Forum Moderators: martinibuster
Fading epc and spammy ads. My content is exactly the same as it has been since I joined AdSense except for regularly added content. How did I offend the Google gods so?
At first I tried getting rid of all my ads but one per page. Then I started taking ads off of slow and poor performing pages. Each day I look for MFAs, give aways and those dreaded ring tone ads. I keep blocking them but they still multiply. They're like a great band of spam marching, marching, never ending. Has Google ordained that my site deserves nothing better?
I don't know if it's my content causing poor smartpricing or if it's that advertisers are dropping out of AdSense. But then, does it matter what the cause is?
Made a conscious effort to remove ads from low-performing pages; limited other pages to only 1 or 2 ads above the fold; and I've filled up most of the competitive ad filter list with the biggest MFA's out there.
But, EPC has dropped dramatically after a nice increase two weeks ago. Spammy ads are rampant and I'm actually getting tired of working on my site these days.
Sigh.
Either way it is still a losing situation for all of us.
Ann
I always hate to hear when something is going wrong for a publisher who is not promoting AdSense sites.
It could happen to any of us at any time.
Please do let us know if you contact G and what they have to say about it. It may help others as well. Take care.
....for all of us.
No, not all.
That said, I wonder what factors those on the downtrend have in common, if any. And what those on the uptrend have in common.
I'm wondering if my problem is caused by the fact that Google introduced separate bidding for the search and content networks around November. (EFV pointed this out in another thread). But my problem only started a month or so ago so I'm not sure that would explain it unless there has been an awfully delayed reaction.
It could be more and more advertisers are opting out of content ads because that is the only way they can opt out of MFA and other spammy ads.
My site is in the top 4 for my keywords, and is well respected with good visitor numbers. Traffic has remained as good as ever. I've managed to keep the site relatively MFA clean, and I've always kept the ads to a minimum, and dumped channels that don't work.
Whilst I'm not seeing too many MFA's, the ads I'm seeing don't really appeal to visitors as they aren't really what they are looking for. It's not that they aren't relevant in some way - it's just that the information visitors are specifically searching for is totally relevant to the ads that have withdrawn from Google.
There is a big change in the market place though, and I think that it may be having an effect on me. If you do a search on my keywords, on the Google search page ALL BUT ONE of the ads is MFA. Unfortunately at some point somebody decided that my niche's keywords were high paying, so a rash of MFA sites appeared, and new ones keep popping up despite the fact it isn't a particularly high paying keyword.
The effect of this has been that by and large, all the reputable advertisers (the ones the MFA's have been trying to scam) have become totally p***ed off with ads mainly appearing on MFA's and have ceased advertising in this sector on Google due to the lack of new business generated for the cost. I have personal testimony to this from one advertiser who has withdrawn from Google for this very reason and now advertises with me directly and on YPN.
I hope you can jiggle with things to get the income back, and I'd certainly be interested to know what adsense have to say about this. However, I suspect they simply don't care any longer.
Ann
Yep another conspiracy theory.
Publisher filtering and seperate bids on the content network are features which are relatively new in AdWords. Furthermore Google didn't actively promote these features, so many advertisers have only discovered them in the last month or so.
It is in Google's interest to display as high paying ads on your site as possible. When only low paying MFAs are left visible or earnings decrease with factors, their inventory for your site probably doesn't contain the high paying ads anymore. This can have several reasons:
Almost everyone blames Google when earnings fall, but don't forget the advertisers and the competing publishers.
[edited by: lammert at 7:45 am (utc) on June 15, 2006]
I ask since My overall earnings are up for the past couple of months, but largely due to some very specific seasonal type niches that happen to enjoy a decent amount per click. Other areas are down a bit, both in traffic and cpm, but I do think it is a seasonal effect in my case.
WBF
It is in Google's interest to display as high paying ads on your site as possible. When only low paying MFAs are left visible or earnings decrease with factors, their inventory for your site probably doesn't contain the high paying ads anymore.
