About ad formats

An ad format refers to the size and shape of an ad, combined with the media the ad appears in. Ads might be horizontal, vertical, square, or any of a number of other sizes and shapes. It might appear in text, show a still picture, an animated picture, or even feature full-motion video, perhaps with audio.

Microsoft pubCenter supports many different ad formats, depending on the type of ad unit that is used.

The default size for mobile application ad units is 480 x 80. The option to create smaller 300 x 50 ad sizes is provided for backwards compatibility.

Display ad units include a large array of different media types, ranging from simpler text/image ad units to expanding rich media experiences and streaming video. Display ad sizes include:

• Horizontal units:
  • 180 x 150 Rectangle
  • 234 x 60 Half banner
  • 300 x 250 Medium rectangle
  • 468 x 60 Full banner
  • 728 x 90 Leaderboard
  • 120 x 60 Rectangle
• Vertical units:
  • 120 x 240 Vertical banner
  • 120 x 600 Skyscraper
  • 160 x 600 Wide skyscraper
  • 240 x 400 Vertical rectangle
  • 300 x 600 Verticle rectangle
• Square units:
  • 125 x 125 Square button
  • 250 x 250 Square pop-up

Content ads include a combination of images and text, customized with the colors and themes you want to use. Content ad units also support third-party ads, allowing advertisements from another system to appear on your page. The content ad units supported include:

• Horizontal units:
  • 180 x 150 Rectangle
  • 234 x 60 Half banner
  • 300 x 250 Medium rectangle
  • 468 x 60 Full banner
  • 728 x 90 Leaderboard
  • 600 x 250 Wide rectangle
  • 336 x 280 Large rectangle
• Vertical units:
  • 120 x 240 Vertical banner
  • 120 x 600 Skyscraper
  • 160 x 600 Wide skyscraper
  • 240 x 400 Vertical rectangle
• Square units:
  • 125 x 125 Square button
  • 250 x 250 Square pop-up

Search ad units appear next to the results in search engines, such as Bing. The size can vary, but all search units include a combination of text, image, and flash components.

Note: The features available in pubCenter are based on your user role and permissions. Some features, ad unit options, and reporting choices are only available to some users.