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Issues for publishers with wrong ads showing on their websites

Publishers face a range of problems when unexpected ads show up on their websites. For example, an ad for an event in the past is still showing after its advertised date or an alcohol ad displays on a kid-friendly site. These issues can negatively impact user experience, brand reputation, relationship with advertisers, and ultimately advertising revenue. Here's a detailed breakdown of the problems:

Disrupt user experience

When users encounter irrelevant or inappropriate ads, their browsing experience is negatively affected. This can lead to frustration, annoyance, and even abandonment of the website. Users may perceive the publisher as careless or unconcerned about what is being displayed on their platform. When users repeatedly encounter wrong ads when visiting websites, they may eventually develop a general distrust of online advertising, leading to ad blindness or the incentive to use ad blockers. When ads are blocked because of low-quality ads, relevant and high-quality ads also suffer the same fate. This can make it even more challenging for publishers to generate revenue through ad serving.

To maintain a good user experience, both site content and ads should be consistent, relevant and up to date. It sounds like a lot of work but it might not be the case because of modern technology. Many of the ad ops tasks can be automated if you choose the right ad server. For each ad campaign, make sure you set a start/end date in your ad server because it can help you schedule ads automatically so that you don’t have to remember to turn ads on or off manually, which is time consuming and very prone to mistakes. Suitable ad targeting and restrictions should be applied to ads so that they display on the right pages at the right time.

Damage reputation

Wrong ads can severely damage a publisher's reputation. Viewers may associate the publisher with low-quality content or even malicious intent since they don’t know if it’s just a mistake or intentional click-bait advertising. This leads to a decline in trust and loyalty. It is the worst situation to be exploited by fly-by advertisers that promise high rates and earnings but can disappear overnight after serving malicious virus code to your viewers. This can tarnish the publisher's brand image and make it difficult to attract and retain both visitors, users and advertisers. Many publishers use ad networks and ad exchanges to steadily supply them with ads. When wrong ads are repeatedly displayed, it indicates a lack of control or quality assurance on the ad supply. This can strain relationships with ad networks, leading to reduced ad inventory, penalties, or even termination of the partnership.

To earn and maintain a good reputation, it is a good idea to really know your advertisers, know your ad networks/exchanges. Don’t just accept any and all clients without knowing about their businesses and verify some basic information. If a preliminary check raises some red flags, investigate further instead of turning a blind eye. Take time to regularly monitor ad settings such as allowed and blocked ad categories.

Part 2 - Problems with compliance, relationship, reporting and workload

Posted in Ad Strategies by Watson F November 18, 2023

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