What is a 468×60?
The 468×60 ad unit is a now-defunct IAB standard ad unit with the dimensions of 468 pixels wide by 60 pixels tall. The 468×60 was retired in 2011 by the IAB.
This ad size is confusingly called a banner, which likely stems from it being one of the first ad units, and therefore the show pony of “banner advertising”.
This ad unit was previously generally placed at the top of a page, in the spot currently occupied by leaderboards. It is often used twice on a page, with two banner ads appearing side by side to span the width of the page.
The unit was retired because of its consistently bad performance (due to being too small), yet still remains used somewhat frequently so should not be ignored. It is now most commonly served through a multi-size ad slot with a 728×90 ad unit.
What it looks like
The banner dimensions are 468 x 60 pixels. Below is a live example of this ad unit.
Note: The live ad may not always load for technical reasons, and instead a backup image will show.
468×60 Advice for Site Owners
A 468×60 is one of the lowest-performing and paying ad units available, so it is not recommended.
Tip: As much of the advertising industry still creates these units as standard, it should be not be ignored altogether. Place a 468×60 on the bottom of each page for incremental revenue.
468×60 Advice for Ad Buyers
The 468×60 as a unit generally performs comparatively badly, so it is not recommended.
Due to the small area of the ad, you should only ever create them when you have a very simple message that can fit the space.
Many older small sites will still have these ad slots available as their main advertising slots, so occasionally you will have no choice but to use them.
Tip: If you can buy inventory cheaply for the 468×60, and have one available for use then it might be worthwhile, but watch your ROI.
7 Ideas & Facts About 468x60s
- The 468×60 is known as a banner ad & used to be so popular that display ads, in general, are still often used by this name (banner ads).
- Not to be ageist, but avoid this relic. It simply doesn’t perform as well as larger ad sizes.
- The 468×60 takes up 28,080 pixels of space. That might sound like a lot, but then the 728×90 takes up more than double at 65,520.
- This ad size isn’t very successful anymore, but it is still extremely common across the internet. Old guides to advertising still list them, and old programs (and web designers) still make them out of habit.
- A 468×60 might seem small nowadays, but when screen sizes (and screen resolutions) were smaller the 468×60 took up a lot more real estate on a webpage.
- The 468×60 was replaced on most websites by the much more successful (and larger) 728×90, just like the 160×600 was replaced by the 300×600.
- Horizontal ads such as the 468×60 are often placed at the top of a webpage – which is why they generally perform so well (all ATF ads gets a CTR advantage).
Summary
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