WAKE UP PUBLISHERS! Q4 IS HERE!
The holiday season is basically breathing down our necks by now. We know that the most magical time of year can be the most stressful (but profitable!) time in a publisher’s year, but worry not cause we’ve got your back! Before spinning into panic mode, here are 3 last minute things you need to get ready to have a great Q4.
Make sure your ads.txt is up to date
Just a quick reminder: Ads.txt, or Authorized Digital Sellers, is a text file that publishers place on the root of their websites to list all the ad networks or partners who have permission to sell their ad inventory. It is a method originated by the IAB to prevent fraud in the digital advertising ecosystem, such as domain spoofing and illegitimate inventory arbitrage.
If you want advertisers to buy advertising space through programmatic channels, you have to let the demand partners know you are one of the good guys. By using an ads.txt file you will be also identified as authorized to sell your ad inventory. Therefore, you need to make sure you have it well implemented and updated.
The first and foremost tip for managing your ads.txt file is to keep in mind that it’s a “living” document that needs to be updated and maintained. There needs to be periodic revisions of the validity of its content, adding or removing partners as they become relevant or irrelevant. The worst thing you can do, besides not having an ads.txt file, is to place the ads.txt file and not look at it ever again.
Why is it important to make sure it is up to date?
There are many reasons why it is crucial for you to keep your ads.txt file up to date but the two most important are showcasing the transparency of your website by declaring yourself as an authorized digital seller, and preventing losing money you could be making otherwise.
That being said, if the ads.txt is not fully up to date you are not authorizing all the selling parties that your programmatic advertising partners have connected. Therefore, you are potentially missing out on revenue.
How to check if your ads.txt is up to date?
The easiest way by far to check if your ads.txt file is up to date is with the Refinery89 Dashboard (It’s true!). In the “My site” section of the Dashboard you’ll be able to review the status of your ads.txt file for all your websites at the same time. If we spot an error, we will let you know how to fix it ASAP.
Even better. At Refinery89 we give our Publishers the option of using our hosted ads.txt, so the latest updates from our database are always live in your ads.txt file. You can have the updates automated including the lines you added yourself permanently. This way you’ll still manage all your personal ads.txt entries through the dashboard without having to manually update the file. Just leave it to us and we’ll always keep an eye on it! How does that sound?
Include high value ad formats in your website
The next thing to keep at the top of your checklist when getting ready for Q4 is to integrate high value ad formats in your website. These are the highly demanded ad formats that advertisers are willing to pay premium prices for, specially in Q4, making them ideal to boost your revenue:
Interstitial
Ever been on an app and an ad suddenly covers the entire screen temporarily? That is an Interstitial ad. It is a full screen banner, displayed for an established amount of time, that is triggered by a user’s action such as going to the next page, going to a different tab or closing the site. They have high visibility and engagement rate. They command premium CPMs leading to increased ad revenue.
Takeovers
Speaking of full-coverage, takeover ads are full-page banners that cover up the empty space of your website. This ad format is non-invasive and gives your website a very attractive look since it’s a great spot for premium advertisers to serve high quality content.
Push Up
This is a type of rich media ad format that stays at the bottom of the page no matter how much your users scroll down. They are highly visible and since they stick around for so long it allows for multiple refreshes per pageviews which means more impressions = more revenue!
In-image
Can you guess it from the title? Just as the name indicates, in-image ads are ads that are inside of an article image on your website. This ad format is a way to monetize heavy image contents and utilize all this space for generating revenue.
Video Instream
If you are familiar with YouTube, you have 100% been impacted by one of these. Video instream ads are the video ads that automatically play before, during or after you play a video. Instream ads typically generate higher CPMs boosting ad revenue compared to other formats. We bet you love them now after this last part.
Video Outstream
Unlike instream video ads, outstream ads will continue playing once they come into view as the user scrolls. How so? Well, once the video comes into viewport, the video will start playing and continue doing so by accommodating into a mini player at the bottom of the screen as the visitor scrolls down. It’s highly user friendly and helps retain users because of that.
Tip for integrating high value ad formats into your website
Contact your AdTech partner so they can guide you through the essential high value ad formats for you and how to integrate them in your site. Here at Refinery89 our experts will personally take you through the best ad formats by analyzing, comparing, and defining what types are the best for your websites to increase profits.
Have a brand-safe content plan
In programmatic advertising, ads are matched to your content through contextual advertising. Good content that is brand-safe will be more attractive to advertisers. Advertisers do not want their communications to appear next to harmful content that would affect their reputation, and publishers don’t want sketchy ads on their website that will also affect their own image, so in order to achieve this, you’ll have to tailor your content to make it suitable for premium advertisers.
By having premium demand partners, you will be protecting your brand with ads that suit your site. There are two things you could do to make a brand safety content plan for your website:
Avoid harmful topics in your content
Make sure that your content does not include topics that any advertiser wants to avoid, like the categories in the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM)’s Brand Safety Floor Framework, such as hate speech, military conflict, explicit sexual content and crime.
Find a reliable AdTech partner
One of the best ways to ensure brand safety is to rely on trusty partners (like Refinery89 😉) that will only connect your site to premium demand partners and guide you through the best practices to keep your content brand-safe so you can attract more advertisers and get the most of your ad strategy.
Ready to start Q4?
Let’s recap. Keep an eye on your ads.txt file for updates, ensure that you are using high value ad formats to enhance profit, and guarantee that your content is brand-safe to attract advertisers. Now you are all set for taking over Q4!
But…what if we go above and beyond? Join our #1 Network by becoming a Refinery89 Publisher and we’ll help you maximize your ad revenue with our award-winning Single Tag lub Monetize App SDK ad management solutions! Contact our experts and they’ll walk you through the entire process to take your website’s ad game to the next level!
