Written by sifat islam

Google Display Network is a unique system created by Google. It can be used to reach prospects with targeted display ads when they are scrolling through websites, watching a YouTube video, going through their Gmail, or using phone apps.

Essentially, since everyone’s information is now stored on Google accounts, Google can use this to show personalised ads,. This includes tapping on personal information, including age, location, or interests, such as sport, clothes or beauty.

Before continuing, let’s differentiate three types of advertising using Google Display Ads Network:

• Web banners – used on websites, and visitors can see relevant content while browsing. They come in various shapes and sizes.
• Video ads – used on websites that play videos because of their format. The most popular website is YouTube, where ads can be played before, in the middle of, or after a video.
• App ads – used in combination with apps available on Google Play Store. They are specialised in a way because they’re purposely intended for mobile devices.

Why Do People Advertise on Google Display Networks?

Whatever your business is, the 2 million sources in the GDN network prove that this is the best way to reach people. 90% of internet users are reached every day by GDN via web banners, videos and applications.

With traditional advertising, you are limited to reaching local, regional, or, if there’s sufficient budget, the national population. But, with network search available all around the globe, your ad can now be shown worldwide at fairly low costs.

You can also learn how to successfully reach buyers in the earliest stages of their buying cycle. For example, when the potential buyers are specifically looking for something similar, weighing their options, or even if they’re still unaware of the benefit your product/service can bring into their lives.

What Sites Are in the Google Display Network?

1. Google-owned websites – Google owns the most popular websites known to almost anyone around the world. Google Maps, Gmail, and Google Keep, YouTube are just some of them.

2. Adsense websites – these are all websites not owned by Google but show ads powered by the GDN. In return, they are paid for showing Google’s content on their independent website. As a business wanting to use the GDN for your marketing purposes, you can select which websites you would like your ad to appear on.

Difference between GDN and Search Ads

Although both GDN and search ads are excellent ways of advertising your brand, there are some key differences between them that you should be familiar with.

With GDN, ads can be shown on websites to people unfamiliar with your brand. So, you might not get that many visits from ads, but this is an excellent option for those trying to raise their brand awareness and get people talking about them.

Also, keep in mind that display ads serve only a secondary role on websites since all people visit it for something else. The ads are there to hopefully catch their attention and motivate people to find out more about what the ad stands for.

On the other hand, search ads are intended for anyone looking for something specific. Visits are higher with search ads because they are shown only to a particular group of people interested in and looking for something similar in content.

What is GDN Used for?

GDN can be used for multiple things, usually for prospecting and remarketing.

1. Prospecting – you get to introduce your brand to other people who have never heard of it. This way, your brand awareness grows, as well as the other’s knowledge of your products or services.

2. Remarketing – you get to remarket to users who have already visited or taken some kind of action on your website. Here, your primary goal isn’t to raise brand awareness anymore but to meet your clients’ needs. It’s highly recommended to set Google Analytics, which will help you track the audience for your website by using various parameters:

User types include general website visitors or anyone

• Viewing specific pages;
• Signing up for an account or trial offer;
• Downloading content;
• Completing a transaction or purchasing a service/product;
• Submitting a form;
• Starting one of the above mentioned actions but failing to complete it;

While prospecting is an excellent choice for those looking to raise their brand awareness and aren’t focused on the number of sales made, remarketing is a wiser option for anyone looking to reach people already familiar with the brand, ready to make a purchase.

Depending on your business size, business aim, and overall demand on the market, you can change what you’re using GDN for at any time.

Types of GDN

Text ads are a type of ads using only text to catch someone’s attention. They are typically square or rectangular boxes of text with bolded keywords. They consist of a headline text, a link, and a descriptive text.

Even though text ads can be quite challenging since finding the right words to attract customers is no picnic, it’s crucial to convey the desired message perfectly. So, use keywords that will help show the ad more often, beware of the text length; the ad should be concise, precise, and provide sufficient information. Learn how to optimise Google ad texts and Google ad extensions here.

As a general rule, try to avoid all capital letters – you don’t want to sound too pushy. The advantage of text ads is that you can get creative with the text and use specific keywords to affect the ad’s success.

Image ads (standard display ads)

Image ads are, as the name suggests, images that may or may not contain texts within the image itself. They can be formatted to a square, rectangle, skyscraper, or banner.

A picture’s worth a thousand words, and the same rule applies in Google Display Network. With an eye-catching design, you can be sure that you will have a successful ad.

Similarly, it’s recommended to use brand colour-ways, high quality, and clear images.

However, there are some picture ads that lack the text explanation, so users might not always get what the ad is about. So, be sure your ad leaves the right impression with just an image, and if that is impossible, be sure to integrate the appropriate text into the image itself.

Common dimensions for image ads

Below are the common dimensions used for image ads:

• 250 x 250 – Square
• 200 x 200 – Small Square
• 468 x 60 – Banner
• 728 x 90 – Leaderboard
• 300 x 250 – Inline Rectangle
• 336 x 280 – Large Rectangle
• 120 x 600 – Skyscraper
• 160 x 600 – Wide Skyscraper
• 300 x 600 – Half-Page Ad
• 970 x 90 – Large Leaderboard
• 320 x 50 – Mobile Leaderboard – for high-end mobile devices

Responsive display ads

Responsive display ads are a mix of text and image ads. They consist of the three image types, one long headline, up to five short headlines, up to five descriptions, and a business name.

These ads offer three different image types and a variety of descriptions, short and long headlines. If you still can’t choose only one final ad design, consider doing split testing.

The biggest advantage is how versatile these ads are. It’s the perfect match of text and picture, capable of catching someone’s attention but still providing all the crucial information.

Yet another great advantage of responsive ads is that they automatically adjust their dimensions, look, and format to fit almost any available ad space and screen size. For instance, depending on where the user is viewing the ad, it might appear as a native banner or a dynamic text.

However, this can also be a disadvantage. Suppose the ad appears in dynamic text format, yet all the important information can only be seen on the image. In that case, the very essence of the ad will be lost.

Common dimensions for responsive display ads

Here are the common dimensions for responsive display ads:

• Medium Rectangle (300×250)
• Large Rectangle (336×280)
• Leaderboard (728×90)
• Half Page (300×600)

Engagement ads

Among newer options are engagement ads. This type of ad is believed to produce more user engagement, and in return, advertisers pay only if the user “engages” with the ad, meaning they moused over the ad for more than 2 seconds.

This is great for anyone wondering if the GDN marketing is worth it or is skeptical of a complete ad fiasco. Marketers only pay the cost-per-click, meaning that they have expenses only if the ad attracts customers.

The advantage is probably the biggest for people on a budget that don’t want to spend money if the ad isn’t going to bring in new customers. However, the disadvantage is that with engagement ads, you might not be able to have that much control over where, when, and to whom the ads are displayed.

Gmail

Gmail ads are visible in the “Social” and “Promotions” tabs of Gmail. They are used to target a specific group of Gmail users.

Gmail ads are shown as a teaser, and by clicking on the ad, it’s expanded to the full version, containing more information. They are created by using specific Google templates that allow text, pictures, and videos to be included in the ad.