Fastclick: does selecting higher CPM ads work/

[webmastertexas]

I read on this forum that you could select the CMP ads that works for you. I think this is a good idea, and Fastclick certainly allows this. But I was wondering: does it work (i.e. does it increase your earnings) if you employ this tactic? I've always done the "accept all ads" thing by default, since I always assumed that the more ads I have, the more earnings I can get. Or is this not true, and should I be more selective in my ads?

Advises, experiences, warnings would be appreciated.

[Fairla]

Well, I approve all campaigns individually (I don't just select all), but I don't base my choices on what they pay. If the advertisers appear to be honest, and it isn't something I think will offend visitors, I select the campaign. I use almost all CPM, very rarely CPC.

So I end up not using about 90 percent of the ads, but I'm happy with what I'm earning, so yes, I think this can work. My philosophy is that you can only serve so many ads, so you might as well serve the best ones. If you skip sleazy ads, visitors are more likely to return to your site, so what you may lose in immediate revenue can be made up in repeated visits.

[ronin]

I vary my testing every two weeks or so.

For a long time I unchecked CPC campaigns by default -it made more sense to have CPM campaigns from another adserver - but recently my visitor levels have reached a point where leaving the CPC campaigns checked is producing more positive results than unchecking them.

I do examine the Flag campaigns from time to time (not every day) and get rid of the really tasteless ones.

I also get rid of 728x90 banners quite often, just because I don't like the size of them.

[webmastertexas]

I'm going to unclick all my CPCs and see if my revenues go up for the next week. Will let you know what happens in a week.

[davesplace1]

My sites have always done very well with Fastclick's CPC ads, at one time I only ran their CPC ads with no CPMs. Then again every site is different.

[webmastertexas]

I didn't even go more than a day with this "idea". After a while I started getting PSAs. So now they're back where they belong. :)

[Matt Probert]

We have found you need to review the "default history". If you have a very low % of default ads being served, you might like to deselect the lowest eCPM adverts, but again review the default % to get a balance. Yes it can increase income, by slightly over 20% in our case.

Matt

[jimbo_mac]

I tried CPC ads only a few days ago and was only getting psa's for quite a few hours so I pulled the ads.
Anyone have the same experience with CPC?

[webmastertexas]

I've noticed something. Is it me, or are earnings getting lower with Fastclick as of November? My earnings have dropped by about 30%, even though my traffic is actually CLIMBING. I'm thinking Fastclick might be running out of ads to fill as the end of the year comes up, but I'm just guessing. Does this usually happen?

[Fairla]

I'm also seeing lower earnings this month. Hopefully it won't stay this way too long.

[webmastertexas]

I'm also seeing lower earnings this month. Hopefully it won't stay this way too long.

It was certainly a shock to my system. Imagine, every month I've been earning more than the previous month, and suddenly I hit November, and I'm going DOWNWARDS! Believe you me, I spent most of the day trying to figure out why my earnings were dropping, until I realized Fastclick has been doing more defaults than usual. I hope this isn't a trend with Fastclick, and instead it's an across-the-board thing with advertisers and end-of-the-year trends.

[Fairla]

I find it's really impossible to judge how much you're going to make any given month -- not just with Fastclick, but affiliate programs too. Sometimes it's higher than anticipated for no apparent reason, and sometimes it's terribly low for no apparent reason. Never count on anything (especially money!) in this business, and you'll never be disappointed.