Two advertising platforms that consistently trip up creative teams are Snapchat and Google Ads — for opposite reasons.
Snapchat is a platform many brands treat as an afterthought. Its specs are often looked up at the last minute, the creative is repurposed from another placement, and the result underperforms because it was never designed for the environment. Snapchat’s audience is highly attuned to the platform’s aesthetic. Content that was designed for Instagram and dropped into Snap without adaptation looks wrong immediately.
Google Ads is the opposite problem. Most brands are running Google Ads, but the creative requirements span so many formats — Performance Max, Display, Demand Gen, Search extensions, App Campaigns, video — that managing the asset library becomes genuinely complex. Knowing which dimensions are needed for which campaign type, and what the file constraints are, is a practical operational challenge.
This guide covers both platforms with the exact specifications you need.
Snapchat Ad Specs
The Core Format: Single Image or Video Ad
Snapchat’s primary ad format is the full-screen vertical ad that appears between organic Stories.
Image Ad:
- Dimensions: 1080 × 1920 pixels
- Aspect ratio: 9:16
- File type: JPG or PNG
- Maximum file size: 5MB
Video Ad:
- Dimensions: 1080 × 1920 pixels
- Aspect ratio: 9:16
- File type: MP4 or MOV
- Maximum file size: 1GB
- Audio codec: PCM or AAC, 16 or 24-bit
- Target audio level: -16 LUFS
Both formats use the same canvas and share the same safe zone: keep critical content at least 175px from the top and 175px from the bottom of the frame. Snapchat’s UI places the advertiser name and a “Sponsored” label near the top, and the call-to-action swipe-up element near the bottom. Content placed in these margins will be partially obscured.
This leaves a usable centre region of approximately 1080 × 1570 pixels — still a generous canvas, but the safe zone constraint is real and affects layout decisions.
Sponsored Filters
Snapchat Filters are image overlays that users apply to their own Snaps. Brands can create sponsored filters that appear in specific locations or during specific events.
- Dimensions: 1080 × 1920 pixels
- Aspect ratio: 9:16
- File type: PNG (transparent background required)
- Recommended file size: Under 300KB for static images
- Maximum file size: 5MB
The key design consideration for Filters is that they are applied on top of user-generated content — photos and videos that the filter creator did not design. A filter needs to frame the user’s content rather than compete with it. Designs that occupy only the top or bottom portion of the frame (leaving the centre open for the user’s face or scene) perform better than full-frame overlays that obscure the content beneath.
Keep branding subtle. Users share Filters because they like how they look — an overly branded filter that feels like a billboard rather than a design element will not be shared organically.
Sponsored Lenses
Sponsored Lenses are augmented reality experiences — interactive camera overlays that users can apply to selfies or scenes.
- Dimensions: 1080 × 1920 pixels
- Aspect ratio: 9:16
- File type: JPG or PNG (image); MP4 or MOV (video)
- Maximum file size: 5MB (image), 1GB (video)
- Audio codec: PCM or AAC, 16 or 24-bit
- Target audio level: -16 LUFS
Lenses are more complex to produce than other ad formats — they require 3D design tools and Snapchat’s Lens Studio software. They are also among the most effective Snapchat formats in terms of engagement, because the interactive nature creates a participatory experience rather than passive ad consumption. Users spend an average of 20+ seconds playing with Lenses, which is dramatically more attention than a standard video ad receives.
For brands investing in Lens development, include a visible brand mark within the Lens design — not as a logo slapped in the corner, but integrated naturally into the interactive experience. The goal is for users to associate the fun of the experience with the brand.
Google Ads Specs
Google Ads serves creative across more placements than any other ad network. The same campaign type can serve ads on Google Search, YouTube, Gmail, the Google Display Network, Discover, and beyond. Managing this complexity starts with understanding which formats each campaign type requires.
Performance Max (PMax)
Performance Max is Google’s all-in-one campaign type that serves across all Google inventory. It requires a range of assets that Google combines and tests in different configurations.
Landscape Image:
- Dimensions: 1200 × 628 pixels (1.91:1)
- Minimum size: 600 × 314 pixels
- File type: JPG or PNG
- Maximum file size: 5MB
Square Image:
- Dimensions: 1200 × 1200 pixels (1:1)
- Minimum size: 300 × 300 pixels
- File type: JPG or PNG
- Maximum file size: 5MB
Portrait Image:
- Dimensions: 960 × 1200 pixels (4:5)
- Minimum size: 480 × 600 pixels
- File type: JPG or PNG
- Maximum file size: 5MB
Story/Vertical Image:
- Dimensions: 1080 × 1920 pixels (9:16)
- Minimum size: 600 × 1067 pixels
- File type: JPG or PNG
- Maximum file size: 5MB
Video:
- File type: MPG or MOV (uploaded as YouTube videos)
- Recommended length: 10–60 seconds
- Recommended count: 3 videos at 1.91:1 (landscape), 2 at 1:1 (square), 7 at 4:5 (portrait), 1–5 at 9:16 (vertical/story)
PMax campaigns use Google’s AI to assemble and optimise combinations of these assets. Providing assets in all supported orientations and formats gives the algorithm more combinations to test, which typically improves performance compared to providing only one or two asset types.
