On February 21, 2018 Google announced the new AdSense Auto-Ads, which promise to make website monetization easier and more effective. With Auto-Ads, Google makes all the decisions for me regarding the number and placement of ads on my web pages.
According to Google, the benefits of Auto-Ads include:
- Optimization: Using machine learning, Auto ads show ads only when they are likely to perform well and provide a good user experience.
- Revenue opportunities: Auto ads will identify any available ad space and place new ads there, potentially increasing your revenue.
- Easy to use: With Auto ads you only need to place the ad code on your pages once.
Sounds kinda cool, so I tried it out. Auto-Ads was easy-breezy to set up. Just a few clicks in Google AdSense to select which types of ads to display, then paste a code snippet into my page header using my Theme Options.
The result: Auto-Ads did a surprisingly good job of matching ads to my content. In comparison, my self-placed ads seem to rely primarily on browser history for ad selection. (This is why I get complaints from parents when a lingerie ad pops up next to a nursery rhyme. “I understand ma’am, but what was little Johnny viewing before he visited byGosh?”)
But … nope. Too spammy/scammy looking for my tastes. Too many ads, too obtrusively placed. Better for revenue, worse for user experience. I quickly switched back to a single ad per page, unobtrusively placed in the right margin.
