Certified Third Party Networks

To allow or block Google certified ad networks from displaying ads?

[Scurramunga]

A little while ago i thought I would take Google's advice and allow image ads back in (as Incredibill did) In addition to following advice regarding Googles image ads I added ad units, unblocked my competitive ad filter and allowed Certified Third Party Networks.

After a very brief October spike which may or may not be attributable to the (aforementioned actions) everything came crashing down with a vengeance. In my recent experience, CTR, average CPC and overall eCPM have all been affected.

So I am now reviewing and concentrating on the Certified Third Party ads and asking for your feedback regarding positive or negative outcomes you may have experienced.

Do you block or partially block these networks?

[farmboy]

Back in October/November or whenever it was when people were reporting an invasion of unrelated ads, I blocked everything from the Certified Ad Networks.

I haven't noticed much of a change since then in my revenue - except a slight increase.


FarmBoy

[ascensions]

When they introduced the CTPN, revenue dropped to half. Took half a year to figure it out, but when I blocked all of them in September, my revenue doubled.

[Scurramunga]

Farmboy and ascensions:
Thank you for your responses. I have reblocked them and whilst it is far too early to assess any outcomes I don't think it will make any difference either way. In fact any I action I seem take these days seems to have no bearing at all on earnings.

[ascensions]

I'm actually trying to include only "Google properties" right now. There's like 3 of them on the list, and seem to have good results the last few days.

I've also got a running hypothesis to include those advertising companies on the Euro or GPB since the bids may be higher simply because of the exchange rate.

Half the companies I've never heard of, and because of that I'm not going to trust them.

[eniac]

ascensions,

which 3 of them are google related 3rd party networks?

[gmb21]

I really don't understand how blocking them could increase earnings -- surely it just reduces the bidding competition for each ad unit?

I can see that it might reduce "junk" ads... Mmmmm, maybe I've just answered my own question! :)

[AndyA]

Someone pointed out to me that many of these third party networks don't pay very well, even to their own publishers. So why would their being a part of the bidding competition do anything but pull the bid averages down?

I just can't see them willing to pay a lot more to be on the Google content ad network. If anything, I think their low paying, CPM ads pull the bidding down to lower levels, except perhaps in very specific cases.

And frankly, some of them seem to have only junk ads that NO ONE wants to see on their own sites.

I know Google should know what they're doing, but they are looking at hundreds of millions of impressions a day in their network, so having low paying CPM ads still makes them money. For smaller publishers, however, those CPM ads don't warrant the real estate they take up unless you are also getting millions of impressions a day. And if that's the case, you should probably be doing direct sales, that way you could keep all of it.

[ascensions]

@eniac:

Google: Invite Media
Google: Teracent Corporation
Google Display Network: Reserve

@gmb21:

I don't know why, but it was for me. I can only assume having all that competition allows for sneakier tactics by advertiser to get low-cost ads. It was an immediate double to triple revenue change when I blocked them. Maybe not for everyone, but for me, it worked like magic. All I can say, is try it for 3 or 4 days and see what happens. I think, now that I'm adding some back in- it's like stock trading- I'm researching each company and deciding if I should give them an opportunity.

[eniac]

I just did the same. I will write back anything changes good or bad.

people who do the same can write their experience to help others

[drall]

I just disabled all 3rd party ads, will report the findings after 72hrs.

[frank72]

In these times of distress this thread seems pretty interesting. To those who have already started experimenting: Please report your findings!

[nick28]

Andsens says:
"You can now show ads from external Google-certified ad networks on your pages. With more ads competing to appear on your pages, your earnings potential should increase over time"
If so ("With more ads competing"), why could we block third party ads.
I am confused.
Otherwise , I know that some ad networks don't pay well.
What is Adsense strategy to do that?

[HuskyPup]

OK, I'm in with this, just blocked them all.

[HuskyPup]

Hmmm...1 hour in and I'm already seeing a significant increase, this will be interesting!

[adamxcl]

I'm in with the experiment to see what happens. There are a ton of them in there now since I last look at the network list. I'm sure some are probably better and others are harmful to numbers.

[snickles121]

Im waiting to see what happens with you guys, then I may try this. My ctr is low lately. I just cant see how blocking them would increase revenue. Did your ctr increase or just the payout per click or both?

