file limits that cause most upload errors, and how to lay out each banner shape.
Key takeaways
- Start with 300×250, 336×280, 728×90, 300×600 and 320×100, the sizes Google lists as best performing.
- Uploaded images must be GIF, JPG or PNG up to 150 KB. HTML5 ZIP exports can be up to 600 KB, but only eligible accounts can upload them.
- Responsive display ads and Performance Max use aspect ratios instead of pixel sizes: 1.91:1, 1:1 and 4:5.
- Each shape needs its own layout. A leaderboard is a different design from a rectangle, not a smaller copy of it.
Contents
The five sizes that cover most of the inventory
An ad can only show in a slot that matches its size, and publishers build their pages around a small set of standard slots. That's why a few sizes get most of the impressions.
| # | Size | Name | Where it shows | Device |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 300×250 | Medium rectangle | Sidebars, between paragraphs, end of article | Desktop + mobile |
| 2 | 728×90 | Leaderboard | Above content, under navigation | Desktop |
| 3 | 320×100 | Large mobile banner | Above or below content on phones | Mobile |
| 4 | 300×600 | Half page | Desktop sidebars, often stays in view while scrolling | Desktop |
| 5 | 336×280 | Large rectangle | Inside article text | Desktop + mobile |
The order in the table is for when you can't make all five at once. 300×250 alone covers desktop and mobile. 728×90 and 320×100 then give you the top of the page on both devices. 300×600 and 336×280 add the larger, more visible placements.
For composition ideas, see our 12 Google Display ad examples. The guide shows how to rework one offer into a rectangle, a tall banner, a leaderboard and a mobile layout.
Every size Google Ads accepts for uploaded image ads
Use this list as a reference, not as a to-do list. Add sizes from it only when you see that the campaign can't spend its budget with the five above.
| Group | Sizes (px) | Worth adding? |
|---|---|---|
| Square and rectangle | 200×200, 240×400, 250×250, 250×360, 300×250, 336×280, 580×400 | Only the two core rectangles |
| Skyscraper | 120×600, 160×600, 300×600, 300×1050 | 160×600 as a sixth size |
| Leaderboard | 468×60, 728×90, 930×180, 970×90, 970×250, 980×120 | 970×250 if you target wide desktop layouts |
| Mobile | 300×50, 320×50, 320×100 | 320×50 as a seventh size |
File limits that cause most upload errors
| Ad type | Formats | Max file size | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uploaded image ad | GIF, JPG, PNG | 150 KB | Animated GIFs allowed, with limits on length and frame rate |
| HTML5 ad | ZIP | 600 KB | Requires an eligible Google Ads account |
| Responsive display / PMax image | JPG, PNG | 5 MB | Google crops and combines the assets itself |
The 150 KB limit causes most of the errors. A photographic 300×600 saved as PNG easily goes over it. Some ways to get it under the limit:
- Save photos as JPG with quality around 75–85. Use PNG only for flat graphics with few colors.
- Export at exactly 1× size. A 600×1200 file doesn't match the 300×600 slot, and it's four times as heavy.
- Simplify the background behind the text. Soft, blurred areas compress much better than detailed textures.
Responsive display ads and Performance Max: ratios, not sizes
With responsive display ads you upload separate assets (images, logos, headlines and descriptions), and Google puts them together for each slot.
| Asset | Ratio | Recommended | Minimum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landscape image | 1.91:1 | 1200×628 | 600×314 |
| Square image | 1:1 | 1200×1200 | 300×300 |
| Portrait image (Performance Max) | 4:5 | 960×1200 | 480×600 |
| Square logo | 1:1 | 1200×1200 | 128×128 |
| Landscape logo | 4:1 | 1200×300 | 512×128 |
Text limits: short headlines up to 30 characters, a long headline up to 90, descriptions up to 90 and a business name up to 25. Google can show any headline with any description, so each one has to make sense on its own.
Uploaded banners or responsive display ads?
| Uploaded banners | Responsive display ads | |
|---|---|---|
| Layout control | Exactly what you designed | Google assembles and crops |
| Reach | Only slots matching your sizes | Almost any slot, including native |
| Production effort | One file per size | A few images, logos and text |
| Best for | Launches, prices on the banner, strict brand rules | Always-on reach with little upkeep |
In practice you don't have to choose. Put one responsive display ad and the five uploaded sizes in the same ad group, run them for two weeks and compare the results by ad type. The data will show which one works better for you.
One message, three layouts
If you shrink a rectangle into a leaderboard, you get text nobody can read. Each family of shapes needs its own arrangement of the same elements:
- Leaderboards (728×90, 320×100, 320×50): no description. Use a headline of four to six words and a short CTA.
- Rectangles (300×250, 336×280): the full set. Write your main copy for this shape.
- Tall formats (300×600, 160×600): stack everything vertically. This is the one format where a large product photo fits.
Write the headline for 320×100 first. If it works there, it works in every other size.
Short headlines need a good brief behind them. Our guide to writing banner prompts covers how to narrow a campaign down to one message that fits.
Making the full set without redrawing it seven times
Resizing by hand is slow, and the extra sizes are usually where the colors and logo stop matching. In AdflowKit you choose a preset (Google Display, Meta Ads or all standard sizes). The studio creates one master scene, crops each format from it and places the headline, CTA and logo separately for each shape. Display files are compressed to stay under 150 KB. To keep that consistency when you adapt the set later, see keeping AI banners on brand. For the Facebook and Instagram ratios and safe zones, see our guide to Meta ad sizes.
FAQ
What is the most common Google display ad size?
300×250, the medium rectangle. It shows on desktop and mobile, and almost every publisher has a slot for it.
Do I need to upload every size Google supports?
No. Five sizes cover most of the inventory. Add more only if the campaign can't spend its budget with the sizes you have.
What is the maximum file size for a Google display banner?
150 KB for uploaded GIF, JPG and PNG images, 600 KB for HTML5 ZIP files, and 5 MB for responsive display and Performance Max images.
Which mobile banner size is better, 320×50 or 320×100?
Upload both if you can. 320×100 has room for a headline people can read. 320×50 is very short, but more sites have a slot for it.