Image ad answers

*Please note updated information at the bottom of this post as of 5/17/2013

Last week, we let you know that image ads could be a valuable addition to your online advertising repertoire. Now, we'll answer some of the most frequently asked questions on the topic:

How do image ads compete with text ads?

Because an image ad takes up the entire ad unit on a site in our content network, instead of being one of four text ads on a page, we use an effective CPM, or eCPM, model to rank all ads in the auction. This ensures that both CPC and CPM targeted text and image ads are evaluated in the same manner. As always, the highest ranking ad(s) will be served to our users. If this happens to be an image ad, this means that the ad has an eCPM that is greater than the sum of the next four ads that it out ranks.

I've heard that smart pricing can reduce the price of clicks on content. Does this also apply to image ads?

Yes. Smart pricing applies to image as well as text ads that are served on the content network. For those who aren't familiar with this feature, smart pricing automatically discount the cost of keyword-targeted content clicks if our data shows that a click is less likely to convert on that site. This helps you meet your ROI goals on the content network.

I'd like to use flash ads, but how do I upload them?

You can upload Flash ads in the same manner that you upload all image ads, but make sure you're aware of the following requirements. Flash ads must be 50K or smaller in size and utilize Flash versions 4 - 6. All Flash creatives should also support the clickTAG variable. The clickTAG is the tracking code assigned by Google to an individual ad. It allows Google to register where the ad was displayed when it was clicked, and helps advertisers determine the effectiveness of their campaign. On any click, Flash creatives should redirect to the URL specified in the clickTAG argument; there should be no other redirection in between.

The variable name must be spelled "clickTAG" (upper-case TAG; no space between click and TAG) and not "click tag," "Click Tag," or any other form. This is the proper code for the clickTAG parameter.

on (release) {
if (clickTAG.substr(0,5) == "http:") {
getURL(clickTAG, "_top");
}
}

Remember, Flash ads must follow the same Editorial Guidelines that apply to all image ads, with one exception: Flash ads may not be resized before submission.

So now that you have some more facts about image ads, have some fun outside of the text box ;)

Posted by Sarah, Inside AdWords crew


*UPDATE: In the above post, it reads:

For those who aren't familiar with this feature, smart pricing automatically discounts the cost of keyword-targeted content clicks if our data shows that a click is less likely to convert on that site.

This statement should read:

For those who aren't familiar with this feature, smart pricing may discount the cost of certain keyword-targeted content clicks if our data shows that a click is less likely to convert on that site.