Glossary
What is Sticky ad?
Also called: anchor ad, adhesion ad
A sticky ad stays fixed on screen while the reader scrolls, usually at the top or bottom of a phone screen or in a desktop sidebar.
हिंदी में पढ़ेंA sticky ad, also called an anchor or adhesion ad, keeps its place on screen as the page scrolls. Common forms are a banner fixed to the bottom or top of a phone screen and a tall unit that stays in view in a desktop sidebar. Because it does not scroll away, it can stay in view for much of the visit.
Size matters. Large sticky ads are one of the ad experiences named in the Better Ads Standards, so keep sticky units small. A sticky slot also adds to how crowded the screen feels, and a site that keeps failing the standards can have all its ads filtered in Chrome.
Sticky slots are often refreshed, because the reader stays next to them. In Google Ad Manager that refresh must be declared, and time-based refresh on the web needs at least 30 seconds between ads. Viewable refresh, which swaps the ad only after it has been viewable and while the tab is active, wastes fewer impressions.
Example
A reader spends 3 minutes on a page with a sticky sidebar ad. With 30-second time-based refresh it shows 180 ÷ 30 = 6 ads. If the reader spent the last 2 minutes in another tab, viewable refresh would show only the 2 ads from the 1 active minute.
Why it matters to publishers
Sticky ads keep an ad in view, which buyers value, but large or fast-refreshing ones break the rules. Small, declared and viewable is the safe combination.