Illustration: Ads on more than 30% of the page

Ads on more than 30% of the page

Ad Density Higher Than 30% · experience 09 of 23

Add up the height of all the ads inside the main content of the page. If that sum goes over 30% of the main content height, the page falls below the standard.

LimitMore than 30% of the main content height, measured with the whole article open. Text, image or video ads count, in the middle of the text or sticky. Each sticky ad goes into the sum only once.

Doesn't countHeader, footer, site menu and user comments. Ads below the end of the main content. Pre-roll and mid-roll of a video related to the page topic. A recommendations block ("read also") is left out only if it leads to pages of the site itself and the link is not paid; external or mixed recommendations count as ads.

How to do it rightTo recommend other articles, use a block with only links to your own site and no payment, because it is not counted.

Understand it in 1 minute

On mobile, the ad density limit is 30%. The Coalition for Better Ads calculation works like this: add up the height of all the ads inside the main content of the page and divide by the total height of that main content. If the ads take up more than 30% of the height, the page falls below the standard. It is like a magazine where a good part of every article is taken up by advertising.

The measurement is made on the main content of the whole page, not just the part visible on the phone screen. The main content does not include the site's header, footer and navigation, and that includes related article blocks. Ads below the main content are not counted.

All ad formats count toward density, both sticky ones (such as an anchor stuck to the footer) and those in the middle of the text. The height of each sticky ad is counted only once, even if it appears throughout the scroll. Video ads that play before (pre-roll) or in the middle (mid-roll) of a video related to the page's own topic are not part of the measurement. Since the calculation divides by the content height, a short text with several ads exceeds the limit more easily than a long text with the same ads.

Allowed

Allowed like this

A page where the ads in the main content add up to 30% or less of the height of that content.
Ads after the end of the main content: they are not counted.
Header, footer, menu and related article blocks: they are not part of the main content.
Pre-roll or mid-roll of a video related to the page topic: not part of the measurement.
A sticky anchor counted only once, with the total sum staying at 30% or less.

Not allowed

Not allowed like this

A short post with so many ads that their combined height exceeds 30% of the content height.
An ad after each short paragraph, until the sum exceeds 30%.
A sticky anchor added to the ads in the text exceeding 30% (the anchor counts once).
A list of short tips with an ad between each tip, adding up to more than 30%.

In practice

Imagine a short post open on a phone, with an ad after each paragraph and a sticky anchor in the footer. Adding up the height of all these ads (the anchor counts once) and dividing by the text height, the result is above 30%, and the page falls below the standard. With fewer ads in the text, the sum can drop to 30% or less and the page goes back to meeting the standard.