Yes i have since the start of august, i used to get targeted ad's for "autoresponder", upto 3$/click, average .50-1$, now im getting mlm and get quick rich scheme's aswell as software ad's for cute ftp ect, acdc and dj music software.

im getting no click's as it is not targeted at all, 1/3 of normal.

i posted on google's help forum as i cant email them any way as their system suck's and send's me in circle's.

anyone know their email so i can ask what is going on.

i sell an autoresponder script and do not need these untargeted ad's, i would rather remove the code.

And fwiw this is the only month it has happened in 4-5 year's.

Dear gods. Woke up this morning and our top earning site was filled with ads about payday loans, 3D designers, jobs in IT and all sorts of random things that have nothing whatsoever to do with the sites content!

It's completely exasperating and is really hitting earnings badly.

I'm having the same problems these past few days despite the fact that my pages have section targeting. Before this happened, all the ads on my pages are very well targeted. My topics are very diverse so I don't think this is an issue of lack of ad inventory since all topics are affected.

BTW, has anyone implemented section targeting and removed it later because it did more harm than good? I'd appreciate any inputs.

I'm seeing the same ads as I always have. There are a few hardcore advertisers in my niche that have been around almost from day one. People just aren't clicking on the ads as often. Ad blindness, I suppose. Weak economy. For lack of better explanations I'll go with those.

BTW, has anyone implemented section targeting and removed it later because it did more harm than good? I'd appreciate any inputs.

I went with section targeting when it was first introduced, realized that, at least for my sites, it worked and ramped it up even more. I've had particular luck with weight=ignore.

FWIW... there have been both pros and cons reported about this feature. It seems to either work very well for some or not at all for others.

More webmasterworld threads about section targeting:

[google.com ]

Now and then targeting gets screwy, but I haven't seen that happen on my site in quite a while, at least in the region where I live.

In any case, I've never had a problem with overt mistargeting for more than a few days. Still, some niches may be affected more than others are, especially at a time of year--late summer--when many advertisers suspend their campaigns. With luck, your ad targeting will improve in early September (or after Labor Day in the U.S., which is September 7 this year).

Yes, in fact it's SO bad I have reluctantly removed several adblocks from my site and replaced them with affiliate banners that are very targeted (and so far it appears to have been an excellent move). I have my own theory... it's *not* because Google is getting flooded with new ads, it's because Google doesn't HAVE ANY ads and as a result they're forced to broaden their definition of "targeted" so they can display *something.* Whatever it is, it sucks and I'm not playing anymore. My focus is moving away from Google... it will be secondary to what I can control and target myself going forward. Yes, it's a lot more work but transparency as to what you earn, more control, and no fear of unclear "rules" are the payoffs.

Note to Google: Rotting teeth have *nothing* to do with beautiful hair, no matter how you spin it.

I agree with longlocks, my CTR is pretty weak this August (except for a day or two) and I blame lack of relevant advertisers for some of my sites. I chalk it up to summer doldrums, people taking vacations and the recession.

PS: this yellow teeth ad is rather graphically offensive.

I must admit I haven't seen the yellow teeth one, but I'm seeing a rather offensive flabby tummy banner for weight loss products at the moment.

I should probably mention that my move is thus far also proving the "fewer ads, higher EPC" theory. Too early for definitive proof but it sure looks that way... doesn't look like I'm losing any of my meager Google earnings despite Google ads being removed from the prime spots on my site. BONUS!

I have my own theory... it's *not* because Google is getting flooded with new ads, it's because Google doesn't HAVE ANY ads and as a result they're forced to broaden their definition of "targeted" so they can display *something.*

That could be a possibility if you're in a niche where advertisers' budgets aren't keeping up with publishers' ad space. I haven't seen any sign of that, however. Targeting on my site appears normal, earnings per click are strong, and CTR is unchanged. Maybe some niches are feeling the pinch more than others are. Geotargeting might have an effect, too.

Google knows, from today's Inside AdSense blog post:
adsense.blogspot.com/2009/08/inside-science-of-contextual-matching.html

Our machines are very good at the matching process, but there are still a few cases where their definition of relevance differs from our human definition of relevance. In these few cases, the system might end up serving ads that don't seem immediately relevant to users.

and they want us to know they're doing something about it....

we'll be rolling out a series of enhancements to AdSense's contextual targeting capabilities,

we'll see............. :)

Yeah, and I'm not supposed to feel paranoid, right? I mean, they aren't talking directly to ME, are they? Egads! LOL!

It's good news to hear that they are looking into it, perhaps other people elsewhere have been seeing bad ad targeting recently. Either way fingers crossed for a fix in the not too distant future as on my sites at least it seems to have only really occurred since the last big downtime earlier in the month.