This is new, Verizon published an ad that's a whopping 3.2mb to load and its a .gif? Did Google ads standards have changed? I thought the limit was 150kb?
https://s0.2mdn.net/9847206/CS_970X250_SC_HA_Holiday_CU_GM_LG_ENG_CM_GEN_CV_PRM_OT_No_Price_Point_FM_SPRE_FF_A.gif
I don't have a definitive answer, since it probably depends on the surrounding context on which network and how it was served. But typically 150k is the initial/polite load size, and after interaction you can load more. Was there interaction involved with that GIF?
(This doesn't rule out nefarious ad behavior from Verizon, which could dynamically load a different GIF size after it is approved for the network, though unlikely)
There could also be multiple versions of the ad served based on your connection speed. 'Bandwidth' is a targetable type here: https://support.google.com/admanager/answer/2884033?hl=en (And likely Verizon has carte blanche to bend rules)
Interesting, I spotted it at a mid section of the page. It’s was cleverly placed because it takes time to load that ad from the get go than if it were to be placed header sections?
I think Google is cleverly using the ad placement based on its size and where on the page will it go? It could be an exclusive agreement or deal with Verizon and Google ads.