How to monetize intent

Automatic placement, fundamentally, is a script that will place ads where there is space for them. If you increase the intensity, it will find more spaces and put the ads there. Its goal is probably to make sure that the ads don't get cut off and they don't overlay other content, but it doesn't really know why the user is there, whether they're going to click on an ad in that position or even take a look at it, and predict the value.

We wrote a case study about this recently, in fact, where a site had Auto ads with 11 to 14 slots, but the layout was messy. The one part where the user was very engaged, clicking on a specific location and willing to interact with whatever content we would show, was left unmonetized, earning nothing. The algorithm can easily find rectangles, but not the reason anyone is there.

Empty space isn't unused money

Let's consider space a proxy. Auto ads services and a lot of optimization technology treat an area that is empty as unused money, but an empty area next to a paragraph nobody finishes, or in some place down the page, or in the corner, is really not the same as the visitor's favorite part of the site. Priced as inventory, they look similar. Or maybe this ad in a strange spot actually prices better because it can fit larger ads, but they are obviously not the same thing because the user is only likely to engage with one of them.

Increasing the intensity of Auto ads is also a setting that sounds like you're trying harder, but advertising revenue scales non-linearly. Just because there are more ads doesn't mean there is more money to be made. Potentially, it will, and usually more ads make more money, but the growth from those additional ads diminishes over time because there is only so much demand and only so much one user can do or interact with. By increasing the intensity, you mostly add cheap impressions. That makes the expensive ones perform a bit worse, for example, by decreasing viewability from making the scroll longer, or causing layout shift and increasing the page's weight, which brings speeds down.

Auto ads can still be useful

We aren't here to write a hit piece on Auto ads technology because, for many purposes (for example, a blog where most of the content on the page is weighted similarly and the difference is primarily just in some parts of the article that we scroll to later), engaging better, Auto ads can do a pretty decent job. Machine learning is already productive enough at the large networks to deliver decent results. However, set-and-forget platforms cannot take in language or how the page is used. Humans can do that, and to an extent, agents can too. We make use of smart humans and smart agents to make this productive.

Downloads, ingredients, the last reply

There are moments that should be the best unit, and sometimes there isn't one. Especially on websites that lead to a download or an external link that is valuable to the user, it is quite advantageous to monetize with a rewarded ad or with a placement that will have high viewability because the user is spending a longer time engaging with that section. On a recipe site, it might be the ingredients or the print and save button. On a forum, it could be the last reply or the section next to the composer. On a tool site, it could be the final confirmation button or some kind of generation, export, etc.

Fewer placements beat a spray

The goal we have is to start from why the user has arrived on this page in the first place. This can be answered in broad ways and will vary based on your website, of course. Nonetheless, we use this kind of briefing for layout to comprehend the real situation: a lower number of placements in the path of attention beats a spray of ads that will be hardly paid attention to in the margins. Plus, it leads to a click, which is not a side quest. That's also another benefit along the way, and it is seriously possible to increase revenue by substantial amounts by cutting out ads that don't perform to nearly any extent and also introducing higher-impact formats.

We implement modern technology to make sure that we can provide you with virtually any format across the monetization space. Banners and display ads are still worthwhile in a lot of places, especially above the fold or where users are already looking. Lazy loading, once they scroll, helps with balancing things out too, so you're not paying for weight on ads they will never reach. Interstitials are good at making use of the user's attention when they are, for example, navigating somewhere like another page or an outbound link. A rewarded ad implemented as a content locker or modal, or with a custom code implementation, is the highest-value unit when it fits, which is the important half of that sentence. We really have to apply it to the prize itself and not just in random situations.

Along the way, it might be worthwhile to bring in other formats like anchors, native recommendation slots, focused banners, and side rails, but we are not here to give a format-by-format tour of every single one we support, which has become quite a long list now. Special formats likewise pay well when they are placed purposefully and in places where they use the visitor's attention with a good exchange.

Without something in return

The point here is that the trade has to be fair, or we are just serving a nastier ad. If we just start showing rewarded ads to everybody without offering them anything in return, we will decrease the user experience for only temporary gains in revenue. Providing content online that is ad-monetized is an exchange of value, just like any other, except the user is not paying you in money but rather in attention that advertisers are interested in. This is a rule we have to remember.

Opt-in rates for rewarded ads are a great way to track this. If users constantly close it or don't want to watch the ad, that is a piece of information. We don't want to turn our site into a more annoying one, but rather monetize a sensible position in the visitor lifecycle.

To improve the user experience, we also make use of our visual editor, which makes it possible to style our content lockers or modals in line with the rest of your website.

And to finish off, if your site has a clear reason people come, we can take a look at the current setup and say what we'd change or how we can do things better. We're always happy to discuss your current ad setup and learn more, but also provide some free feedback. Reach out to us via whatever method you'd like. Take a look at our contact page.