Definition: Anchor Ad


An Anchor Ad is a type of overlay ad which stays at the bottom of a webpage regardless of scrolling. They often have a way to close them or expand them into larger ad units.

These ads are most often used for mobile advertising (although not always) and form part of Google AdSense’s Page Level Ads (along with Vignettes). On mobile, they are generally the size 320×50, and on desktop they are generally 728×90.

 

What it looks like

This is an example of an anchor ad:

 

300x50 Example

 

7 Ideas & Facts About Anchor Ads

  1. Overlay ads are usually more annoying to users than valuable to websites. Anchor ads don’t break this trend.
  2. Google AdSense includes these as part of their page-level ads package.
  3. This type of ad must have a close button to minimise how much they annoy users.
  4. When this type of ad is used alongside other floaters at the bottom of a webpage (such as cookie policy notifications, or social media buttons) something is bound to go wrong.
  5. If you allow anchor ads in your app, make sure it’s not covering up vital (or any) functionality.
  6. While Anchor Ads can make reasonable money in the short run, they often drive away users in the long run.
  7. Anchor Ads can technically appear at the top of a page too, but it rarely happens due to UX issues. It also stops the name from really making sense.

 

Summary

Anchor Ads Definition

Glossary Index