CPM ads on second ad blocks

[ownerrim]

I eliminated 2nd adblocks a long time ago in favor of adlinks, which I found to perform very nicely.

However, in removing the second adblocks I must have missed a few pages and on those pages I found CPM ads running in the space for the second adblock.

Question: if CPM ads are running in a second adblock (sounds repetitive, I know) that appears lower on the page, is there any discounting regarding what the advertiser pays (and what I earn) on those clicks, as might be the case if a regular CPC ad was running in the second adblock?

[alika]

CPM ads are supposed to show only if they are priced higher than CPC ads. It may mean that the CPM advertiser's price is higher than the price of the CPC ad that was supposed to be shown in the second ad format -- but not high enough to beat out the price in the first ad format. The first ad format typically has the best price compared to the second and third ad format.

In our case, we have one advertiser whose CPM ads only show up in the 2nd and 3rd ad formats (sometimes simultaneously) but never in the first ad format. The CPM advert looks like a PSA and fills up the entire ad unit - our 2nd ad unit is a large rectangle at the bottom and our 3rd is a wide sky on the side.

This could well be an argument for those who say that removing multiple ad units can improve revenues. You may be losing your opportunity to show CPM ads whose bid was not high enough to edge out the CPC ads in the first ad format, but higher than the CPC ads in the 2nd and 3rd ad units.

[ownerrim]

Alika, do you think smartpricing comes into play for a CPM ad that appears in the second adblock? I was under the impression that smartpricing does not apply to CPM ads

...but if the cpm ad is appearing in the second adblock I haven't a clue.

[alika]

I remember Jenstar in one thread confirming with the 'plex that CPM ads are not subject to smartpricing. So I think the CPM ads showing in the second, and not first, ad format is simply a matter of bidding - and the CPM advertiser lost the top spot to CPC advertisers.