I do agree with what you are saying, but a little further information:-
A few months ago I did an experiment that I reported on here. I wondered how the quality scores and changes Google had made to the targeting algorithms worked, so I removed my block list. I was looking at ads displayed and not any financial considerations.
The result was that the MFA's I'd blocked that had caused a huge dip in income and smart pricing penalties were returned to the page within hours, removing ads that have been paying well for some months.
Therefore, whilst Google would like to think they display the ads they hope will generate most revenue, the sad fact is that the algorithm seems very badly flawed, and only too easy to manipulate by the likes of skilful MFA's.
The lack of advertisers in the field is a new, and worrying trend.
Google didn't actively promote their new features to filter specific publishers in AdWords and to bid with seperate bids in the content network. They are probably affraid that a sudden massive implementation of these features by advertisers will have a dramatic change on their revenues, but not informing the advertiser will cause advertisers to simply pull the plug.
As an AdWords advertiser I have a good technical knowledge and am able to analyze my logfiles and decide which publishers are profitable for me and which are not. Small brick and mortar companies which use AdWords because it is the only on-line advertising system suitable for their scale of business often lack that knowledge. If ROI in the content network is low or they see their ads only appearing on MFAs, their normal reaction is to stop advertising.
<Side note>
Five minutes ago I discovered an ad for adwords.google.nl at #1 position in an ad block on an MFA site. How low can Google go if they promote their advertising system via these type of sites? Which visitor of an MFA would see it as a valuable advertising channel and sign up for adwords after seeing an MFA?
</Side note>
an ad for adwords.google.nl at #1 position in an ad block on an MFA site
The Google Adwords campaign manager probably ran out of space in his competitive ad filter :)
Publisher filtering and seperate bids on the content network are features which are relatively new in AdWords.
True, and I think this is one of the biggest reasons many publishers are starting to see lower EPC with the same (or steady) traffic.
Like most Adwords advertisers, I've learned that advertising on the content side produces lower quality clicks (lower ROI) than that on the search side. Many advertisers are simply trying to get the most exposure for their money, and a lot of them have chosen to opt out of the content network.
There are of course many other reasons lower EPC seems to be common these days, a lot of it is surely being influenced by advertiser manipulation.
Therefore, whilst Google would like to think they display the ads they hope will generate most revenue, the sad fact is that the algorithm seems very badly flawed, and only too easy to manipulate by the likes of skilful MFA's.
I've been questioning the algo all along. They have all of the information they need to maximize everbody's income, the only thing I can think of that would cause it to fail is the presence of some hard coded "common sense" rules based on faulty assumptions. For example, they may be stuck on the idea of giving new Adwords campaign their "chance." Unfortunately, the cost for arbs and MFA's to create new campaigns is trivial, so they could overwhelm the system.
Fading epc and spammy ads. My content is exactly the same as it has been since I joined AdSense except for regularly added content. How did I offend the Google gods so?
Is most of your traffic centered around one broad subject?
The majority of our traffic doesn't convert well with Adsense, despite the fact that we are one of the authority sites in an area that most people would assume is hot. We gave up displaying Adsense on most of those pages after a few months, and have been pulling Adsense from the remaining "performers" lately as they slump. The problem, I believe, is the near-infinite number of sites competing with us (many with our scraped content), who simply dilute the eCPM for the whole market. These forums are full of threads about whether spammy sites convert better than legit sites, I don't know if that's the case, but it doesn't need to be. Just their presence is obviously going to have an impact. It's not that Adsense is running out of advertisers, or that the program isn't working for those advertisers, it's that publisher inventory runs too high in some areas. In some cases, it's possible that the spammy sites even work better for advertisers when their keywords include "Buy", "Price", "Shop," etc, as opposed to a content site that's focused on information.
There are also a huge number of active forums in our authority area, many of whom run Adsense. While they may not convert well, they have so many page views that advertisers can get the job done at a lower cost.
If ROI in the content network is low or they see their ads only appearing on MFAs, their normal reaction is to stop advertising.
Like most Adwords advertisers, I've learned that advertising on the content side produces lower quality clicks (lower ROI) than that on the search side.
This is why MFAs and other ultra-low quality sites are killing AdSense. I can only guess that Google keeps these sites around because they pad out the profit margin that much more, but in the process they are doing unknown damage to the program. If all the crappy sites were eliminated tomorrow, I'd bet the content network would become more competitive with the SERP ads in terms of ROI. This would enhance the legitimacy of the program and keep advertisers in it, which would benefit publishers AND Google. --unless some wizard over there has calculated that Google's profits from MFA sites outweighs the profit after their removal. And if that is the case, that's a real shame.
Google's profits from MFA sites outweighs the profit after their removal
That's been my theory and only logical explanation.
You are so right about the returnees and the low clicks. Everything else as a given, I would be in the ups club by now but for my click rate going so low and ad price payout started stinking...heck, it reeks!
Ann
It would be interesting to hear what members who have ads in a number of sectors are experiencing. Are some topics more vulnerable to junk ads than others are?
I did some looking around. The sites in my topic that have adsense seem to have the same ads as I am getting. I do see some showing up on Google's search results pages that I used to get and don't anymore. My guess is they have opted out of content.
You could also try clearing out your filter list altogether, see what happens.
If it were just a matter of smart pricing I would do that. But I'm concerned about the spammy ads hurting the reputation of my site. In fact I can live with a little summer downslump if that is all this is. But I resent having to constantly search through my site for offensive ads.
I do have a question. If a ad's URL is widgets.sellsomethingfast.com will just putting sellsometingfast.com in my filter do the job or to I have to put all the variations the company puts in the URL?
Lammert, I always have a dip in traffic just before Christmas but I had good EPC so I wasn't hurt much.
Advertisers blocking words like 'free' wouldn't account for the overall problem as free is only on a very few pages. Unless smartpricing is suppressing my whole site because I have free widget patterns on a few pages. But we discussed that in another thread and the consensus seems to be that it's unlikely a word is affecting overall smartpricing.
Is most of your traffic centered around one broad subject?
Yes it is but I've always had a nice array of ads showing up on my site. It is a content site though. Articles with footnotes yet. Maybe my clicks don't convert well. Maybe MFA clicks convert better. Has anyone studied this?
It's sad though. Initially the idea of putting related ads on content sites seemed like such a great idea. That whole concept seems to be disintegrating.
We ride the tide over these seasonal and financial timeframes and see if long term trends show this.
is what you want to put in your filter to blocka all ads from that domain and any subdomains it might have.
>> whatever.example.com
would only block ads from the "whatever" sundomain of example.com.
It would be interesting to hear what members who have ads in a number of sectors are experiencing. Are some topics more vulnerable to junk ads than others are?
I have a site that covers a wide range of topics. It's an online magazine, so there is entertainment, lifestyle, community, education, travel, etc. -- and some of those subjects just don't convert well with Adsense.
Anything centering around entertainment or society tends to grab the worst ads. Free ringtones, mom-and-pop theatre ticket companies, scammy DVD sites, etc., -- dominate those pages and it's difficult to police them.
It is a content site though. Articles with footnotes yet. Maybe my clicks don't convert well. Maybe MFA clicks convert better. Has anyone studied this?
Guess I can say I've been studying it since the beginning of Adsense. I learned a long time ago that sites rich in article content will often have problems with Adsense conversions. The reason (I think), is because you really have nothing to sell (except your content and it's already given to them for free).
Since content-based sites are driven by repeat visitors who love to soak up your articles, they also become "ad-blind" and stop clicking on things and are only interested in the latest, greatest article.
Not sure if this is happening with you annej, but I've seen it for a long time in my area.
