From an advertiser’s perspective, the Google Display Network (GDN) and mobile apps using Adsense haven’t always had the best relationship–or is that just my perspective?

Why do mobile ads hurt your overall impression analytics?

Since you do not have much control over where your GDN ads display (in regards to apps) it was a blessing to simply exclude the famous ‘adsenseformobileapps.com’. It excluded your ad from being shown on apps.

Why would you want to eliminate all possibility of your ads showing on mobile apps?

Many companies (like ours, for example) have no reason to serve on applications. Having those impressions actually hurt overall ad performance.

With high impression volume and very low CTR, these impressions carry a lot of weight on the Display campaign’s performance–that’s not good weight!

The Google Adsense Update

BUT September 2018 Google announced they were removing the option to exclude all mobile apps.

All ads have free reign on all mobile apps. So your $200K SaaP ad might be shown on apps such as:

• Candy Crush
• Flappy Dunk
• Castle Burn
• Sneak Ops
• Pocket City
• Meow Match
• Super Starfish

At first glance, this is a very sad memo for many advertisers. Especially for those who are new to the Google Display Network and are not aware of the many mobile apps they don’t want to show on.

With the update, many advertisers are having to wait and see which low-performing apps shop up in their placements report before any exclusions are possible. You can bet this will be time-consuming compared to the previous option of simply excluding one domain: adsenseformobileapps.com.

Benefits of the Google Adsense Update

If you can’t change it, change how you view it–right?

With the ‘glass half-full’ mentality, this can be seen as a huge opportunity for the future.

Google is constantly finding ways to improve targeting on certain networks, such as with in-market audiences for search ads, custom-intent audiences, and more. So who’s to say that Google won’t construct these targeting options?

Maybe we’ll eventually have the ability to hone in on mobile apps that align with target audiences already mapped out our accounts?

This exclusion option being eliminated opens up a vast inventory that could prove to be beneficial in the long run.

But time will tell! 

Let us know how your ads are performing with the new Google Adsense update. Comment below or reach out to info@pinckneyharmon.com and we can help you align your goals to your targeting strategy.

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