Display Ads on Websites: Sizes, RPM and Placement
Display ads are the rectangles, leaderboards and skyscrapers most people picture when they think of web advertising. They sit in sidebars, above and below articles and between sections, and almost every advertiser buys them.
Updated · Every figure on this page is an estimate from our benchmark tables, not a quote from any network.
All six web networks in our tables support display, and in our model it carries 60% of a page's reference RPM. If you only ever adjust one format on your site, this is the one that will move your revenue.
What this format contributes on a website
Estimated monthly revenue for a general site with 50,000 sessions, with and without this format, by network.
| Network | With | Without |
|---|---|---|
| Google AdSense | $266 | $106 |
| Ezoic | $359 | $144 |
| Media.net | $212 | $85 |
| Monumetric | $396 | $158 |
| Mediavine | $640 | $256 |
| Raptive | $677 | $271 |
Adding this format lifts the estimate by about 150% on networks that support it.
How it earns
Display earns through the breadth of its demand. Brand campaigns, retargeting and programmatic buyers all bid on standard sizes, and every unit on the page runs its own auction. Our reference setup assumes four ads per page at 60% viewability, which for a Tier 1 audience gives an estimated page RPM from about $5.50 on Media.net to about $18.00 on Raptive, with display making up 60% of it.
Viewability moves the price more than size does. The industry standard counts a display impression as viewable when half its pixels are on screen for at least one second, and buyers pay more for slots that reliably pass. A unit beside the text people are reading beats one in a footer nobody reaches.
What it does to the experience
Readers have learned to tune out sidebars, so display rarely irritates the way pop-ups do. Its costs are clutter and speed. Each unit adds scripts, auctions and creative files, and too many on one page slow it down and push your content further from view.
The Better Ads Standards, which Chrome has long used as the basis for filtering ads on sites that fail them, list high ad density on mobile and flashing animated ads among the experiences to avoid. Reserve space for each unit so the page does not jump as ads load, which also protects your Core Web Vitals. Read the current standards before you redesign a template.
Best practice
- Stick to standard sizes such as the medium rectangle and leaderboard, which attract the most bidders.
- Put the first unit where readers already look, near the start of the content rather than in a header strip.
- Reserve fixed space for every slot in your CSS so loading ads do not shift the layout.
- Lazy-load units further down the page so they request an ad only as the reader approaches.
- Review viewability slot by slot and remove the ones that are rarely seen.
Common mistakes
- Adding units to raise revenue, then losing it again as viewability and page speed fall.
- Choosing unusual custom sizes that only a handful of buyers can fill.
- Leaving desktop sidebar units on in mobile layouts, where they end up stacked at the bottom.
All figures come from our benchmark tables: Android eCPMs by tier, category or niche multipliers, modelled fill and the iOS multiplier. They are estimates for planning, not quotes.
Questions people ask
How many display ads should a page have?
Our model uses four per page as its reference point. The right number for you depends on article length and layout, so add units only where they are likely to be seen and check speed after each change.
Why is my display RPM lower than the estimate?
Audience location, niche and viewability all move it. A site with mostly Tier 3 readers or slots below the fold will sit well under a Tier 1 reference figure. Our estimates break this down by network and niche.
Does every network support display?
Yes, all six web networks we model do. What differs is the demand behind them and the bar for joining, which the comparison pages set side by side.