Placement targeted ads - no more?

[atladsenser]

From looking closer into my AdSense numbers the past couple of months, I've learned that the earnings my site receives from placement targeted ads has taken a serious tumble. My site doesn't seem to be drawing them anymore -- no new ads have been rotating through my Shown Ads page for weeks, and the earnings I'm receiving from placement targeted ads is now in the single digits, whereas once it made up a very healthy portion of my AdSense earnings.

What I'm wondering is, why? My traffic hasn't slowed down this year; in fact, it's grown. I haven't changed any settings in my account -- the ads that I had made targetable are still targetable. Contextual and interest-based ads seem unaffected for my site -- they're earning at the pace I'd expect them to. But placement-targeted ads seem to have fallen off a cliff.

Any idea what the problem could be?

[netmeg]

Yea, I've only got 5 clicks out of tens of thousands this month. And all my sites are in the Ad Planner, available for placement targeting. But I haven't done anything with placement ads on the advertising site for over a year - and maybe it's all interest based and retargeting now.

[breeks]

Same here looks like mid September 2011 a dramatic in drop placement targeted ads, now its almost nothing. Graph looks like a waterfall. Went from #*$!.xx a day to low xx.xx almost over night.

[incrediBILL]

Targeted placement is only good if the ads are generating higher ROI so I'm suspecting whoever was using targeted placement didn't get the expected results and pulled the ads.

Either that or they simply ran out of money, closed shop, died...

[JCKline]

My placements ads have always been low as far as impressions, but paid well when clicked. Over the last few weeks, I see that clicks are pennies, and I haven't had a new advertiser in several months. I wish they would just eliminate them altogether.

[kriru]

I am facing the same issue ...

Since July uptil today Placement Targeted Earnings have plummeted

[ThatsBoBo]

Google has so much more info than the AsWords user and the net is now so large that these days it is easier to simply let Google place your ads around the net based on their algo than to placement target.

Saves the advertiser time and money, in most situations.

[markis00]

Hey...Sorry, This interests me a little as I have been having a downwards spiral happen to most of my sites over the last several months.

Is the concensus the following then?
- Create custom channels but don't click the "targetable" checkbox and don't enter the description of the site in the field

If we do things this way, Google will assign ads to the site itself instead and that will result in higher CPC/etc.

Is this where things are headed? Or are we better to stop using custom channels entirely?

Thanks

[netmeg]

I still add the targeting, and I have hundreds of custom channels. It doesn't cost me anything but time, and we don't know how or if Google and the advertisers are still using them, but they don't hurt me.

I certainly don't intend to stop using custom channels regardless. That's how I track things and do testing.

[markis00]

I'm just wondering what makes more sense these days - if there is any difference. We are still using custom channels too, one per site. However, some webmasters are not using custom channels, and just running their "ad units" Which one works better for everyone ? Are custom channels that are targetable still the best way to go about .... ? I wonder

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

If I could completely block the CPM paying placement ads I would do so, willingly, immediately. I've never done well with the ads that pay per impression from adsense.