300x250 Above the fold on Mobile

[breeks]

From Adsense Blog

We recognize the frustration around limitations we’ve placed on this sized unit on mobile web pages, and starting May 2, 2017, we will no longer disallow this ad unit from being placed above the fold on mobile web pages. After careful review, we've determined that when 300x250 ads are implemented above the fold in a user-friendly way, the ads do not annoy, distract, or result in ad performance issues.

You still must be vigilant to ensure that their mobile site layouts do not cause ads to push the page content below the fold in such a way that may lead to accidental clicks.

[adsense.googleblog.com ]

[keyplyr]

A complete reversal of policy... interesting. I guess Google saw the revenue advantage of this ad unit high up on the page and justified to itself to allow it.

[NickMNS]

This is really interesting. This will allow for more "aggressive" peeking of the ads "at" the fold, which in the past was a little risky. Because, in the past if your content varied and the screen-size varied you could easily end up with the ad fully above the fold as opposed to partially peeking past the fold as intended.

[nomis5]

I spent a couple of days modifying my mobile pages to ensure all 300 x 250 appeared below the fold. G sent me a violation notice about it.

And now all that work is wasted. Slightly peed off about that.

[keyplyr]

nomis5 - if it wasn't such a PITA it would be funny.

However, that's what SSI (server side includes) are for. Edit one file to change ad positioning site wide.

[dcardoso]

300x250 below post title. It's a problem?

[keyplyr]

Hi dcardoso and welcome to WebmasterWorld [webmasterworld.com]

Read the link that breeks posted.

[Swanny007]

I got a violation notice about this and spent quite a few hours reviewing hundreds of articles individually as a result. I'm not happy now. All that work, worry, and frustration for nothing.

I had the 300x250 showing basically partially at the fold on mobile (not right below the page title, rather it was after the first paragraph of content). I moved that ad down one paragraph to appease the G.

Sigh.

[Samsam1978]

Does that we me can place it above everything now? even before the header this will push content down though so I don't understand what they are saying is ok. I wish they would supply some images e.g. what is classified as "in a user-friendly way?"

[Peter_S]

What they say is that it's okay if the 300x250 is after some content, even if it means it shows entirely or partially above the fold. Then all depends of the kind of content at your site, and your page layout.

In all events, you are not going to put a 300x250 before the header on a mobile device. If you want to put something "before" your contnet, then you should try banners which have heights of 50 or 100 pixels. But still, all depends of your page design.

[CommandDork]

Interesting change of course, though cant say I agree with it. Those 320x50/100 banners must not be doing enough for Google.

[Runfun]

How official is this? I also got a violation warning a couple a weeks ago...

Would it be enough to have the header including logo and navigation-bar above the banner?

[keyplyr]

How official is this? I also got a violation warning a couple a weeks ago...

Official [adsense.googleblog.com...] You need content above the ad. About 100 words would be adequate IMO.

Optimizations for the mobile Web [support.google.com]

[Peter_S]

About the link posted by @keyplyr (Optimization for the mobile web...). Am I wrong, or, does Google say to put an ad (320x100) under the content title ?! I thought it was forbidden by Adsense' TOS, isn't it ? In case of a traditional article, does it mean we can have the article title <h1> immediatly followed by a 320x100 ad, then followed by text of the article ? (on mobile devices)

[keyplyr]

Am I wrong, or, does Google say to put an ad (320x100) under the content title ?

No, Google does not say "you can have the article title <h1> immediatly followed by a 320x100 ad"

Google says ""Above the fold", or the top fold of the page, refer to the portion of the page a user can see without scrolling down."

@Peter_S - where exactly do you see Google say "...immediately under the title (<h1>)" ?

[Runfun]

@keyplyr, 100 words above the fold including a header, title and a 300x250 banner is almost impossible. There's not enough space I guess.

[Peter_S]

The link you gave, goes to a page, where there is a tiny image , with a smartphone and graph, with the text :

"Simple optimizations for your mobile site
For more help with optimizing your mobile site, download our one-pager of tips and best practices: Simple optimizations for your mobile site".

With a link to a PDF file, which is showing an example of a page for mobile, and they show a 320 x 100 ad just under the "Content Title", which itself is just under the "Page Title".

[keyplyr]

@Runfun - that's just an estimate. Google does not explicitly say 100 words. Often time when the term "content" is used, the rough estimate is 100 words.

[keyplyr]

@Peter_S - I see the confusion. This thread topic is about new Google guidelines for 300x250 responsive ads. You are now asking about 300x100 banner ads. My mistake. Yes that PDF does show that.

[Runfun]

Last days I'm trying to place the 300x250 unit under the header on my mobile layout but it's very difficult to place content above the fold with this banner. I've a header with logo, navbar, 300x250 banner than topic title and than one phrase above the fold. Should I switch to a smaller banner?

[NickMNS]

@Runfun place the content (or at least some of it) before the ad, such that the ad is pushed to the fold. So that on Iphone4 it will be split half above, half below. Then Iphone 6 or 7 it will likely be at the bottom of the screen.

[Peter_S]

@Runfun, even on a desktop, you will not put a 250 pixel height ad before the content; so on a mobile device this would be worse.

[Runfun]

@Peter_S, I see it very often that a 970x250 is placed above the fold for desktop. It's probably the best performing size for desktop. Problem is the bigger websites use it a lot and they won't get a ban that easy as a smaller publisher.