Display Campaigns
Display campaigns serve banner ads across millions of websites and apps in the Google Display Network.
Responsive Display Ads use the same image assets as Performance Max:
- Landscape: 1200 × 628 pixels (1.91:1)
- Square: 1200 × 1200 pixels (1:1)
- Portrait: Not required but supported
Traditional Display Banner (fixed size):
- Medium Rectangle: 300 × 250 pixels
- File type: JPG, PNG, or GIF (animated GIF supported)
- Maximum file size: 150KB
The 300 × 250 medium rectangle is the most common display ad size in the industry — it appears on more inventory than any other dimension. At this size, creative needs to be visually simple and immediately legible. Complex imagery, small text, and subtle colour contrasts all disappear at this scale.
Demand Gen Campaigns
Demand Gen campaigns serve on YouTube, YouTube Shorts, Gmail, and Google Discover — high-attention environments where users are in a content consumption mindset.
Landscape: 1200 × 628 pixels (1.91:1); minimum 600 × 314 pixels; JPG or PNG, up to 5MB
Square: 1200 × 1200 pixels (1:1); minimum 300 × 300 pixels; JPG or PNG, up to 5MB
Portrait: 960 × 1200 pixels (4:5); minimum 480 × 600 pixels; JPG or PNG, up to 5MB
Logo: 1200 × 1200 pixels (1:1); minimum 128 × 128 pixels; JPG or PNG, up to 5MB
The logo asset is required for Demand Gen campaigns — it appears alongside the headline and description in many placements. Use a clean, high-contrast logo that is legible at small sizes. A wordmark that relies on fine text may not be readable in all placements.
App Campaigns
App Campaigns drive installs and engagement for mobile apps. They serve across Google Search, Play Store, YouTube, and the Display Network.
Square Image:
- Dimensions: 1200 × 1200 pixels (1:1)
- Minimum size: 600 × 600 pixels
- File type: JPG or PNG
- Maximum file size: 5MB
Landscape Image:
- Dimensions: 1200 × 628 pixels (1.91:1)
- Minimum size: 600 × 314 pixels
- File type: JPG or PNG
- Maximum file size: 5MB
Video:
- Dimensions: 1920 × 1080 pixels (16:9) recommended; also supports 1:1
- File type: MP4 or MOV
- Video settings: H.264 or H.265, 30fps recommended, AAC audio at 128kbps or higher
- Recommended duration: 30 seconds or less
App Campaign video creative should prioritise the first five seconds — this is where most view-through decisions are made, particularly in skippable placements. Show the app in use, demonstrate the key benefit, and avoid lengthy brand introductions.
Video Campaigns
Google Video Campaigns serve on YouTube and across Google’s video partner network.
In-Stream (Skippable):
- Dimensions: 1920 × 1080 pixels (16:9)
- File types: MP4 or MOV
- Video settings: H.264 High Profile, 8000–10000 kbps bitrate for 1080p, 30fps, AAC audio at 128kbps or higher
- Duration: Any; viewer can skip after 5 seconds
Bumper Ad:
- Dimensions: 1920 × 1080 pixels (16:9)
- File types: MP4 or MOV
- Duration: Maximum 6 seconds, non-skippable
Outstream:
- Dimensions: 1920 × 1080 pixels (16:9); also supports 1:1
- File types: MP4 or MOV
- Notes: Plays outside YouTube content on mobile websites and apps; starts muted
Search Campaign Image Extensions
When running Search campaigns, you can include image extensions that display a thumbnail alongside your text ad.
Square Image:
- Dimensions: 1200 × 1200 pixels (1:1)
- Minimum size: 300 × 300 pixels
- File type: JPG or PNG
- Maximum file size: 5MB
Landscape Image:
- Dimensions: 1200 × 628 pixels (1.91:1)
- Minimum size: 600 × 314 pixels
- File type: JPG or PNG
- Maximum file size: 5MB
Business Logo:
- Dimensions: 1200 × 1200 pixels (1:1) recommended; minimum 128 × 128 pixels
- File type: JPG or PNG
- Maximum file size: 5MB
Managing Asset Libraries for Multi-Format Campaigns
Both Snapchat and Google Ads reward creative breadth. Snapchat benefits from creative that feels native to the platform rather than imported. Google Ads’ AI-driven systems perform better with more asset variety across more dimensions.
The practical implication: design systems that produce multiple format variants efficiently rather than designing each format from scratch. A set of brand colours, typefaces, and compositional principles that scale across 1:1, 1.91:1, 4:5, and 9:16 canvases is far more valuable than one perfect single-format design.
Keep a record of what you have supplied for each campaign type. Google Ads in particular allows you to add new assets at any time, and campaigns that start with limited asset sets can often be improved by adding underrepresented formats mid-flight.
Final Thoughts
Snapchat and Google Ads sit at different ends of the creative spectrum — one is a highly visual, culture-driven social platform where aesthetic fit matters enormously, the other is a performance infrastructure where asset variety and technical compliance determine how well the system can optimise. Both reward the same underlying discipline: knowing the specs before you design, building for the environment rather than adapting from somewhere else, and treating every format as its own creative brief.
Get the numbers right, design with the platform’s context in mind, and the technical side of both platforms becomes a foundation rather than an obstacle.