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Sharp Drop In Adsense CTR? Try Using Google's 'Competitive Ad Filter'

by internetmarketer99
7 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Are you checking the ads on all your Adsense sites?

I recently noticed a drop in the daily earnings of one of my Adsense sites. The page impressions were stable, but the CTR had fallen off by 75% (one quarter as many clicks).

Well, if the site was getting roughly the same traffic, and it was coming from the same sources, why was the click-through suddenly way down?

One look at the site and it was immediately apparent. The first ad slot - the one that returns the most $$ and is usually the one most frequently clicked - was showing an almost-unrelated ad.

Clearly the advertiser was bidding on terms that would put him on my page, but his ad was for something that wasn't applicable to those coming to the site - in other words, something my traffic wasn't going to click on!

Fortunately, there's an "easy fix". Adsense has a "Competitive Ad Filter" (under 'Adsense Setup') that lets you 'block' ads by entering either the display or destination URL. And you can block that advertisers range of ads by entering just the TLD: "maindomain.com".

Hint: the ads you might want to block don't necessarily have to be 'competitors'. In this case they were simply ads that weren't of interest for the thrust of the site.

I entered this ad's URL, 30 minutes later they were gone from my page, and my CTR is now back to where it had been previously.

Mark
#adsense #competitive #ctr #drop #filter #google #sharp
  • Profile picture of the author cdicicco
    Perfect ! You just saved me a ton of time trying to figure out how to correct this on one of my sites because I am currently having this same problem.

    Thanks for the information...

    Chris
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    • Profile picture of the author sfnum8
      Great thanks for the info, my site has been in this same scenario
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  • Profile picture of the author LegitBlogger
    This is a great tip that CAN indeed fix adsense CTR for
    one's sites. You are the real deal in terms of adsense, Mark.
    Keep it up,
    Signature
    CRAZY $0 OFFER for the next FEW Warriors Only -
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    • Profile picture of the author paulgl
      You gotta be careful. Google shows ads it deems appropriate.
      (not necessarily right away if you've changed something)
      The first ad is worth more. If you do as suggested here,
      you may get lower paying clicks. And who's to say that's
      really the problem? Whenever I have brought something up
      similar to this, the whole gang here screams to change the
      keywords.

      So, I have taken that approach, tweaked a little bit.
      Look carefully at the words in your title.

      I have also come to realize that maybe I get enough traffic
      to want to click on a slightly off targeted ad. I took the
      approach of looking at similar sites. Checked their adsense
      ads. Completely what I wanted. Checked their title and
      keywords. Worked like a charm.

      And another thought. You may get rid of the first pesky ad,
      but another one may be looking to take it's place.

      If it works for you, then stick with it.

      Paul
      Signature

      If you were disappointed in your results today, lower your standards tomorrow.

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      • Profile picture of the author internetmarketer99
        Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

        You gotta be careful. Google shows ads it deems appropriate.
        (not necessarily right away if you've changed something)
        The first ad is worth more. If you do as suggested here,
        you may get lower paying clicks. And who's to say that's
        really the problem? Whenever I have brought something up
        similar to this, the whole gang here screams to change the
        keywords.

        So, I have taken that approach, tweaked a little bit.
        Look carefully at the words in your title.

        I have also come to realize that maybe I get enough traffic
        to want to click on a slightly off targeted ad. I took the
        approach of looking at similar sites. Checked their adsense
        ads. Completely what I wanted. Checked their title and
        keywords. Worked like a charm.

        And another thought. You may get rid of the first pesky ad,
        but another one may be looking to take it's place.

        If it works for you, then stick with it.

        Paul
        If your site is about "custom pinstriping cars", and an advertiser pushing custom-tailored pinstripe suits starts bidding heavily on the term "custom pinstripe", than it doesn't matter how much that ad pays, the searcher who typed in "custom pinstriping supplies" to get to your site isn't going to click that ad. Neither is anyone else interested in "pinstriping cars".

        Your point is a good one though - you always want to be careful, use common sense, and do things intelligently.

        Mark
        Signature
        = = = = COMPLETE, CUSTOM ADSENSE SITE = = = =
        VERY Limited WSO. 100% Guaranteed.

        MY Expertise, YOUR Profit.
        Read the thread.
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        • Profile picture of the author paulgl
          Well I just used your advice to get rid of a couple of pesky ads.
          I hope.

          I have gotten chewed out here by expert warriors on the
          need to change keywords. I have stated too, that if my
          site is about student loan consolidation, I can't see changing them.
          No, my site is not about student loan consolidation. Just using it
          as an example like yours.

          Paul
          Signature

          If you were disappointed in your results today, lower your standards tomorrow.

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  • Profile picture of the author angilina
    Originally Posted by internetmarketer99 View Post

    Are you checking the ads on all your Adsense sites?

    I recently noticed a drop in the daily earnings of one of my Adsense sites. The page impressions were stable, but the CTR had fallen off by 75% (one quarter as many clicks).

    Well, if the site was getting roughly the same traffic, and it was coming from the same sources, why was the click-through suddenly way down?

    One look at the site and it was immediately apparent. The first ad slot - the one that returns the most $$ and is usually the one most frequently clicked - was showing an almost-unrelated ad.

    Clearly the advertiser was bidding on terms that would put him on my page, but his ad was for something that wasn't applicable to those coming to the site - in other words, something my traffic wasn't going to click on!

    Fortunately, there's an "easy fix". Adsense has a "Competitive Ad Filter" (under 'Adsense Setup') that lets you 'block' ads by entering either the display or destination URL. And you can block that advertisers range of ads by entering just the TLD: "maindomain.com".

    Hint: the ads you might want to block don't necessarily have to be 'competitors'. In this case they were simply ads that weren't of interest for the thrust of the site.

    I entered this ad's URL, 30 minutes later they were gone from my page, and my CTR is now back to where it had been previously.

    Mark
    I use Competitive ad filter quite often. I also use Ad Review Center. Both these features allow me to block ads that do not look relevant to my site/pages. These features surely help to increase CTR.
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