Most of the excesses are undesirable, and heavy ads are no exception. Heavy ads slow down site performance, increase bounce rates, and often lead to reporting discrepancies between ad platforms. Worse, Google may block them entirely, costing you impressions and revenue. You need to keep your ads slim, and we’re here to tell you how.

First, we will define heavy ads relative to Google’s criteria. Following that, there will be an explanation of why it is crucial to comply with the ad size standards. Lastly, we will take a look at how to keep the ads fit, how TwinRed can help, and how to check the size in three different ways.

Heavy ads defined and measured

A heavy ad is one that is too large to load in a timely manner. Google has three criteria for defining a heavy ad. It will be flagged as heavy if the ad meets any of the following thresholds:

• CPU usage: Uses 60 seconds of total CPU time.
• CPU burst: Uses 15 seconds of CPU time in a 30-second window.
• Network usage: Uses more than 4 MB of network bandwidth.

Please note that the thresholds apply on a per iFrame basis (not per page). If any of the thresholds are exceeded, Google will simply block the ad, stating: “This ad uses too many resources and has been removed.”

Another thing to remember is that ad size is detected by the Chrome browser, so the monitoring is client-based. Specifically, Chrome monitors:

• JavaScript execution time
• CPU cycles consumed
• Network requests made by the ad iframe

As long as users rely on Chrome, it automatically blocks heavy ads. That’s why you need to optimize your creatives… or give up on Chrome, one of the most popular browsers in the world.

Why ads must be lightweight

Make your ads light and fast to ensure they meet the aforementioned criteria. Google’s heavy ad intervention might impact publishers, advertisers, and users. Slow-loading ads can cause users to bounce out, damaging the performance of publishers and leaving advertisers with blocked ads.

When publishers work with networks of Supply Service Platforms (SSPs) that don’t optimize their creatives, they lose not only short-term profit, but also suffer from strategic consequences. If users bounce out dissatisfied (and they often do), then their SEO rank also drops, which can lead to a downward spiral.

Of course, as a publisher, you don’t make the creatives, but you can oversee what appears on your website. While we check our end and limit the maximum size of creatives, you should also monitor this, especially if you work with multiple ad networks.

How to prevent ads from getting fat

In general, there are a few ways to prevent ads from becoming too heavy and how to make them burn their digital calories if they get too large. While publishers don’t design the creatives, they are still responsible for the ads they serve. Monitoring ad weight is a part of maintaining a quality user experience.

To conduct your due diligence, use tools such as Lighthouse, Chrome DevTools, or Web Vitals to evaluate performance. Audit the performance of ad creatives regularly and in real conditions.

Demand from advertisers to optimize creatives. They should utilize compressed image and video formats. Reduce JavaScript complexity and minimize timers and animations to achieve that. Additionally, avoid autoplaying content without user interaction.

Ensure that the ads your website serves are under 4 MB; whether they are images, videos, scripts, or any other content. Refrain from loading 3rd-party scripts unnecessarily.

If you want to take the matter into your own hands, use asynchronous scripts to prevent bottlenecks and reduce CPU spikes. Finally, control how much tracking is used. Too many tracking pixels or a complex retargeting code can siphon resources and cause CPU spikes.

How TwinRed keeps you safe

You’re not alone in this battle against heavy ads, as TwinRed is always by your side. We regularly scan all ads on our platform to verify their size, quality, and behavior before letting them go live. As a result, Google’s heavy ad filters will not be triggered.

To stay proactive and compliant with Google’s standards, we monitor ad weight and performance in real-time. That’s how we manage to achieve 100% compliance with Google’s policies and bring this expertise to you.

However, the most important thing is to stay true to your preferences and tastes. That’s why you can block specific formats, sizes, or behaviors using dedicated tags of ours. At TwinRed, we have all the tools needed to maintain your performance and ensure high earnings. Try our ad network now if you haven’t yet to see why we’re among the best.

How to check if the ad is heavy

There are three main ways we can come up with to check the weight of ads. Let’s start with the most automated one — using Google’s built-in tools.

Navigate to the Performance Tab in Chrome DevTools to simulate real browsing behavior. Start by opening your ad creative (the page containing it) in Google Chrome. Right-click on it and inspect to switch to the Performance tab.

After that, you can click on Record and either reload the page or trigger the ad. Act as an average user: scroll, hover, read, etc. Once you stop the recording, you need to analyze the results. Look for long tasks, which are highlighted in red, check CPU time spikes, and review network requests. Look to see if there are any assets 4+ MB, but there are more red flags to look out for:

• High CPU usage for one iframe
• Repetitive, looping animations or timers
• Unnecessary JavaScript execution
• Total network load over 4MB for the ad iframe

The second alternative is to manually check the ad creative assets, provided you have access. Inspect JavaScript timers, animation loops, or trackers, and check the size of images and video. They should be under 4 MB, ideally under 1 MB. Avoid auto-plays, an abundance of nested iFrames, and excessive third-party calls — all these things could lower your rank on Google.

Finally, if you use an ad server like Google Ad Manager or your network’s internal preview tool, you can test things in a staged environment. Load the ad on a test site or ad slot. Run Chrome DevTools and Lighthouse from there. And monitor CPU/network load per iFrame.

Whatever you choose, TwinRed is always here to consult and help. Drop us a line and let’s boost your performance together, because we also care.