Standard banner ad sizes, and how to make them from one photo
Make 300 x 250, 336 x 280, 728 x 90, 300 x 600, 160 x 600 and 320 x 50 first. Google recommends these for uploaded display ads, and takes them as GIF, JPG or PNG files of 150 KB or less. One photo will not crop into all of them, because the shapes run from 8:1 wide to nearly 1:4 tall. Build each size as a layout instead: extend the background, place the product, then set the words. Checked September 2026.
The sizes to make first
Google Ads lists seven recommended sizes for uploaded display ads: 300 x 250, 336 x 280, 728 x 90, 970 x 90, 160 x 600, 300 x 600 and 320 x 50. Google’s AdSense guide, written for the sites that show ads, names 300 x 250, 336 x 280, 728 x 90, 300 x 600 and 320 x 100 as its top performing sizes. The table combines both lists.
| Size | Name | Where it runs, per Google | Status in IAB’s 2017 portfolio |
|---|---|---|---|
| 300 x 250 | Medium rectangle | Inside or at the end of articles. Tends to have more ads available from advertisers. | In transition to a flexible 1:1 unit |
| 336 x 280 | Large rectangle | Inside or at the end of articles. Same note on ads available. | Not an IAB unit |
| 728 x 90 | Leaderboard | Above the main content. Same note on ads available. | In transition to 8:1 |
| 300 x 600 | Half page | Beside content. One of the fastest growing sizes by impressions. | In transition to 1:2 |
| 160 x 600 | Wide skyscraper | Sidebars. Same note on ads available. | In transition to 1:4 |
| 320 x 50 | Mobile leaderboard | Phones, often at the bottom of the page. | In transition to 6:1 |
| 320 x 100 | Large mobile banner | Phones. Twice the height of 320 x 50. | Not an IAB unit |
| 970 x 250 | Billboard | A premium spot above the content. Few ads are made in this size. | In transition to 4:1 |
| 970 x 90 | Large leaderboard | Top of the page; can push the page down. | Delisted |
| 300 x 1050 | Portrait | Beside content. Few ads are made in this size. | In transition to 1:3 |
Google Ads also accepts 200 x 200, 240 x 400, 250 x 250, 250 x 360, 580 x 400, 120 x 600, 468 x 60, 930 x 180, 980 x 120 and 300 x 50 as uploaded image ads, plus regional sizes such as 750 x 200 in Poland. In 2017 the IAB began moving from fixed pixel sizes to flexible units defined by shape, and marked the classic sizes as "in transition". Google Ads still takes the fixed sizes, so they are still the ones to make.
File rules
| Rule | Google Ads uploaded image ads | IAB guideline (2017) |
|---|---|---|
| File types | GIF, JPG or PNG | Not listed in the unit table |
| Largest file | 150 KB | 50 kB for 320 x 50, 150 kB for 300 x 250 and 728 x 90, 200 kB for 300 x 600, 250 kB for 970 x 250, at first load after gzip |
| Animation | Up to 30 seconds; GIFs slower than 5 frames per second | Up to 15 seconds, with no looping after that |
| Filling the frame | The image must fill the whole ad size. No sideways images, blur or unreadable text. | The ad must be clearly distinguishable from the page, for example with a border |
| HTML5 | Only for accounts open more than 90 days with more than $9,000 lifetime spend | Up to 10 file requests at first load |
We tested how tight 150 KB is. We cropped 29 photos from the examples on our site to each size in the first table and saved them as JPG. At quality 90, the largest file at any size was 116 KB, a 300 x 1050; the largest 320 x 50 was 10 KB. At quality 80, nothing passed 83 KB. A still photo banner fits with room to spare, so there is no need to crush the product photo to meet the limit.
