First Good Ads - Then Bad Afterwards

Why does targeting go south?

[Sally Stitts]

This has happened to me 3 times now.

I work hard to produce an original, high-quality page on a given subject. Then I add the Adsense code, and put up the page. In minutes, I get highly targeted ads that are relatively high-paying. Great!

Then, somewhat later, I get poorly-targeted ads that are also very low-paying ... forever after. This is NOT a PSA issue.

Who gets the good ads, and why?
Is it inventory based? Does Google have to put up the lousy ads, because there are so many relative to the "good" ads?

On some sites, the good ads are ALWAYS served. Is this based on PR, site size, Google business level, or what? What is the secret to getting good ads ALL THE TIME?

I am becoming less and less inclined to pursue Adsense. Why try so hard to produce quality content, when the ads you are served are poorly-targeted, AND poor-paying? Especially when you know the good ads exist, but not for you.

[Jenstar]

Could it be themed ads, then showing targeted, albiet less-well-paying ads? Do you have too much header/sidenavbar/footer text that is skewing the targeting?

[hyperkik]

Recall also that Google is not trying to maximize its profits on your site - it is trying to do so across all AdSense sites. If particular ads or keywords perform better on other sites, or the ads or keywords you don't like tend to perform better on your sites, WYSIWYG.

[howiejs]

"header/sidenavbar/footer text that is skewing the targeting"

Interesting point Jenstar -

Does anyone have thoughts on how much of the pages content drives the ads - vs. the text "closest" to the ads - above / below?