336x250 only showing two ads?

[maxgoldie]

For the first time I see only two ads in my 336x250, where there normally should be four. Plus the fonts are almost twice as big as normal.

It looks terrible. Any ideas how to get it to show four ads?

(I have opted out of CPM and "advertise on this site".)

[newbies]

Long long time ago, I said there was no such thing as smart pricing in the whole world. That has proven to be true.

Now I propose a new theory.

G intentionally reduced the number of ads in the 336x250 unit to two or one leaving a lot of white space and showing big fonts. This is exactly G want to achieve! Why? because most people including me blend the 336x250 into their content (this format blends best), misleading visitors to click the ads as part of the content. G must have got lot of pressure from advertisers about the blending, so G makes the ads in this format stand out.

The results are:
advertisers get real clicks but pay higher for each click
publishers get low CTR, but higher EPC.

Believe or not, let wait and see.

[maxgoldie]

Now I propose a new theory.

Where would any of us be without a good theory?

That one sounds plausible. The thing that is behind all of this is either:
a) Google trying to combat ad-blindness, en masse, or
b) Google trying to increase the justification for charging more per click for the advertiser, in exchange for adblock formats that deliver better conversion rates.

[annej]

Google trying to combat ad-blindness

I agree that might be part of it but I'd like to have a choice as to whether I want a more subtle approach even tho it might pay a bit less.