High traffic site, lowest CTR, could this be why?

Forum Moderators: martinibuster

Message Too Old, No Replies

High traffic site, lowest CTR, could this be why?

100% ad coverage with highest ad impressions, is this why?

JCKline

8:28 pm on Apr 14, 2012 (gmt 0)

OK, my main site is webmaster related and receives a lot of traffic, but has the lowest CTR. I understand that webmaster don't click, especially if they run AdSense, etc., so I expect a lower CTR.

But here is what I need answers for. Does Google count ad impressions even if ads are blocked with an adblocker? Almost daily my "coverage" is 100% and "ad impressions" are in the thousands daily. Yet my CTR is RARELY above 0.8%. The ad placement is really good, and I never run more than 2 ad units per page or it looks "spammy". I know many webmasters use ad blockers, so how can coverage be 100% ? Does Google count blocked ads as showing?

martinibuster

8:49 pm on Apr 14, 2012 (gmt 0)

I know many webmasters use ad blockers...

What is the exact percentage of webmasters who use ad blockers?

JCKline

9:07 pm on Apr 14, 2012 (gmt 0)

What is the exact percentage of webmasters who use ad blockers?

Obviously I cannot give an "exact" percentage, but I had sent a poll to my members (about 8 months ago) which included the question, "do you use an adblocker?" I wanted to figure out with a follow-up poll from the answers to get information about how the site was being rendered to those who answered. At that time I had 3000+ members. About 400 submitted the poll. There were only 6 Yes/No questions in the first poll. Of the 400, roughly 18% checked "Yes". I know it's a very "small" focus group, but the percentage seemed quite high to me.

martinibuster

9:19 pm on Apr 14, 2012 (gmt 0)

That's a good question. I think the best answer may have to come from someone who knows how the ad blockers work [adblockplus.org]. If the ad blocker is preventing the AS JS from loading then it's not going to count.

If the adblocker is allowing the JS to execute but using CSS Display None to hide it then it's possible that the impression may count, which would be a bug on Google's side that causes advertisers to be charged for false impressions.

JCKline

9:21 pm on Apr 14, 2012 (gmt 0)

Great answer! I check the link and see what I can find out. Thanks.

JCKline

2:30 pm on Apr 15, 2012 (gmt 0)

OK, using adblocker with firefox when viewing my site, I see in the stats bar that the js file is being called, so it appears as though CSS is being used to stop the ad from showing. If this is the case, then impressions would count when ads are not shown. Right?

Leosghost

2:55 pm on Apr 15, 2012 (gmt 0)

If this is the case, then impressions would count when ads are not shown. Right?

One would presume so..interesting..

matrix_jan

4:35 pm on Apr 15, 2012 (gmt 0)

@JCKline

What's your "Ad request RPM"? And by CTR, do you mean "Ad request CTR", or "Page CTR"?

My ad request RPM(for one of my main websites) is around 0.07%. Daily ad impressions is a 5 digit number, 80-90% new visitors. Perhaps your traffic is mainly returning visitors, and plus webmasters rarely click on ads. I personally sometimes may type the ad url(if its shown in the ad obviously) in a new window instead of clicking on it. But then what's the explanation of low CTR in my case?

topr8

5:20 pm on Apr 15, 2012 (gmt 0)

I understand that webmaster don't click, especially if they run AdSense, etc.,

i do a bit of adsense as a sideline (eg not my main business) and i can assure you i click ads, including adsense, on other websites. being a webmaster doesn't alter my behaviour (except in the sense that i don't click ads by 'mistake' thinking they are just regular links on the site because i recognise them as ads.)

JCKline

5:32 pm on Apr 15, 2012 (gmt 0)

What's your "Ad request RPM"? And by CTR, do you mean "Ad request CTR", or "Page CTR"?

I mean page CTR. My ad request CTR is even lower of course. My ad request RPM for this month is very low as well, while my ad requests are well over 80,000 so far.

levo

9:07 pm on Apr 15, 2012 (gmt 0)

I've tested this using Firefox&Adblock Plus and Safari &AdBlock on Mac. I've checked network requests on both browsers using Inspector but I can't find any adsense related requests. As far as I can tell, both blockers block the js.