Do the new, Adsense responsive ads perform worse in RPM?

[slobizman]

Yesterday morning I swapped out my usual Adsense ads for the new responsive ads. On the desktop and tablet, they show at the same size (large rectangle) and on mobile they are reduced down to a smaller size. Everything looks to be functioning properly.

I know it's only been one day, but I saw an immediate drop in RPM. The CTR is down some and the CPC is down significantly. This drop is on the non-mobile platforms. Today seems to be going in the same direction. Yes, yesterday was Thanksgiving so there could be other factors, but I can see the relationship of that site with some other sites I have (non regular adsense ads) got skewed yesterday (my other sites we performing normally).

This site provides a significant income to me so I need to know if there is word out there that the new responsive ads do not pay off as well, and I'll swap them back, even if the result is worse looking ads on mobile.

So,

1. Do the new responsive Adsense ads convert less than the normal ones?

2. Are the ads that are displayed in responsive ads still the same ads that would have been displayed in the non-responsive ads? (Given they are the same size, as on desktops)

[netmeg]

So far they're pretty much the same for me, but I won't know for sure till my busy season rolls around again. You need way more than a day (and a holiday at that!) for your test, though.

As far as the ads, they're mostly the same, but probably not entirely. Some advertisers don't want to advertise on mobile, or they figure the likelihood of conversion much less so they bid a lower percentage for mobile (sometimes much lower) which could affect how they show up in the "auction". Tablets are bid at the same as desktop now. So it's possible you get different ads in the responsive unit at different viewports.

[slobizman]

Right after posting my initial comment here, I set up an A/B test with the old format at 50% and the new responsive ads at 50%. Not enough data yet, but so far today they are holding pretty close -- the old style ads' RPM is up about 15% over the responsive. Pretty close. By the end of the weekend I'll have a better idea.

Thanks for your input netmeg.

[slobizman]

Well, so far, with 140 ad clicks on the desktop:

Responsive ad (large rectangle): $49.80 RPM
Regular ad: (large rectangle) $69.18 RPM

The "high-end mobile devices" had 90 ad clicks:

Responsive ad (large rectangle): $34.63 RPM
Regular ad: (large rectangle) $48.48 RPM

* Tablets not included since low number of clicks

So far the regular ads are kicking the crap out of responsive ads, surprisingly, on both mobile phones and desktops.

[netmeg]

I wouldn't run a test for less than a week myself, but whatever works for you.

[Swanny007]

I've been told my an ad rep that it can take 2 weeks for things to stabilize. Personally I wait at least one full week for comparison purposes to account for daily fluctuations.