How to split test Responsive AdSense ads

One of the newest ad sizes Google has provided is the ‘responsive’ ad size. Ads with this size will automatically choose the best size based on the visitor’s device and browser.

For example, instead of setting up a 320 x 50 Mobile Banner ad for your mobile phone traffic and a 728 x 90 Leaderboard ad for your desktop traffic, simply choose a responsive size and the ad will adjust to the best width of your user’s screen.

AmpedSense makes it super easy to test the effectiveness of responsive ads on your visitors. For your first recipe, follow the standard instructions for creating an ad recipe of a fixed size. For your second recipe, be sure to select the ‘Responsive’ ad type when creating your recipe:

responsiveselection

Since Google does not allow responsive ads to be made via their API, you’ll have to follow the instructions on the screen to generate and paste your responsive code.

  1. Create a new ad unit in AdSense with the ‘Responsive’ size.
  2. Assign the custom channel named at the bottom of this page (must name recipe first) to that ad.
  3. Paste the code from Google into the code snippet box

Here’s what the AdSense screen should look like when you’re creating your responsive ad. Make sure you don’t forget to create the custom channel (it will automatically be assigned to the ad when you create it). You’ll already have had to name the ad back in AmpedSense to know the name of the custom channel.

responsivechannel

If you are using more than 1 responsive ad on the same recipe, you can copy/paste the same ad snippet code. But you’ll need to make a specific ad for each different recipe.

Responsive ads fill up the container they are inside, so it doesn’t make sense to have an ad justified to the left or to the right. For your ad location on a responsive ad, be sure to choose ‘center’ if you’re placing it within the content.

Finally, you can preview the placement of your responsive ads with the Preview button at the bottom of the recipe creation page. You won’t be able to see the actual ad yet, but should see a black placeholder where the responsive ad will be shown.

Happy split testing!

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