Leaderboard messing up my page layout

[eth0real]

Hello everybody.
First of all my website is <snip>

The website runs fine in firefox but when i open it in Internet Explorer, the main table swells out and is out of poportion with the rest of the page.

this is a picture of the page in IE
<snip>

this is how it is supposed to look (in firefox)
<snip>

i have located the problem but i dont know how to fix it.
the problem is the leaderboard adsense ad
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<snip>

when i remove it, everything is good. why would an ad mess everything up? what's going on? how do i fix it? any help would be greatly appreciated

[edited by: Jenstar at 5:10 am (utc) on Nov. 30, 2004]
[edit reason] No URLS as per TOS, please! [/edit]

[Jenstar]

It doesn't seem to be an AdSense specific problem. Sounds like it is a cross-browser compatibility issue with adding something fixed width to the layout. If you removed AdSense and add an image the same size, I think you will find the identical issue.

[eth0real]

your right. i switched it with an image and it still messed it up.
do you know how i could fix it?

[david_uk]

It's a bit difficult to answer the question as the info has been snipped in line with the TOS. However, I'd be inclined to optimise the page for IE on the grounds that if you look at your weblogs you will find that the vast majority of your visitors browsers are going to be IE. Then look at how it works in other browsers and try and make it as good a fit as possible.

If the compatibility is still poor, then the other way is to use a snippet of javascript to detect if the visitor is using certain browsers and redirect them to a version of the page specific to their browser. It does work but it's not ideal. Ideally you'd have one page that works well on all browsers, and that's what I'd try and achieve.

[david_uk]

Oh, and you might like to have a play with type of banner and location.

Banners didn't work well for me. There was an improvement when I switched from a banner to a right aligned skyscraper, and an huge improvement when I switched to a central box.

Many people have reported that a box sort of centrally aligned (usually after the first paragraph) increases CTR. In my case, it trebled it - along with the income it generated.

[hyperkik]

I just wish Google offered a less intrusive four ad box - IMHO you either have "too tall and too narrow", "too few ads", or "too wide". Wouldn't it be neat if Google created a box where we could define the width within certain parameters? (I'm dreaming, right? ;-))

[Bluepixel]

You could modify the adsense javascript paramerster.
But I don't think it's allowed though. :-)

[hyperkik]

eth0real - assuming I'm looking at the correct site, your problem is with your html, not with AdSense.

Your adsense is in a table cell that spans three columns. Below that cell, you have the left column defined to 130 pixels, the middle column to 100%, and the right column to 0%/ If you change it - e.g., set the left and right columns to 130 pixels and remove the width parameter from the center column - the problem should resolve.

[eth0real]

you are my hero hyperkik
i did what you said and, viola! Thank you a bunch. i don't know how many hours i have spent trying to get that fixed this past week.

[hyperkik]

I'm happy to have helped. Sometimes all it takes is a fresh pair of eyes.