Ad Formats Explained: 8 Types That Convert

Choosing the right ad format is one of the biggest levers you control before a campaign ever goes live. The format decides where your creative appears, how much attention it earns, how intrusive it feels, and which pricing model fits. This guide has the ad formats explained in plain terms, so you can match each one to a goal, a budget, and an audience on the Adgora crypto ad network.

Adgora serves eight creative types from a single ad server: display banners, native, text, teasers, video, push, popunder, and interstitial. Every one runs through the same auction and can be billed on CPC, CPM, or CPA. That shared plumbing lets you test formats against each other on equal footing instead of guessing which will perform.

Why ad formats matter more than the creative

A strong creative in the wrong format still underperforms. Format sets the ceiling on attention: an interstitial takes the full screen, while a text ad borrows a single line inside someone else's content. Format also drives expected engagement, how the placement feels to a reader, and how well it fits a given page. Get the format right and average creatives do fine; get it wrong and even great creatives struggle.

On Adgora, format is a property of the creative itself. When you build a campaign you pick a creative type, and the ad server renders it correctly for the zone it lands in. Because all formats compete in the same auction, budget naturally flows toward whichever combination of format, bid, and targeting wins the most impressions at your price.

Key takeaways

• Adgora supports eight ad formats: display banners, native, text, teasers, video, push, popunder, and interstitial.
• Format sets the ceiling on attention — choose it from your objective, not from habit.
• Pricing model is a separate decision: CPM for reach, CPC for clicks, CPA for tracked conversions.
• Every format competes in the same eCPM auction, so you can test them head to head on real numbers.
• Publishers earn a 70% revenue share with a $10 minimum payout, making format-to-layout fit worth optimizing.

The core ad formats explained

Display banners

Display is the classic image banner: a fixed-size graphic in a defined slot such as a header, sidebar, or in-content block. It is the most universal format and the easiest to produce, which makes it a sensible starting point for almost any campaign. Display suits brand awareness and retargeting, where repeated visual exposure matters more than an instant click. It is often billed on CPM so you pay for reach, though CPC display is common for direct-response offers.

Native ads

Native ads adopt the look and feel of the surrounding content instead of announcing themselves. They usually pair a headline, a thumbnail, and a short description, then blend into a publisher's feed or content grid. Because they read as editorial rather than promotional, native placements tend to earn higher engagement from people who are already reading. Native is a strong fit for content offers, listicles, and softer top-of-funnel messaging — just keep the unit clearly labeled as an ad.

Text and teaser ads

Text ads are the lightest format of all: a headline and a line of copy, no image. They load instantly, fit almost anywhere, and lean entirely on the promise in your words. Teasers sit a step up, combining a small image with a curiosity-driven headline, and often appear in grids on content and entertainment sites. Both formats are cheap to run and excellent for split-testing angles fast, since you can iterate copy without commissioning new artwork.

Video ads

Video carries the most information per impression and the widest emotional range. It suits product demos, storytelling, and offers that need a few seconds of context before the call to action lands. On Adgora, video serves through the standard VAST protocol for sites with players or video content. It costs more to produce and typically prices higher per impression, so reserve it for campaigns where the extra attention pays for itself.

Push notifications

Push ads reach users who have opted in to notifications, delivering a compact title, message, and icon to the device. Because the user already agreed to receive alerts, push traffic is permission-based and tends to convert well for direct-response offers. It is one of the higher-intent formats on the network, and it can reach a user even after they leave the page.

Popunders

A popunder opens your landing page in a new browser tab behind the current window, so the user sees it after they finish what they were doing. Popunders deliver a full-page view and large volume at low cost, which makes them a workhorse for high-volume direct-response buyers. They are heavier on the experience than in-page formats, so pair them with strong landers and careful frequency capping.

Interstitials

Interstitials take over the full screen at a natural break, such as between page transitions. They are hard to miss and therefore command high engagement, but that same prominence means timing and frequency matter. Used sparingly at genuine transition moments, interstitials convert strongly; overused, they frustrate audiences and erode goodwill.

Matching formats to pricing models

Format and pricing model are separate decisions on Adgora, and choosing them together is where strategy lives. Every campaign runs through a first-price eCPM auction, which ranks bids by their effective cost per thousand impressions no matter how you chose to pay.

• CPM — you pay per thousand impressions. Best for awareness-heavy formats like display and video, where exposure is the goal.
• CPC — you pay only when someone clicks. A natural fit for text, teaser, native, and push, where the click is the first real signal of interest.
• CPA — you pay per conversion, tracked through server-to-server postbacks. Ideal for performance buyers running offers, including cash-on-delivery flows that only count once an order is delivered.

If you are still deciding how to pay for traffic, our CPC vs CPM vs CPA guide breaks down when each model wins. For the wider picture of how crypto settlement, targeting, and reporting fit together, see the complete crypto advertising guide.

How to choose the right format

Start from the objective, not the format. If you want reach and recall, lean on display and video billed on CPM. If you want clicks and cheap testing, start with text, teaser, and native on CPC. If you want volume at low cost, popunders and interstitials deliver scale. If you want opted-in, high-intent traffic, push is hard to beat. And if you are optimizing for a tracked outcome, run CPA and let conversions decide.

The practical move is to run two or three formats against the same offer and let the auction and your stats settle the argument. Adgora reports impressions, clicks, CTR, conversions, spend, eCPM, and CPC per campaign, so you can compare formats on real numbers rather than intuition after a few days of data.

A note for publishers

If you run the traffic rather than buy it, formats matter just as much. Each zone you create can serve the formats that suit your layout, and the ad server picks the highest-bidding eligible creative for every impression. Publishers earn a 70% revenue share on served ads, with payouts starting at a $10 minimum, so choosing formats that fit your site cleanly directly raises both your fill and your eCPM.

Get started

The fastest way to learn which format works for your offer is to launch a small test and read the stats. Create an Adgora account to build your first campaign, pick a format, and put the auction to work.