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Do not use more than 2 dominant ad units per page - Example: Leaderboard and Medium Rectangle OR Leaderboard and Skyscraper, etc. |
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Bigger ads have a better chance of being seen, but be cautious of edit to ad ratio. No more than 2 large ads OR one half-page ad on a page. |
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Ads that are inserted into articles and blend with their surroundings are more effective than those relegated to standard placements, which contrast with a site's colors and style. Article ads that are seen the most are the 300x250 Medium Rectangle inset into article text. |
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Half-page ads may be placed on article pages only; not the Home page. No other ads should appear on the same page as this unit. Note: half-page ads receive 18% fewer viewers looking at them compared to smaller rectangles placed inside the main content column. |
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Do not place banner/button ad units near each other as this dilutes the effectiveness of each ad and reduces the users' propensity to click. |
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Unless site traffic exceeds 200K page views/ month, all ad units must be ROS to accommodate advertiser impression demands (NO 1/2 site skyscraper, 1/2 medium rectangle) . |
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Always identify advertisements/sponsors when adjacent to editorial. |
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Proximity to content increases advertisement's chance of being seen. Ads close to top-of-the-page headlines also do well. |
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Text ads are viewed most intently of all ad units. Group all text ads in a defined region with a heading. |
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Ads in the top and left portions of a homepage receive the most eye fixations; right side ads don't do as well. Since ads at the bottom of the page are seen by only a small percentage of people, you may determine that the anchor banner is no longer worthwhile. |
Roy Zornow
MS Word version 
