One ad unit or multiple ones ?

[QuaterPan]

I don't know if the question has been already covered (I did a search, but may be with the wrong words).

Is there dis/advantages between :

- using only one responsive ad unit across a page and controlling each spot's size with CSS.

- using different ad units for each spot.

(without considering channels targeting)

For example, 3 slots

- A: 728x90 on top center of the page.
- B: 300x250 side bar, above the fold.
- C: 336x280 at the end of the page.

If 3 ad units are used, A and B will have fairly good AVV, and usually good CTR, and C will have a lower AVV and lower CTR.

If this is the same ad unit shown in each slot (with different sizes). The AVV and CTR of this ad unit will be low because of C pulling down the stats (my question is not about removing C to improve the AVV stats)

Will it have an impact, on the quality of advertisers served ? In other words, does Adsense take in consideration the stats of each ad unit, or the stats of each ad slot (position,size).

[tangor]

There's very little transparency regarding what adsense does or does not do on so many levels. The only way to "find out" is to experiment.

[CommandDork]

This is an interesting question that just came up in my talking circles.

I'm not having terribly good results this month using individual ads/channels on one high-traffic site so I have, at least since last week, shifted to "one ad block / one channel" for major site sections to see the difference-in-return (if there is one). The multi-ad block / multi-channel approach has worked for years but doesn't seem to carry the same return as it once did for this particular web property and its industry.

At least I'll be testing this for the rest of June to see but interesting question none-the-less.

[tangor]

Do reveal any results, when available! However, run any tests for ate least six weeks, anything less is too close to call. The web moves, but tit does not move that that quickly.

[Dimitri]

Things might have changed, while I was gone, but, back to my time, all what mattered was the order of ad slots within a page. The first slot, was receiving the best deal, followed by the second and so on. So, if it's still the case, no matter if you use different ad units, or the same one.

For tracking purpose, that is different, if all your ad slots have different sizes, you can tell the performance of each slot. However, if you have two ad slots with the same size, you won't be able to tell which one did what.

Now, one last point. This is about the latency for an ad, with a dynamic size to load.

If the size of an ad unit is hard coded within the ad itself (when you create it at the Adsense's dashboard), it will start loading as soon as possible.

If an ad is responsive, it will start loading only once the page has been rendered. This is only at this moment, that Adsense can tell the size available for such slot.

However, if the size is set in the style of the <ins element, I don't know if Adsense waits for the page to be rendered or not.

But remember my knowledge can be very outdated.

[tangor]

Commonsense works best. Most times the "old adages" worked best, still do. If one is realistic and can look at their web offerings with a critical eye, your gut will say when it's too much, too big, too intrusive.

Makes no difference if adsense or direct ads or affiliates. When you offend the user you have lost not only the visitor (for a potential repeat), but that visit as well when the back button is hit.