Ad networks on WordPress sites and the Core Web Vitals

Google AdSense (94.0%), Google Publisher Tag (15.8%), Prebid.js (5.3%), Taboola (1.6%), Criteo (1.0%), and Amazon Publisher Services (1.4%) across 5,121 ad-supported sites.

Field data PhoneDesktopAll Scope All sites October 2026 edition · Phone field outcomes · WordPress sites only
WordPress Scoped to 63,295 sites out of 203,892 analyzed (cms) Compare with all sites →

5.3% of WordPress sites use Prebid.js ad networks, and 52% of those sites pass all three Core Web Vitals, against 63% of all WordPress sites.

The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · WordPress: 63,295 crawled sites · 36,524 with phone field data · 5,121 sites with ad networksBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
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Core Web Vitals pass rate

Sites with Prebid.js ad networks pass all three Core Web Vitals most often: 52%, against 63% of all WordPress sites. The biggest gap is LCP, 72% against 70%.

SitesAll three good · at least one needs improvement · at least one poor
All WordPress sites36,52463%
Media.net 0.1%575%
Prebid.js Header Bidding 5.3%24252%
Google AdSense 94.0%3,03851%
Google Publisher Tag (GPT) 15.8%63350%
Taboola 1.6%6840%
Amazon Publisher Services (TAM/UAM) 1.4%5639%
Index Exchange 0.2%1136%
Criteo 1.0%5231%
GoodNeeds improvementPoorSites: with Chrome field data
The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · WordPress: 63,295 crawled sites · 36,524 with phone field data · 5,121 sites with ad networksBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
2

Ad networks usage

Google AdSense is the most used: 94.0% of WordPress sites. Prebid.js is 5.3% of WordPress sites.

Sites using each option (sites can use more than one) 5,121 sites
Google AdSense 94.0% Google Publisher Tag (GPT) 15.8%
Google AdSense 94.0% Google Publisher Tag (GPT) 15.8% Prebid.js Header Bidding 5.3% Taboola 1.6% Amazon Publisher Services (TAM/UAM) 1.4% Criteo 1.0% Index Exchange 0.2% Media.net 0.1%
The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · WordPress: 63,295 crawled sites · 36,524 with phone field data · 5,121 sites with ad networksBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
3

How ad networks affect the four LCP phases

Across the four LCP sub-parts in Chrome's field data, the largest gap between Prebid.js and Google AdSense sits in time to first byte (TTFB): 633 ms median for Prebid.js against 1133 ms for Google AdSense. Overall median field LCP is 1.8s for Prebid.js (TTFB 633 ms, load delay 376 ms, load duration 201 ms, render delay 256 ms) versus 2.1s for Google AdSense.

Median LCP phase breakdown (Chrome field p75) Load delay Median LCP
WordPress sites with ad networks 2,4961103 ms347 ms279 ms347 mslab 336 ms2.1s
Google Publisher Tag (GPT) 510805 ms342 ms275 ms342 mslab 345 ms1.9s
Google AdSense 2,2971133 ms343 ms281 ms343 mslab 329 ms2.1s
Prebid.js Header Bidding 196633 ms376 ms256 ms376 mslab 395 ms1.8s
Amazon Publisher Services (TAM/UAM) 45590 ms378 ms344 ms378 mslab 371 ms1.9s
Criteo 40951 ms455 ms249 ms455 mslab 440 ms2.5s
Taboola 49761 ms518 ms271 ms518 mslab 480 ms1.8s
TTFB Resource load delay Resource load time Element render delay
The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · WordPress: 63,295 crawled sites · 36,524 with phone field data · 5,121 sites with ad networksBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
4

Ad networks per framework

On jQuery, 94% of sites use Google AdSense ad networks, and 62% of jQuery sites pass all three Core Web Vitals, against 63% of all sites. On Vue, 96% of sites use Google AdSense, and 60% of Vue sites pass all three.

FrameworkAd networks on its sitesPass all three
WordPress sites with ad networks 5,121 sitesGoogle AdSense 94%Google Publisher Tag (GPT) 16%63%
jQuery 4,865 sitesGoogle AdSense 94%Google Publisher Tag (GPT) 15%62%
Vue 467 sitesGoogle AdSense 96%60%
Google AdSense Google Publisher Tag (GPT) Prebid.js Header Bidding Taboola Amazon Publisher Services (TAM/UAM) Criteo Index Exchange Media.net
The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · WordPress: 63,295 crawled sites · 36,524 with phone field data · 5,121 sites with ad networksBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
5

Ad networks or the framework

Does the framework explain the ad networks difference?

On jQuery, 52% of sites with Prebid.js ad networks pass all three Core Web Vitals, against 51% of jQuery sites with Google AdSense. Within jQuery, sites with Prebid.js and Google AdSense pass all three about equally often.

The State of Web Vitals · October 2026 · WordPress: 63,295 crawled sites · 36,524 with phone field data · 5,121 sites with ad networksBy Arjen Karel · corewebvitals.io/state-of-cwv
Related signals Tag managers on page → Third-party categories → Third parties per page → Cookie wall detected → By Arjen Karel · 63,295 crawled WordPress sites (36,524 with phone Chrome field data, 5,121 sites with ad networks, October 2026) · How we measured