22.08.2023
Perfect Ad Placements: A Guide for Publishers
Where will content recommendation, instream video, and display ads shine brightest on your domain? And where will they earn you the most revenue?
How to Best Place Content Recommendation Ads
- Integrate content recommendation ads with your website’s flow.
- Position: Place content recommendation below content, mid-article, and on the rail. They capture users’ attention without disrupting their reading experience.
- Engagement: Include your own content in the mix, engaging users with more of your content and extending their time on your site.
- Why: The CPC model of content recommendation ads maximizes the revenue from lower visibility placements
How to Best Place Instream Video Ads
- Position: Instream video ads work best when placed early in the user flow with float-enabled on the player to maximize the user’s session time.
- Why: The longer user session time allows for more pre and post-roll video ads to appear and generate revenue.
- Engagement (like with content): Include your own original video content in the mix, engaging users with more of your content and extending their time on your site.
- Viewing Experience: Have the player start the videos muted with the option for individual users to unmute the content. This balances engagement without startling users with unexpected sounds.
How to Best Place Display Ads
- Display ads work best when they’re placed where they can’t be missed.
- Position:
- Top-of-content, highly visible, above-the-fold placements are prime real estate for display ads
- Consider placing them strategically within the content for a smooth user experience.
- Include “sticky” display units in the footer and/or on the rail to increase visibility throughout the user session.
- Refresh display ads at selected time intervals (ex. 30 seconds) to increase the number of ad impressions per page view.
How to Harmonize Ad Units for a Unified Experience
- Harmonizing ad units is all about contextual coexistence. Ensure that ad units complement your content rather than overpower it. Content recommendation ads can seamlessly share the stage with articles, creating a unified reading experience.
- Space out ad units strategically to balance engagement. Placing too many ads too close together can overwhelm users. Strike a balance to keep users engaged without feeling bombarded.
The Key to Perfection: Experimentation and Analysis
While these general guidelines are effective, there’s never a one-size-fits-all solution in online ad monetization. Regular experimentation and analysis are vital to refining ad placements over time.
- Compare: Test different ad positions and monitor key metrics like impressions, CTR, and eCPM to identify what works best for your domains. This is relatively easy with the WhizzCo platform which offers apples-to-apples comparisons of standardized key metrics for all your ad types and demand partners.
- User Feedback: Listen to your users. If they indicate with their behavior, or by reaching out that a certain ad position hampers user experience, it’s time to pivot.
Ad positioning can be both an art and a science. By strategically placing content recommendation, instream video, and display ads, you can elevate revenue without sacrificing user engagement. Happy optimizing!