ePublishing Knowledge BaseContinuumCommon Responsive Design QuestionsWhat do I need to consider with responsive ads and downsizing ads for tablet and mobile?

What do I need to consider with responsive ads and downsizing ads for tablet and mobile?

ePublishing can work with you to set up rules on your website to dictate which ad size will appear based on which platform your reader is using.

To that end, set the ad sizes you want to accept based on your design, and create ad packages for potential advertisers around those sizes so that they know what they need to provide to you based on their advertising needs.

Let's say that you want to assign ad sizes to your top-right ad slot on your website: example: zone top1. You may want to accept the following sizes:

  • 768x90
  • 468x60
  • 320x50

And then another zone, an ad in the right rail (example R1), may accept:

  • 300x250
  • 320x50

Then tell ePublishing the rules by platform. For example:

  • On desktop, you'd show 768x90 and 300x250 ad sizes. Your website would be designed or adjusted with these sizes in mind.
  • On tablets, your website would show 468x60 and 300x250 ad sizes, slightly scaled down from the desktop where necessary, depending on your design.
  • And on mobile, where you'd see the most dramatic changes, your website would show 320x50 (replacing the leaderboard) or 320x50 (replacing the rectangle)

The above is a simple set of business rules to serve responsive ads. There are many variations depending on the sizes of ads you permit. We would need to simply know what all of those are and where you'd like them displayed.

Common sizes that may have special rules:

  • 300x600 / 120x600 - You may have a rule that these show on desktop and landscape tablet, but drop to 300x250 ads for *portrait tablet and mobile*
  • 920x90 (or larger leaderboards) - You may have a special rule that we show this for large desktop screens before dropping down to the 728x90 size for common laptop screens.

Special Ad Types

We may need to support special ad types, if you accept them:

  • Interstitials - Appear between the page I was on and the page I'm going to next.
  • Slide-ups - Ad slides up from the bottom of the page.
  • Slide downs - Ad slides open and then closes after X seconds after the ad loads. Generally appears only the first time the user sees the ad.
  • Overlays - Appears on the page the user is reading, but content is greyed out until the ad is over or the user clicks it closed.
  • Other special ad types that OAS supports that we may not know about now.

Screens to Consider in Planning Your Ad Sizes

  • Extra large monitors that would allow a 920x90 ad to appear nicely.
  • Common monitors
  • Tablets > Landscape
  • Tablets > Portrait
  • Mobile > Landscape
  • Mobile > Portrait
  • Very small screen phones (smaller than 320px wide)

ePublishing will work with you to account for all ad sizes you permit your advertisers, all special ad types you accept, and the rules for the different screens you want to support.

The following ad servers can be integrated into an Continuum site to serve ads responsively based on your rules: