Site-targeted CPM ads are paying off

[europeforvisitors]

When site-targeted CPM ads were announced, I was convinced that the ads would be a great way to earn revenue from pages or directories that don't generate much in the way of cost-per-click revenues: e.g., photo galleries.

This afternoon, I discovered site-targeted CPM ads on a number of my pages, and--sure enough--my photo galleries are showing a significant improvement in eCPM. I don't know how well the ads will perform for the advertiser (a hotel-booking service that's probably more interested in leads than in branding), but they're certainly performing well for me at the moment. Kudos to Google for introducing a site-targeted CPM option for advertisers.

[ownerrim]

Are they targeting you with image ads, or are you seeing text ads with one advertiser in the ad block?

[ownerrim]

Ah, I just saw one. One advertiser filling a text block.

Is this stuff just rolling out now? I wasn't sure if they had already gotten this going or not.

The couple I've seen on your site look great, EFV.

[creepychris]

I also had a good experience with some CPM ads that I saw on my site. Not much of a raise but enough to make me notice and seek out the cause. It felt good to know that there were some advertisers who were specifically targeting my site.

[ownerrim]

Apparently, though, even though cpm ads are showing up, they're (the advertisers) are not bidding high enough to beat out the majority of ppc/cpc ads. I guess ppc is not in any real danger at the moment.

[europeforvisitors]

Apparently, though, even though cpm ads are showing up, they're (the advertisers) are not bidding high enough to beat out the majority of ppc/cpc ads. I guess ppc is not in any real danger at the moment.

I think it's fair to say that PPC is in danger on pages where it isn't pulling its weight.

But competition between CPM and PPC really isn't the point here. The point I'm making is simply that site-targeted CPM ads are doing what they're supposed to do: They're increasing overall earnings on targeted sites (or at least one targeted site that I'm personally familiar with) by boosting the eCPM of pages that don't generate a lot of clicks. This is a real plus for editorially diverse "organic" content sites. (Another plus is that site targeting is likely to favor sites that inspire gut feelings of confidence among advertisers.)

[berto]

In order to view CPM ads, how should one set the google_ad_type field? image? text_image? text?

I currently have it set to "text" everywhere. I'm thinking of changing that to "text_image". Will that open the door to possible CPM ads?

Also, for CPM ads, what are the supported ad formats (sizes and layouts)?

[ownerrim]

"They're increasing overall earnings on targeted sites (or at least one targeted site that I'm personally familiar with) by boosting the eCPM of pages that don't generate a lot of clicks."

Definitely a great thing for maximizing earnings on certain pages. However, I had the impression that it would benefit advertisers most by giving them run-of-site exposure on high quality content sites. Those advertisers aren't going to get that sort of benefit if they don't bid high enough to get shown on more than a small percentage of pages for a site that's been targeted. I.E. if they don't beat out the ppc ads.

[ned911]

What sized ad blocks are you choosing? Just wondering what the most likely size is for CPM ads.

[europeforvisitors]

I had the impression that it would benefit advertisers most by giving them run-of-site exposure on high quality content sites. Those advertisers aren't going to get that sort of benefit if they don't bid high enough to get shown on more than a small percentage of pages for a site that's been targeted. I.E. if they don't beat out the ppc ads.

That's true, but it's early days yet. On my site, for example, the site-targeted CPM ads that I've seen so far have been text leaderboards for a hotel booking service and a language-learning outfit--both of which could just as easily be PPC advertisers. I think the real action (and the higher bids) will come when mainstream advertisers with recognizable brand names experiment with site-targeted CPM ads. Impression-based advertising is a lot more valuable when a company can communicate a sales message and count on the reader to remember the company's name.

[ownerrim]

I'll bet google has a gaggle of phone reps making cold calls to drum up such business

[europeforvisitors]

I'll bet they've got reps making presentations to ad agencies and media-buying services, too.

[david_uk]

It's good to hear that they work. I think a lot of people are still confused by the issue, so a little clarification would help many - including me.

1, What size ad blocks do they appear on?
2, What setting do you have to use? IE image ads only, text and image ads?
3, How can you tell on your statistics that you have had site targetted ads appear, and been clicked on?
4, Do the stats in some way let you know how the ads performed financially?

Thanks.

[alika]

We're also seeing what looks like site targeted CPM ads -- single advertiser in large rectangle text ad formats in huge fonts looking like PSAs and that same advertiser in leaderboard images. However, we are not seeing as yet any impact in terms of our eCPM or bottomline. Hope you'll prove prophetic, though, EFV.

[europeforvisitors]

1, What size ad blocks do they appear on?

I don't know offhand (except for leaderboards), but the AdWords pages at Google should tell.

2, What setting do you have to use? IE image ads only, text and image ads?

I can't be sure, since I have image ads enabled, but I assume that the large-text CPM ads would display with the "text ads only" option.

3, How can you tell on your statistics that you have had site targetted ads appear, and been clicked on?

For one thing, I can see the ads on my pages; as for the stats, if I see a reasonably large number of impressions in a channel with few if any clicks but a decent eCPM, it's pretty obvious that the ads are CPM ads.

4, Do the stats in some way let you know how the ads performed financially?

Not directly, but it's pretty easy to extrapolate if you see CPM ads on your site and watch your channels closely.

[marcel]

Not directly, but it's pretty easy to extrapolate if you see CPM ads on your site and watch your channels closely.

How do you see the difference between a CPC and CPM ad?

[alika]

How do you see the difference between a CPC and CPM ad?

Not in the reports, just in the types of ads shown. We are not (as yet) seeing any significant difference in our metrics since the CPM ads started showing.

[europeforvisitors]

Not in the reports, just in the types of ads shown. We are not (as yet) seeing any significant difference in our metrics since the CPM ads started showing.

I'm seeing a significant difference for some channels (e.g., image galleries, which historically have had far lower eCPMs than my travel-planning content).

[alika]

In our case, the CPM ads are showing in channels that already enjoy our highest CPMs. So it is harder to see how they are contributing to the bottomline. Now, if only I can increase my traffic more ...

[Yamaha_R1]

When CPM adds show, they do a lot better than my clicks.

How do I get more CPM ads?

How can you tell if an ad is CPM?

How can you check out the properties of a site without clicking or right clicking?

[alika]

I now see the benefit of the CPM ads. My channels that so far today are showing 0 clicks -- our blogs, discussion forum -- are earning some dollars from the CPM ads despite not generating a single click. I calculated the CPM of the ads showing to be about $2 -- a little on the low side I think for targeted ads but I guess that's the minimum set by G. The CPM ads on our site are showing for the various ad formats we have -- large rectangle, leaderboard, big skys, regular skys.

The downside is that our CTR is significantly lower than our average for the month.