Your ads aren’t limited only to showing up on your Activity Stream. In fact, you can put them anywhere you want within your community, and you can create shortcodes and override your templates if you choose so and possess the technical knowledge.
When creating an ad, you will be given the option to choose its name – which can be an identifier of its placement. Next you have the Ad Type that will define its appearance. The menu offers various options, among which you can choose its base: Rich Text, Image, AdSense ad, predefined Ad Group, and a few paid options that will integrate Google Ad Management and/or accelerated Mobile viewability. You can also create a Dummy ad for the purpose of testing.
After you choose your type, add the necessary content to your ad, whether it’s an image, text, banner, URL… Always keep in mind the positioning that you want for your ad and pick your options according to that. Sidebar ads, for example, are actually widgets and as such they are both visible and non-intrusive.
If your ads are directly related to each other, like video games and gaming accessories, you can add an entire premade Group to your widget. Otherwise, only choose one ad per widget. Don’t forget to set the appropriate Conditions for better targeting, if you so desire.