All new “Engagement” ads (in beta) are the latest addition to the Google Display Network toolkit. Advertisers can contact their Google rep to opt into the new creative formats, and the new ads are priced on a cost per engagement basis, where advertisers are only charged when users interact with the ad units.
The new ad types include the following:
- Expandable Display Ads
- Expands after a 2 second hover
- Creative sizes:
- 120×600 – Expands to 240×600
- 160×600 – Expands to 320×600
- 200×200 – Expands to 400×200
- 250×250 – Expands to 500×250
- 300×250 – Expands to 600×250
- 336×280 – Expands to 672×280
- 468×60 – Expands to 468×180
- 728×90 – Expands to 728×270
- Hover-to-Play Video Ads
- Will likely replace the legacy Click-to-Play format
- Video Plays after a 2 second hover
- Creative Sizes
- 300×250
- 336X280
- Lightbox ads
- Begins with standard sizes but expands to near full screen experience
- Standard Lightbox ads start with IAB sizes and expand to 900×400
- Masthead Lightbox ads allow advertisers to repurpose YouTube channel masthead and ad expands to 970×250
- Catalog Lightbox ads lets user flip through a retailers Google Catalog to browse products and visit the site to purchase
With standard GDN ad units, advertisers only pay when an ad is clicked, and click or engagement rates are typically relatively low. Google’s new engagement ads should bring scalable performance display to the masses, while also helping Google’s bottom line.
