MFA's Are Still A Big Problem - My Techniques

Discussion in 'AdSense' started by Surf_Dude, Jul 19, 2007.

  1. #1
    Every day there is a new one.
    I checked my stats today, and this puppy pays 2 cents -
    freeprintables.myfuntips.com - PURE MFA - Still there, in all its splendor.

    You MUST whack-a-mole every day, or your payout will drop like a rock. EVERY TIME I ban these sites my EPC goes up 10 times for that page.
    Here is the deal - Google gets a lot of good advertisers, and Google gets a lot of BAD advertisers. They don't sort them out. They let you do it. Far, far easier for them. This is YOUR JOB. You won't find these ads in the search network.

    "Google always displays the top-paying ad in the first position".
    At one point, this was true. But it has NOT been true for 2 months.
    Google OFTEN shows the WORST-PAYING ad in the first slot. YOU must get rid of it.
    The worst-ad-in-the-top-spot began simultaneously with the MFA-ban announcement - one evil was traded for another. MFAs have made Google tons of money, so I think they felt obligated to provide an alternative.

    Here are my techniques to do it.
    1. Show one ad block only - minimize your work load
    2. I liked the 336, but
    - when it gets only 1 ad, it looks like he||
    - when it shows 4 ads, the font is too small
    3. I switched to the 250, simply because I don't have to deal with 4 poor ads, just 3.
    4. Every time my EPC drops to 2 cents or less, ALL ads being displayed on that page are gone forever.
    5. If I continue to get 2 cents ads, I remove Adsense from that page completely, because I get piffed, and I (will) need the filter space.
    6. Google apparently feels that they MUST serve these ads, to maximize income. I feel that their current philosophy is, "If a publisher is stupid enough to serve these ads, then they deserve them." OK. I can live with that, since Google provides the filter.

    Here are a few hints (almost all of the following ads were showing when I was getting 2 cents or less per click) -
    alpineimport.com
    alsosalt.com
    ask.com
    blurtit.com
    calculatorconversion.info
    drgourmet.com
    ebay.com
    encora.com
    exactmetrology.com
    fatloss4idiots.com
    floridajuice.com
    food.meta700.com
    for-sale-now.com/eBay
    freeprintables.myfuntips.com
    fruitabu.com
    glucofast.com
    greatvitaminprices.com
    gwinstek.com.tw
    gyminasuitcase.com
    healthline.com
    hgh-facts.com
    impossiblygood.com
    info.com
    info.com/vitamink
    ivillage.com
    lifescript.com
    live.com
    marketvolume.com
    mathfactsnow.com
    mcdonalds.com
    measurement101.com
    measurementmetric.com
    meltmorefat.com/
    metricconversionfactor.com

    How about that htttp://food.meta700.com? Gotta love it.
    And htttp://www.blurtit.com? (remove the extra t)
    I call these MFE sites (Made For Everyword).
    Ideal ads go from the general to the specific, or from the specific to the specific.
    But going from the specific to the general = CLICK-FLIPPERS = SPAM!
    .
     
    Surf_Dude, Jul 19, 2007 IP
  2. Scriptona

    Scriptona Notable Member

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    #2
    you can get hundreds of those from adsblacklist.com

    i think the competitive ad filter should be extended to 1000 instead of 200 urls
     
    Scriptona, Jul 19, 2007 IP
  3. Surf_Dude

    Surf_Dude Peon

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    #3
    More would be better, as I have read many others say.
    I haven't used mine up yet, but the time will come. I am trying to be frugal with the filter entries.

    The trouble with adsblacklist is that you would be blocking ads that don't ever appear on your pages, which uses up blocking slots. Since the filter is limited, I believe that you should only block ads that actually plague you. Otherwise, you will run out in no time.

    One technique - If you are bombarded with these things on a particular page, stop fighting! Move the page to an alternative ad provider. Then, you can remove the many MFAs etc, that are served for that page, and free up more slots for other offenders. Your EPC, eCPM and probably your CTR will improve - Google will like you more, and you are less likely to be considered a "dregs" publisher.

    By proactively increasing your income, don't you also increase Google's income (I think)? I would think that you would gain Google's respect for such actions.
     
    Surf_Dude, Jul 19, 2007 IP
  4. zexy

    zexy Guest

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    #4
    Are you sure about this?
    Because it could change a lot of things.
     
    zexy, Jul 19, 2007 IP
  5. Surf_Dude

    Surf_Dude Peon

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    #5
    Am I sure? Positive. I have the evidence. Try it yourself, on one of your "problem" pages.

    2 cents per click - blocked all 3 ads in the 250x250 - EPC went up either 2 times, 5 times, or 10 times. I have been around too long to listen to any nonsense about "advertisers change, bids change, blah-blah". The low-payers are too often served first. Of course, about 2 days later, you get new ones. Block them too.

