Ad Review Center -> Shown Ads

are you using this?

[ThatsBoBo]

I really like this new feature. I can see exactly what ads are being shown on my sites and can block by clicking an ad I don't like.

I found that the ads being displayed are actually a lot more targeted than I thought. Sure, an out of the blue belly-fat ad here and there, but mostly spot on.

Do any of you use this new feature? I'm suprised I haven't heard more people talk about it on WebmasterWorld.

[netmeg]

I don't have it in mine as yet.

[ThatsBoBo]

Hi netmeg,

The feature should be live for all accounts by now. Are you using IE8+ or Chrome, etc? IE7 or earlier will not display the feature.

It can be found under the Allow & Block Ads tab -> Ad Review Center -> Shown Ads.

The feature was announced on March 22nd and was to be rolled out to everyone within "a few days"... I've had it since the 23rd.

[ken_b]

I don't have the new version either. I'm using an older version of FireFox, could that be why I'm not seeing it?

[added] I just fired up IE8 and can't see the new ad review features with that either.

[icedowl]

I just got it but haven't taken the time to go all the way through it yet. Looks good though and will likely be extremely useful.

[ThatsBoBo]

I like how we can configure it to display ads shown in the past day, few days, week, month, etc. with one click ad blocking. Much better than blocking whole categories or urls.

I still haven't blocked much, though. If you click an ad once it blocks it right away. Click it again to unblock the ad.

And it shows ALL ads, not just placement targeted ads. Contextual, interest and placement.

[Atomic]

Yes, I am using it A LOT.

[netmeg]

Nope, don't have it.

(Like I'd use ANY version of IE - ork ork)

[netmeg]

Heh, interestingly I just got email today saying this was turned on in my account. But I go look and I don't see anything any different than from what's always been there. So beats me.

[icedowl]

netmeg, it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb - just a little link to it in the upper left under "Ad review center".

[JCKline]

@netmeg, I got the email too, and don't see the changes with FF 3.6.28 and G say 3.6+ is supported?

[ken_b]

I got that email saying this was active for me an hour or so ago and can't find anything new. Just the same old interface.

Under Ad Review Center I just have the same old options. The first being "Awaiting Review". Click that, nothing new appears.

Usually I see a new ads waiting for review nearly every day, but none since this was first announced as coming.

I'm confused.

I'm thinking the email was a bit ahead of its time. :)

[Lame_Wolf]

I got that email saying this was active for me an hour or so ago and can't find anything new. Just the same old interface.

You are not alone.

[JCKline]

It's like getting the "Your payments on it's way" email 2 days after receiving it.

[mslina2002]

It looks like it may be flash driven.

I like it but don't have time to sift through all those ads. Who does? Just block by categories and call it a day.

[flatfile]

I like it but don't have time to sift through all those ads. Who does? Just block by categories and call it a day.

This is what Adsense says:

Ads are ranked according to the number of impressions they received, or will likely receive in the case of upcoming ads, so the first ads shown are the most important to review.

So, You don't really need to sift through all of that.

[ThatsBoBo]

@ netmeg, ken_b, Lame_Wolf

Do you have the option selected to review placement ads before letting them run? If so, try changing it to the let placement ads run right away option and see if the new "shown ads" feature appears.

I've heard this may be a bug, but can't confirm from my current location.

[JCKline]

@ ThatsBoBo, I already tried this (not seeing it either), and still nothing.

[ThatsBoBo]

Thanks JCKline.

[ken_b]

Do you have the option selected to review placement ads before letting them run? If so, try changing it to the let placement ads run right away option and see if the new "shown ads" feature appears.

Thanks for the suggestion, tried it, but no luck.

[netmeg]

Meh. Not the first time Google botched a launch.

[Lame_Wolf]

@ ThatsBoBo, alrady tried that. And a reboot, and a clear out of the cache.
Google lying again ;)

[IanCP]

I received the email today.

I'm going to sift through 1,000's of ads?

[thatjen]

I enabled it last night and just went and saw about 100 or 200 ads, almost all of which are relevant to my sites. That's great. However, when I visit my sites, I see all sorts of irrelevent ads that are not showing up in the Adsense review area.

I know I can block the URLs manually, but it would be great to actually know what ads other people are seeing besides me. I pretty much gave up on Adsense a few months ago because the ads went from being completely targeted to half of them being irrelevant (especially the sidebar skyscrapers - even after adding section targeting). But this new feature would be immensely helpful if it actually showed all the ads viewers see.

[JCKline]

Just checked again and nothing...hmmm.

ADSENSE IS BROKEN

[zaktoo]

I use it, and it has sucked about 3 full working days just to block ads I don't want.

The interface is slow and clunky, although the functionality is very, very welcome.

I think they'd do better offering a sorted list of ad urls + content preview, a list say 100 long at a time, with simple checkboxes next to each, and an option to add domain or full url to blocked url list with 1 click.

Additionally, there seems to be no cross-referencing with your URL block list at all, so even if you block a whole domain, you end up wading through 20 or so of their ads, wasting more valuable time.

There is also no indication of where you are in the stream of previews, nor a way to jump ahead more than 12 or whatever your screen resolution allows.

I find the zoom-on-hover to be massively annoying, as it leads to plentiful accidental clicks which have to be reverted.

Using the marquee selection is pointless as the javascript is so very slow to respond.

I'm still not done blocking all ads I do not wish to see, and I have spent 3 working days on it, full time.

tl;dr: good idea, unbelievably woeful implementation.

[zaktoo]

Oh #*$!, I forgot something. The back/forward thing seems to be broken, as if you go forward & back again you don't see the same ads as before. Blocking a few ads exacerbates this.

[tonyolm]

WOuld be nice if they also put in the percentage of income earned from each ad. WOuld make it a breeze to block non-performing ads.

[netmeg]

But they'll never do that, for the same reason they won't let publishers set a minimum bid for ad space - because then they're left with a bunch of cheap ad inventory that they can't place. And that would piss off the advertisers.

[ken_b]

Just checked. The new Ad Review interface is up and running for me now.

.