Forum Moderators: martinibuster
Lately there has been a rash of site-targeted ads on my web site for all sorts of off topic nonsense that I would never allow advertised on my site before. Lot's of people have asked me to run all sorts of ads for various things and I've wisely declined as I know my market and visitors. The site is very specific and the traffic has been well monetized via extremely targeted advertising.
However, apparently when you are site-targeted in AdSense it doesn't matter how far off topic the ads are. If someone runs a CPM campaign you get stuck with garbage about anything from trailer hitches to tampons instead of those nice targeted ads Google used to serve up that paid good money.
CTR and Earnings are dropping since I've seen a rash of site-targeted ads and the only tool you have to stop it is the competitive ad filter and that has limited space and you must spend all day combing the ads to make sure you aren't a target of garbage.
I find this situation 100% unacceptable and something must change, and it may be my contextual advertising network of choice.
[edited by: incrediBILL at 1:04 am (utc) on Oct. 26, 2005]
They saved my bacon when my ban slots were full. If your sites are geared towards products and you can put the code slap bang in te middle of the page you'll get the same CTR and a higher EPC.
Of course, my sites are so ugly no advertisers, even in their wrong minds, would ever site target me.
I'd make double what I make from adsense if I scrapped it and used FC or TF at 2-3$ cpm.
I'm giving it til the end of the month. If they haven't replied to my emails concerning all those site targeted ads and disallowed them from my sites, adsense is history for me.
K
My problem is a 80%+ drop in overall AS earnings in the past week or so because someone is targeting my sites with a massive campaign. It's the same advertiser who inquired about a private advertising deal about a month and a half ago and thought my prices were too high.
They must have gotten a better deal from Google.
I've already begun swapping in Chitika on the smaller sites. The numbers are looking good so far.
K
[edited by: kokaroach at 1:37 am (utc) on Oct. 26, 2005]
-GL
Ironically, that same site is being targeted again right now, but for the first time it's by an advertiser that really is relevant to the site, so I'm letting them run.
Question: Is there a down-side to filtering these targeted ads? Does it reflect negatively on you with the advertiser? Does it reflect negatively on you with Google?
...is this the first time you've experienced this?
Yes, I don't get run of the mill CPM ads as those were blocked, and the ads I'm seeing have been confirmed to be direct site-targeted off topic nonsense.
I tried chilling out and it just got worse so I'm reviewing all my options tonight and will start testing alternatives tomorrow as I refuse to sit back and wait while "Make Money At Home!" ads run on my site and it's not bad targeting, that much has been confirmed.
This is purely a system that mathematically equates figures via robots as such.
Sorry, you're wrong this time, it's ADWORDS direct SITE-TARGETING and site-targeted off topic crap is simply not going to play on my site.
Is there a down-side to filtering these targeted ads?
I'm not sure, as a matter of fact I don't even care, as the most negative impact would be from my visitors when they see "LEARN TO NEUTER CATS!" ads running on my site.
Bill; Did you ask Google about having site-targeting block for uyour site? I think we can ask them to block CPM ads, but I don't know about site-targeted ads.
Probably I am missing something. I often seem to.
You can certainly choose your "section targeting".
OK, You're missing something...
Section targeting is superceded by SITE-TARGETED ads!
You can section target until your fingers bleed and it won't stop site-targeting and short of Google blocking site-targeting for me, the competitive ad filter is my only tool to stop this and that is simply unacceptable.
Some people would rather complain than solve!
And some people shouldn't dismiss what others know as fact straight from Google support.
-GL
CPM ads are currently offered in only 5 different ad formats
Would you list the 5 formats? I'm thinking I want to avoid them.
Thanks
Google is not out to cheat you or anyone else, and anyone that thinks that needs to should show me in black and white!
OK, you aren't reading what I stated in plain black and white as I'm not saying Google is out to cheat me or any other conspiracy garbage so please don't run this thread off topic.
I'm stating that there are some advertisers abusing my site using AdWords site-targeting and it's putting nonsense garbage ads on my site which in turn appears to be impacting my CTR rate.
The facts are simple:
a) There are ads suddenly showing up on my site for things completely off topic
b) The CTR rate is dropping on channels where these ads appear, big shocker
c) Support confirmed that the ads in question are site-targeted, meaning someone specifically aimed their advertising at my web site to put those ads on the page and I cannot do anything to bypass this problem except block them using competitive ad filters.
Since it's not poor targeting by the media bot the section targeting will not fix it, this much I know as I was told this fact point blank by support.
Seems you think "People are Stupid"
Only when someone disputes what Google told me directly and I have the email to prove it.
