Radina Dzhatova

Interstitial Ads: Pros and Cons

Interstitial Ads: Pros and Cons

Interstitial ads have become quite popular in the last few years, despite the penalties set by Google back in 2015. They are most popular on mobile and in gaming apps, however, in 2020 Google also launched interstitials for the web (check out this article for more information on them). Since then, the format has gained more traction and has its fans and critics. Let’s see what exactly are interstitial ads, what are their pros and cons and some best practices for their implementation. What are interstitial ads? Interstitials are essentially full-screen ads that can be displayed on desktop or mobile web, or in-app. Normally, they appear at transitions points (such as navigating away from a page or after pausing a game) to minimize intrusiveness. Interstitials can be a variety of types, including, but not limited to images, video, rich media, and text. They are characterized by high click-through and CPM rates. However, publishers need to use them in compliance with the Better Ads Standards, Google’s Search Standards, Google’s recommended implementations, and best practices in order to stay away from penalties.  A compulsory element of interstitial ads is having a clear exit/close button. Web interstitials also have a fixed frequency cap of one ad being shown to a user per hour per subdomain. Ads should be preloaded in order to avoid latency when being displayed to the user and to ensure a positive user experience.   Advantages Let’s take a look at why this ad format is so popular among publishers. High…

AdSense Auto Ads

What are Google AdSense Auto Ads?

Google AdSense auto ads are designed to be simple to set up and customize. There is no code required to enable auto ads in any AdSense account. Previously, publishers had to insert a code on their websites in order to use Auto ads. Auto ads will now operate with any AdSense ad unit code, so any AdSense publisher can enable auto ads in their accounts without having to update any code to their sites. Your Auto ads settings may be found in AdSense’s new Ads > Overview page. You may now add URLs to the page exclusions list to disable Auto ads on specific pages or sections of your site. In comparison to the originally launched auto ads, Google has now incorporated a preview option to see how the ads will look before they go live. You will be able to delete particular ad placements within the preview. The auto ads will then generate a fresh placement for you to review somewhere else on the page. Auto Ads in details Auto ads is an AdSense feature that employs machine learning to produce ad placements on a website automatically. This implies that publishers only need to include one JavaScript snippet on their websites, and AdSense will handle everything else, such as evaluating web pages, locating viable ad placements, displaying advertising, and guaranteeing a positive user experience. You don’t have to delete your existing ad layout in order to run Auto ads. AdSense detects the existing ad units before generating auto ad…

Bid Shading - All you need to know

Bid shading explained

Bid shading is a method used by buyers in first-price auctions to avoid overspending, and its importance has grown as every major exchange has transitioned to a first-price auction.  Simply explained, it is a campaign feature that can help advertisers save money. Here’s an explanation of what it means and how it works. Bid shading defined There are two types of auctions in programmatic advertising: first-price and second-price. The highest bidder determines how much an impression is sold for in a first-price auction. The sale price of an impression is determined by the second-highest bidder in a second-price auction. Bid shading has emerged as a middle ground between the two. So, based on an estimate performed by the ad tech partner, the buyer will pay somewhere between the second-price and first-price value. How it works Because of the shift toward first-price auctions, the technology is mostly accessible as a free service on supply-side platforms and is becoming a feature increasingly used in DSPs. The vendor will study bid-history data, such as what bid rates normally win on a specific website or in a specific ad location, or at what price bids are lost, to determine what a bid should be that is midway between the first and second offers. Bid shading was created as a way to please buyers who were unhappy with having to pay far higher prices than they were used to when first-price auctions became popular. However, it is not particularly transparent, so buyers must rely on…

GAM vs GAM 360

Google Ad Manager vs Google Ad Manager 360

Google Ad Manager (formerly known as DoubleClick For Publisher) is unquestionably the world’s most popular ad management platform that enables publishers to sell and manage ad inventory. There are two types of Google Ad Manager (GAM) accounts available on the market: Ad Manager – previously known as DFP Small Businesses (the free version) and Ad Manager 360. (the paid version). In this piece, we’ll highlight the primary differences between the Google Ad Manager and Google Ad Manager 360, both their main features and the prerequisites for publishers to be able to use them. Google Ad Manager (GAM) Google Ad Manager (previously known as DFP or DoubleClick for Publishers) is a free ad management software with no minimum ad impressions restriction that is commonly used by small to medium-sized Publishers.If you are situated in the United States or Canada, you can serve up to 90 million impressions per month to non-video ad units in GAM. The monthly free impressions limit varies by geography, and the full list may be seen here. Features GAM gives you access to a good range of features, such as: A comprehensive solution for managing your ads for a multi-screen audience. API accessibility, Access to a limited number of reports, such as active view impressions, history, reach, and standard or extensive delivery. Management of line items, Ad Unit Hierarchy: Up to Level 2 i.e. Parent and Child, Ad Formats: Native Ads, Responsive Ads, Video Ads, Key-values for custom dimensions (note the limit is 5,000). What is Google…