The Lowballers

[Tonearm]

Is it safe to say that ads going to sites like ebay.com, shopping.com, etc. are the lowest bidders? If so, it seems like the smart thing to do would be to filter them by domain.

- Grant

[europeforvisitors]

Google doesn't display "lowball" ads ahead of higher-bidding ads, so if you start filtering with a heavy hand, you'll simply reduce your earnings.

JenStar posted a thread on filtering a while back that should be required reading for every new AdSense publisher. It shouldn't be too hard to find.

[Tutorialized]

I slightly disagree.

Lowball ads can possibly show before higher paying ads if the performance is significantly better.

Ie:
Say the high paying ad gets a click through of 0.1%, and the low paying ad gets a click through of 10%. It may pay google more to show the low paying ad more often.

Just a theory I guess. :)

[europeforvisitors]

Say the high paying ad gets a click through of 0.1%, and the low paying ad gets a click through of 10%. It may pay google more to show the low paying ad more often.

Doesn't that apply only to the search network?

In any case, even if it did apply to the content network, filtering those ads would be a mistake because they'd be the top earners regardless of bid.

[diamondgrl]

Yeah, don't waste your time. Only screen to make sure you don't have inappropriate ad content or competitors you don't want to advertise. Otherwise, spend your time on something else.

[Tonearm]

Ok, I'm over it. Thanks!

- Grant

[JohnKelly]

JenStar posted a thread on filtering a while back that should be required reading for every new AdSense publisher. It shouldn't be too hard to find.

I tried, and can't find it. Did JenStar start the thread or reply to an existing one?

[maximillianos]

The only reason I can think of to filter those generic ads is to help keep your ads more relevent and fresh. I can't stand those generic shopping.com or ebay.com ads that say they have what I'm looking for. I filter them just so I don't have to see them anymore. I figure if I get sick of them, my users might also be sick of seeing them over and over and over again.

[Jenstar]

Here is the thread about filtering ads:

[webmasterworld.com...]

(And FYI for everyone, you will also find many of the "Best of AdSense" threads here:
[webmasterworld.com...] )

[FromRocky]

Is it safe to say that ads going to sites like ebay.com, shopping.com, etc. are the lowest bidders? If so, it seems like the smart thing to do would be to filter them by domain.

My Advice: You should filter the ads with any reasons you feel you should except for better CPC.

[JohnKelly]

Thanks for posted the link to the thread. Based on what I read, I've removed all blocked URLs from the AdSense filter:

bizrate.com
dealtime.com
ebay.ca
ebay.co.uk
ebay.com
ebay.com.au
godaddy.com
good-offers.com
google.zdnet.com
pricegrabber.com
pricetool.com
shopper.zdnet.com
shopping.com
www1.pricetool.com

Since the new affiliate link rultes took effect yesterday, perhaps there won't be so many of the above type ads. I'll have to monitor CTR/EPC to be sure.