How to increase Mobile CPC

Adsense Mobile CPC

[Erku]

Hello everyone,

Today I noticed that one reason that really influences the earnings is the low cost of the mobile ads. The mobile CPC is really low compared to desktop of tablet CPC. You can see this from your Adsense reports by going to View Platforms.

Now the question: What do you do or can suggest to increase mobile CPC. Are there any ad unit sizes where there are more mobile ads?

Thank you.

[netmeg]

If you want to increase your EPC, you probably need to do it more with your traffic, user intent and the focus of your site rather than with ad sizes. Most common mobile sizes are 320x50, 320x100 and 300x250. But most of the mobile ads I see are actually text, so it's not a question of inventory so much.

Your content need to appeal to mobile users who want to click on an ad (for whatever reason) on their phone. That can be a hard nut to crack.

[atladsenser]

As a general rule, I think it's best to stick with Google's recommended ad sizes. For mobile, that means the 300x250 medium rectangle, which works well for both mobile and desktop, or the 320x100 mobile banner.

I've experimented with AdSense responsive ads, which are designed to expand or contract to fit any device, and while it's great that they are responsive, over time I found my CPC dropped considerably when I used them. At first, they were great, but when I recently replaced a responsive ad with a standard 300x250 medium rectangle ad, my CPC for that ad spot doubled.

That's not to say you shouldn't try them -- I'm a big believer that there really are no one-size-fits-all rules for AdSense -- just be aware that there may be fewer advertisers bidding in the responsive bucket in your site's topic niche than in the larger, IAB standard unit size ads like the 300x250.

[Erku]

Well, our traffic has actually increased. I am following all the metrics. It's not the traffic issue, but rather the CPC from mobile is very low. Thank you everyone.

[netmeg]

Well think about it from your users point of view. If they're out and about on their phone, how likely are they going to be to deliberately click on an ad (that might load pretty slowly on a 4G or 3G phone) and maybe even buy something or sign up for something from that advertiser? I pretty much live on my smart phone and I rarely do that myself. As an advertiser for clients, I have bid modifiers on mobile users to pay up to 50% less than desktop users, because they just don't tend to convert.

I don't have a good solution for that.

[nickys]

@erku I noticed the same thing. For me it's low (about half of desktop) for all sizes ie. responsive, 320x250, 336x280, 160x600

@netmeg if he's asking about cpc why are you answering him about ctr?

[Erku]

I just noticed is because mobile CTR has fallen, starting mid Sept. Do you see the same thing? I am wondering why?

[atladsenser]

if he's asking about cpc why are you answering him about ctr

Because over the longer term, a higher CTR is going to be associated with higher CPC rates. If you're more successful at delivering customers to an advertiser, more advertisers are going to be attracted to your site, and thus bid up the ad placements on your site.

[RedBar]

I just noticed is because mobile CTR has fallen, starting mid Sept. Do you see the same thing?

This is High-end Mobile Devices only?

Beginning Sept to mid Sept v mid Sept to yesterday I have seen a 37.3% increase in mobile CTR. The overall average EPC hasn't been as good but the overall earnings are up.

So far this month mobiles have earned 11.7% of earnings and tablets 23.5% according to G's stats, remember that G still does not recognise mobile Win8 as a mobile or tablet so that actual proportion must be higher.

I don't have a Win8 tablet as yet so maybe someone else can answer that?

[netmeg]

Because over the longer term, a higher CTR is going to be associated with higher CPC rates. If you're more successful at delivering customers to an advertiser, more advertisers are going to be attracted to your site, and thus bid up the ad placements on your site.

Right. As an advertiser, I want sites that provide a good CTR and that send me good traffic that converts. As a matter of course, my mobile ad bids are default 25% to 40% lower than my desktop bids until I find some sites that perform well for me. When I do, I lower or remove the bid modifier and pay the same as desktop.

[nickys]

When do you mean when you say a ctr will deliver a higher cpc? Do you mean that google will send better ads. Or do you mean that advertisers will ask to be shown on your site? Do advertisers have access to that information?

[netmeg]

Yep, we sure do, and we can include or exclude your site from showing our ads.