[cien]

I'm in. I tried once before and let it run for a very short time.

[Tashi]

I blocked them all yesterday morning, didn't see any changes earnings-wise though. I'll try a few days more...

[Scurramunga]

I've also got a running hypothesis to include those advertising companies on the Euro or GPB since the bids may be higher simply because of the exchange rate.

Yes that is better than the blanket blocking that I have been doing. I wonder if there are any known issues with other networks like the low paying ones already mentioned. Does anyone have a black list or white list maybe?

I can see that it might reduce "junk" ads... Mmmmm, maybe I've just answered my own question! :)

Yes you have.

[farmboy]

One thing to always keep in mind on this theory about more competition for an ad space resulting in more revenue for the publisher -

Although there are a few exceptions, there is a maximum amount that will be bid for any given product or service ad.

For example, let's assume widget sellers know that based on their profit margin, ROI, etc., they can't afford to bid more than $1 per click to run a widget ad. It doesn't matter if you have 2 widget sellers competing for the ad space or 200, don't expect the amount per click to keep climbing above $1 per click as more widget sellers enter the competition. It's not sustainable.


FarmBoy

[HuskyPup]

I'm going to give it another 5 hours and then it will have been 24 hours, so far today my EPC and eCPM have collapsed to their worst ever, I'm now at about 25% of a couple of months ago.

I'll see what the rest of today does and Friday and then if it continues the same the major AdSense slots will be removed.

[ascensions]

Part of me wonders if these competitors were added not because of an increase in revenue but to avoid investigation as a monopoly.

[nick28]

so far today my EPC and eCPM have collapsed to their worst ever

The same for me.

It has decreased my eCPM to 50%, since I have blocked certified ad networks.

At least it hasn't worked for me in entertainment section.
I will unblock it all again.

[Rockyou]

I am at all time high ecpm this month, Blocking third party network will only reduce your earning. I don't block anything, If you really want to make more money,
Adsense game = no. of clicks x no.of conversion for advertiser x niche.
Everything else is waste of time.

[HuskyPup]

Blocking third party network will only reduce your earning

Do you have proof of that or just making a statement?

[cien]

IMG & TXT ads. EPC reduced by 75% so far. Pretty low. Will keep blocking TPNs for two more days. I also blocked google.com in the competitive ad filter when I blocked TPNs last night. That got rid of their Nexus, Chrome and other of their ads it appears. Haven't seen any today. I am undecided about blocking Groupon like others have. I think their ads are very interesting.

[drall]

24 hours in.

CTR = +2%
CPM = -5%

to early to draw conclusions but it would appear to not have made any difference for our account.

Rockyou, no offense but that's not 100% true. We recently took our reps advice and added a well placed second ad along with enabling image ads across many sites and despite our daily click volume doubling into the deep 4 figures per day range we are earning within 1% of our previous 360 day average.

Almost as if Google said thank you for those clicks but not a penny more shall you earn!

[Sally Stitts]

Initially, we were told that ALL Google Certified AdSense Networks ads are image ads, and that ALL of these are CPM ads.

Does that still hold true? I believe the answer is yes.
If so, that would completely explain the low payout. They are NOT CPC ads, which typically pay far more than CPM ads, even at 10 cents per click. CPM ads typically pay LESS THAN 1 CENT per click.
Am I wrong?

I still believe that the CPM ads are jammed into the mix, and have nothing to do with any "auction". As Rumpole of the Bailey said, his wife was "she who must be obeyed". CPM ads are those "which must be served", regardless of any other considerations. If you allow it.
.

[edited by: Sally_Stitts at 7:15 pm (utc) on Jan 13, 2011]

[adamxcl]

Too early to tell for me on the blocking partners test. Numbers are up slightly half a day in. In my own glances, the ads look slightly better targeted. Maybe less junk ads showing. I have long blocked google.com stuff. I can't believe they really pay me more than a relevant ad.

I too have done the optimization and advice things. More ad blocks, more images, etc. It always adds up to more impressions and clicks for the big G but my money is either flat or goes down. And that's only until I change again or the big G in a European country says I'm violating ad terms doing exactly what the U.S. optimizer said. Tired of the one hand not talking to another. So if anyone benefits in the changes, it doesn't seem to be me.

They encourage showing the image ads (like the previous post said) but they never seem to perform as well as text only blocks for me.