Nope...no conspiracy theory taken...
1) You probably have WAY too much time on your hands evaluating things.
2) Reading your latest posts you are nearing $10,000.00 dollars per month, so we are supposed to have sympothy for you?! Get a grip man! Google is paying for your kid's college degree!
-GL
You probably have WAY too much time on your hands evaluating things
Well, if you were batting in the World Series this would be your 3rd strike.
I didn't even start evaluating the situation until it went SERIOUSLY critical as I'm very familiar with the normal ups and downs of the AdSense roller coaster effect. It didn't take more than an hour to see exactly what was happening.
Trust me, you would go over all your stats and ads with a fine tooth comb if it happened to you as well.
so we are supposed to have sympothy for you?!
No, did I ask you too?
I'm just putting out information that AdWords site-targeting can be bad when abused.
I'm sure others have already had this happen but didn't realize it wasn't the media bot being off target, as I didn't at first, but it's something more deliberate.
I'm out! That's fine! At least I won't have to read how "stupid" I am again! If this is the way WWW wants to run their forums far be it from me to disagree!
My last post!
-GL
In some cases, Site Targeted = Non Relevant (notice I am not saying in all cases).
I can see how site-targeting could become the realm of all of the typical spammers (MLM, diet pills, dating services) because their ads won't fit well on any contextually targeted ad, and may not ever come up in the shuffle.
Their only recourse will be site targeting, and they will, of course, go after "the best" sites -those that are high-ranked and high-traffic, probably judged by Alexa rankings, etc. So, I guess it is a compliment that your site is so "good" that they want to be shown there. I sympathize with you.
As the advantages of site targeting become more apparent to the "spammers with no place to go", many of the high-traffic AdSense Publishers will realize that
their ads are no longer relevant to their content, their CTR is decreasing, income going down the tubes.
By the way, a competitor or someone with a vindictive bend could use site-targeting against you, too. You lose income, and they very seldom have to pay for any Click-throughs on their spam-ads.
and they very seldom have to pay for any Click-throughs on their spam-ads
If an advertiser is site-targeting, they are paying on a CPM basis, actually, NOT for clicks.
Bill, keep making noise with AdSense support. CPM ads are supposed to appear on your site only if they will out-earn the CPC ads for you and Google, and I remember people posting here to say that they had been getting CPM ads that were hurting their income, and that Google had turned them off.
If you can't beat them, join them. Is it OK to buy tonnes of untargetted traffic to your site and kill them off fast!
At the end of the day, it is your total earning that matters. Wouldn't concern myself with EPC.
and they very seldom have to pay for any Click-throughs on their spam-ads
If an advertiser is site-targeting, they are paying on a CPM basis, actually, NOT for clicks.
Bill, keep making noise with AdSense support. CPM ads are supposed to appear on your site only if they will out-earn the CPC ads for you and Google, and I remember people posting here to say that they had been getting CPM ads that were hurting their income, and that Google had turned them off.
In that light, I was totally out of line and incorrect as regards those last two comments I made!
Hmmm.... Seems a shame that a publisher would need to block all CPM ads in the event that they are site-targeted by a non-relevant advertiser.
In some cases, Site Targeted = Non Relevant (notice I am not saying in all cases)
Yes. that's the real dilemma.
I know there are some good site-targeted ads on my site as well and having that feature disabled (if they can) will do as much harm as it does good.
However, earnings decline aside, what I really dislike most is having 3rd parties controlling what random content shows up on my site via direct site-targeting as it reflects poorly on the site.
There really needs to be a way to review ads SITE WIDE, not browsing page by page. To make matters worse, when I use the preview tool these ads don't show up whatsoever even though the ad is showing on that page at that time, so I can't even tell what's aimed at my web site unless I see it on the page in real time.
An advertiser expresses interest and is required to list the ads and the targeted site gets a Y/N option on the ads running?
Sounds somewhat Web 2.0.
Why not, especially if the publishers are running for the door?
My dollars to your donuts this will be the model of the future. Indeed, wasn't this model discussed by the keynote speaker at the last PubCon?
someone is targeting my sites with a massive campaign
kokaroach, if it's just one advertiser you can ban them with the competitive ad filter and then wait 4 hours (another pet PEEVE of mine) to see if it really worked.
My problem is I seem to have a small flood of this nonsense going on.
So, should site-targeted ads be a brokered transaction?
YES! Even AdBrite got that part right!
Would love to stay and chat but the bottle of gin and I are gearing up for war against the site-targeting advertisers, it's going to be a looooong night.
