True Ad Logic
The Challenge
As part of managing the ad stack for a nationwide publisher, we have optimised the ad logic to what was referred to as “True Ad Logic”. This logic was applied to 65 news websites, improving the user experience and providing a more consistent structure throughout the portfolio.
The existing ad logic was based on counting paragraphs and then placing an ad at set intervals (for example, an ad every four paragraphs). This allowed for all websites to have a consistent ad logic, which then made the work of sales teams easier, as they could negotiate deals for the whole portfolio, instead of isolated websites.
ADOPSTAR'S RESPONSE
Due to the ever-changing nature of a news website’s content, we have found ourselves having very different user experiences between the portfolio’s titles. The cause for this was that editorial elements were added on the pages at a single site level (newsletter widgets, internal content circulation widgets etc). On top of that, the existing ad logic was counting all elements on the page as paragraphs, leading to massive differences between two sites with the exact same logic.
Example: Websites A and B are meant to have an ad every four paragraphs. They both have the exact same article published, which is 14 paragraphs long. Website A has no additional editorial elements added to the content, so an ad is served after paragraphs four, eight and 12. Website B has editorial widgets added, a few photos in the content and a list halfway down the page.
As the existing ad logic is counting all those elements as paragraphs, we end up having an unpredictable behaviour, where there are five or six ads loaded on the page, in the middle of the list, straight after an editorial widget etc. The user experience on website B is significantly worse, as the page is flooded with ads that are too close with each other and seemingly have no logical placement within the content.
The basic idea around True Ad Logic was to only count real content paragraphs, ignoring other editorial elements. So, as part of the True Ad Logic, all the below are NOT counted as a paragraph:
1. Editorial widgets
2. Newsletter signups
3. Headings and subheadings
4. Photos
5. Other commercial or editorial elements (such as author bios) Paragraphs shorter than 60 characters
the result
As a result, the titles within the portfolio have all the same real logic applied, improving the user experience. In addition, the editorial team was able to better place their non-commercial elements, avoiding stacking with the ads on the page and presenting a better visual result. Although the implementation of the True Ad Logic has resulted in fewer ads on each page, the value of the remaining ads on the page increased. This in turn improves the generated revenue and presents users with a cleaner and more consistent experience.
For more information or to find out what we can do for you, email:[email protected]
