AdSense grossly mis-targetting ads

Message board problem?

[helleborine]

AdSense USED to target ads perfectly on my message board until...

...I switched to a different board program.

Now all I get are ads about "message boards" "passwords" "hosting" etc.

Here are the facts:

1. The board has its own domain name. However...
2. The board host is the company that holds the patent on the board program, i.e., it's hosted by (fictional) NiftyBoards Corp itself.
3. I have meta-tags, and the on-page content has "widgets" everywhere.

Does the Google Mediabot think my board is about NiftyBoards? Why? How can I fix that?

[kodaks]

How long has this been going on? If it has been happening just now, you shoulf wait for a while and the spider might be able to better match your ads. This is what happened to me, before.

[helleborine]

It's been happening since the beginning of the board, a month ago. Am I impatient? The targetting appears to be accurate within 20 minutes of publishing a new page for all my other sites.

[hyperkik]

I've seen this phenomenon on some bulletin boards, where for some reason Google places a particular emphasis on boilerplate forum content that references either the board software or its underlying platform, and targets the ads to that instead of the forum content. I think what you are seeing are the default ads for your site based upon what Google's algorithm has misread as its theme.

If this is a significant dent in your pocketbook, I would jot off a note to AdSense support detailing the problem, as in appropriate cases they will "recalibrate" your site.

[helleborine]

I did email them - but I just learnt all of Google's gone on a company ski trip.

I'm glad to hear my problem is not unique; even more to learn that it can be fixed from Google's end, and that they can and will do something about it.

Wish I could fix it myself, though -

You wouldn't believe how low the CTR is...

[roycerus]

:) Happened to me once... long back. If there hasn't been any URL change then it will take some time for your ads to become targeted again. Or perhaps you can make it something different to induce a re-visit.

Don't try it unless you are an expert with this software.