Why one photo will not crop into every size
Cut straight from a square photo, most banner shapes lose the product. Only the two rectangles keep most of the picture:
| Size | Shape | What the crop keeps |
|---|---|---|
| 300 x 250 and 336 x 280 | 1.2:1 | 83% of the height |
| 320 x 100 | 3.2:1 | 31% of the height |
| 970 x 250 | 3.9:1 | 26% of the height |
| 320 x 50 | 6.4:1 | 16% of the height |
| 728 x 90 | 8.1:1 | 12% of the height |
| 970 x 90 | 10.8:1 | 9% of the height |
| 300 x 600 | 1:2 | 50% of the width |
| 300 x 1050 | 1:3.5 | 29% of the width |
| 160 x 600 | 1:3.75 | 27% of the width |
A product that fills a square frame cannot fit in 12% of that frame’s height. For every size but the rectangles, you need more picture than the photo has in one direction, so each one is built as a layout.
How to build the set from one photo
- Start from the approved product photo at 2K or larger, with plain background around the product so there is room to extend it.
- Cut the product out, or keep it on a background that extends cleanly: a wall, a sky, seamless paper, a tabletop.
- For each size, extend the background to the new shape. In Photoshop, drag the Crop tool past the edge of the image and choose Generative Expand; with the prompt left blank, it continues the scene. A flat brand color sampled from the photo also works, and is safer for the widest sizes.
- Place the product as large as the layout allows. In 728 x 90 and 320 x 50, put the product at one end, the headline in the middle and the button at the other end.
- Set the headline, logo and button in a design tool, with your real font and logo files. Image models redraw letters, so do not ask them to set the type. See how to get text right in AI images.
- Export each size at its exact pixel dimensions, as JPG for photos or PNG for flat graphics, and check it is under 150 KB.
- Check every size at 100%: the product matches the approved photo, the label reads, the words are legible, the image fills its frame, and a white background has a thin border.
Generative expand makes up new pixels. Check the added areas for extra products, text, stray hands or a second logo before you export. How to adapt one campaign to every ad size covers framing the master photo so the extension has less to make up, and the AI image QA checklist covers the product checks.
Or let Google build the sizes
Responsive display ads skip the layout work. You upload images at 1200 x 628 and 1200 x 1200, a logo and short lines of text, and Google assembles ads that it says can show in thousands of layouts across the Display Network. You give up control of the layout, and Google says an ad may show without some of your assets, sometimes without images. The specs are in Google Ads image sizes.
Questions people also ask
- What is the most common banner ad size?
- Google lists 300 x 250 first among its top performing sizes and says it tends to have more ads available from advertisers, as do 336 x 280, 728 x 90 and 160 x 600. If you make only one size, make 300 x 250.
- Do banner ads need a border?
- The IAB’s guidelines say an ad must be clearly distinguishable from the page around it, and give a defined border as the example. A banner with a white or near-white background needs one, or it can blend into a white page.
- What is the maximum file size for a banner ad?
- 150 KB for image ads uploaded to Google Ads. Other publishers set their own limits. The IAB’s 2017 guidelines run from 50 kB for a 320 x 50 to 250 kB for a 970 x 250 at first load. Check the spec sheet of each site you buy from directly.
Where Overs fits
Overs can include a banner in a set’s deliverables, and can set a headline, subline and button onto a finished photo in a separate step, keeping the clean version. It does not build HTML5 banners or upload ads to Google Ads or any ad server.
Free for 40 photos a month. The AI that makes the photos is billed separately, on your own key, with no markup from Overs.
Sources
- Google Ads Help: Uploaded display ads specifications
- Google Ads Help: About image assets specifications and ad format guidelines for Demand Gen campaigns (recommended uploaded sizes)
- Google AdSense Help: Guide to ad sizes
- Google Advertising Policies Help: Image quality
- Google Ads Help: Create a responsive display ad
- IAB Tech Lab: IAB New Standard Ad Unit Portfolio, version 1.1 (July 2017)
- IAB: IAB New Ad Portfolio (page last updated 25 February 2025)
- Adobe Photoshop help: Explore beyond the canvas with Generative Expand (updated 23 February 2026)