Should I block ad from play.google.com?

[NickMNS]

The only ads I ever see from the Google play store are for really spammy apps, most recently I've been blocking ads that appear to be for some kind of app that hooks you up with Chinese call girls. Not sure exactly what the does exactly but the ads are inappropriate for my content. I obviously block the ads, but like all great Google AdWords / AdSense spam the ads come back from new accounts. I often block the domains when I see that they are recurring, they rarely are. But in this case the domain is play.Google.com

So should I block the Google play, or is blocking the domain too broad and should I stick with blocking the domain and the sub folder / parameter level?

eg:

play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=sg.purespamapp.live

[keyplyr]

So should I block the Google play

You seem like you're wanting to :)

If you block the store, you may be blocking non-spammy app ads as well.

Also consider you're a bit biased as to what qualifies as "spammy" because this is your site. Because of the sheer volume of all ads nowadays, users are probably a bit calloused.

BTW - what was the name of the app that hooks you up with Chinese call girls? (joking)

[NickMNS]

As I have mentioned here before, my view is that the ads that appear on a site reflect on the quality of content displayed. If I as the webmaster do not take the time to remove the ads for vinegar, download buttons, dating sites, tarot cards and get rich scams how can I expect the user to trust the content displayed. The site in question is in a space where one often finds spammy copy cats. So what differentiates my site. The site displays stats and not much more. The spammy copy cats display stats and nothing else. Removing the spammy ads, is one way to differentiate the site and gain user trust.

So I may be well be biased, but I am protecting my brand.

you may be blocking non-spammy app ads as well.

Yes exactly, thus the reason for the post. My experience has always been that ads pointing to Google play are for spammy apps. But my experience is limited, so the question is out there do others share this experience or have people seen quality ads that point to Google Play?

[keyplyr]

The dynamic: what's a spammy ad... what's a quality ad?

To me *all* ads are spammy. That's the definition I put on ads... they're spam. However, I'm in the game. I publish ads, not for me but for my site visitors so I can earn revenue. I really don't like any ads and I certainly don't see any as being "quality." If I wanted to maintain any kind of high standard, I wouldn't publish ads.

Now, here's the reality of it. The biggest earners are often the most ugly & spammy looking. They get the user's attention. For whatever reason, people click on them.

Personally, the only categories I exclude are politics and religion since these tend to make people irate.

[NickMNS]

Now, here's the reality of it. The biggest earners are often the most ugly & spammy looking. They get the user's attention. For whatever reason, people click on them.

This is not my experience and not supported by my data.

Once upon a time when the ad-balancer still existed, I was able to block all the low paying ads, and guess which ads were the first to go. That's right the spammy ones. The legitimate ads, those related to the site content and the legitimate interests of the users remained, and I saw no drop in earnings. So believing that your users see those ads any different than you or are more likely to click on them is wrong (at least in my case). Let's say that users do click on these ads, you still will only get paid a penny or two, then the user is gone to the spam site to click on the high paying ads that they would have seen on your site. So it essentially amounts to traffic theft.

These ads annoy users and in the worst case scenario push them to block all ads.

[keyplyr]

Again...what's a spammy ad... what's a quality ad?

(rhetorical)

[tangor]

While you do play the game, it is your site and as the publisher you have final say on what appears. If a particular type of ad content doesn't work for your site then block it. Will g get unhappy and retaliate? Doubt it.

[NickMNS]

@Tangor I also doubt it. But my that not my question. My question is, is blocking Google Play too broad, in the sense that I will loose significant revenue as a result.

Have you seen ads for legitimate apps that point user to Google Play?

[keyplyr]

@tangor - What type of ad blocking have you done in the past? What have you found to be more effective... blocking ads in the Adsense UI or blocking at the server?

[keyplyr]

AFAIK the ads for Google home also come from Google Play. They've done fairly well on my properties and the ones I've seen would be difficult to categorise as spammy; likewise the other apps owned by Google.

[NickMNS]

@keyplyr, I have just found one of those ads in my review but the url is madeby.google.com. But there could be variation so I am keeping an eye open for them now. I just found an add for an Amazon Kindle App that goes to Google play. So clearly blocking Google play is too broad.