    And it HAS changed things for me. For 3 years, I never used the blocking filter until 2 months ago. Never felt I had to. Then, I noticed the disturbing trend. And I read the comments of DP'ers who professed great success using the competitive filter. I feel they were all correct. DP rocks. You just don't get the info at that other place.

    Old expression - "Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom".
    New expression - "Eternal vigilance is the price of maximizing Adsense profits".

    I believe that many of the recent posts about "adsense dropping", "what happened", "earnings collapse", "nosedive", "wtf", etc. can be explained by the current low-paying-ad-in-top-position situation.
     
    Surf_Dude, Jul 19, 2007 IP
  6. Scriptona

    Scriptona Notable Member

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    #6
    working with ad filter will be always a headache since you can't see all kind of ads because some of them might not be showing in your area ;)

    I saved the efforts and the headache and cleared the ad filter list :rolleyes:
     
    Scriptona, Jul 19, 2007 IP
  7. luthan

    luthan Peon

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    #7
    how can you see that you get paid 2 cents for a certain ad?
    i do not know how to track this but it could be very useful
     
    luthan, Jul 19, 2007 IP
  8. Surf_Dude

    Surf_Dude Peon

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    #8
    You must throw out the baby with the bath water - guilt by association.
    I don't have time to mess around with individual ads.
    Let's say for a given page, on a given day, I get 100 clicks, and $1.85.
    I DON"T CARE which of the 3 ads is the offender - they all go - let's try 3 more. So far, this has worked EVERY time for me. I know that other's experience will vary. I can only recount my own experience.

    By the way, you must have a separate channel for each page, for this to work.
    If necessary, drop ads from low-impression pages, to free up the channels you need. Or you can leave the ads, and remain in the dark about the stats for that page, if you don't care.
     
    Surf_Dude, Jul 19, 2007 IP
  9. luthan

    luthan Peon

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    #9
    lol
    good enough
     
    luthan, Jul 19, 2007 IP
  10. ablaye

    ablaye Well-Known Member

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    #10
    It was probably the only click he got.
     
    ablaye, Jul 19, 2007 IP
  11. Surf_Dude

    Surf_Dude Peon

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    #11
    Now, now. Not so. "He" is right here.
    1 click never means anything. Especially since Google shows low EPC in the morning, and much higher EPC in the afternoon.
    100 clicks is something else entirely.
    I am prevented from publishing my stats. Nor would I publish them anyway. Just generalized examples.
    I AM ALLOWED to publish my daily total income from Adsense. I choose not to.

    I perform these actions in the morning, based upon the total results for the previous day. Twenty-four hours is good enough for me, especially the latest 24 hours.
     
    Surf_Dude, Jul 19, 2007 IP
  12. Eric Giguere

    Eric Giguere Peon

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    #12
    I've put some thoughts together that may explain some of this, see this post.
     
    Eric Giguere, Jul 19, 2007 IP
  13. *Mayank*

    *Mayank* Notable Member

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    #13
    I agree today!
    Till yesterday I saw good ads on top place untill sometimes.

    Today I saw top placement got tons of low paying clicks, 24 clicks and only $5.60
    Which usually had an average of 40 cents, today it was only an average of 25 or something :(
    Earnings reduced today :(

    I noticed on top placements, and I saw sites like this continously showing

    lookeyes.com
    officialsearchlist.org

    WTF, they only give you sponsored ads for results, crappy sites :mad:
    I blocked them
     
    *Mayank*, Jul 19, 2007 IP
  14. HiltonHeadIslander

    HiltonHeadIslander Peon

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    #14
    SD,

    Thanks for the useful tips. Good stuff.

    Cheers,
    Will
     
    HiltonHeadIslander, Jul 19, 2007 IP
  15. Surf_Dude

    Surf_Dude Peon

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    #15
    Hi Eric,
    Thanks for chiming in with some excellent facts. I have read your words a number of times, and have always been impressed. You did an excellent job of offering insight into this publisher payment issue. I have also noticed that you have exhibited profound patience, when dealing with hostile individuals.

    There is a short list of experts whose advice I immediately accept. You are one of them. I wish I was as knowledgable, and as eloquent.

    If Eric says it's true, I believe it. Especially here. Total confirmation of my observations. I wasn't imagining things, after all! I'll be checking into your site more often. Great stuff!
     
    Surf_Dude, Jul 24, 2007 IP
  16. yyCC

    yyCC Peon

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    #16
    well often i see the targetting are way off and the same ads show on different page a lot of time until i got sick of it and blocks it ... not sure if that has to do with it ...
     
    yyCC, Jul 24, 2007 IP