We're getting a lot of bogus clicks from the ad display network. What's the best way to make sure our video ads only show on YouTube itself? I've added the googleadsense_without_youtube.com to the Placement exclusion list. Is there a better way? [[ edit: I'd made a mistake. Now I added this url and also our campaigns right below it, then saved. Now it seems we've been Display network free for 3 days ]] Does it help anything to export the list from 'When and where ads were showed' and exclude the worst offenders in the Display network? This is a very manual process however.

I launched a new campaign two days ago and under the "Where ads showed" report, 95% of the budget has been spent on the display network and 5% on the YouTube network so far. (I have received 1,158 views from display ads and 60 from YouTube. I've gotten 43 clicks to my landing page but no conversions yet.) Google Ads is reporting that my ad strength is "excellent". Is this normal? If yes, maybe you can tell me why... If it's not normal, what can I do to fix this? Thanks so much @Brian Moncada

Hey, the campaigns I've launched recently have seemed to be attracting what looks like bots. Even though I optimise for sales, have a very well trained pixel, and run proven ads in developed countries, some of my campaigns have gotten cost per leads as high as $1,000. These are the same ads and same funnel that have gotten thousands of sales at $50 each, yet new campaigns will spend 2x their budget in 1 day, get HUNDREDS of clicks, and only 1 optin on the checkout page. Why is this happening? My google rep is CLUELESS and suggests random campaign structures and types where the exact same thing happens.

In mid-February, I excluded this URL from all video campaigns, and it's working great. Go to Tools and Settings > Placement Exclusion Lists > New List > Enter and paste this URL: googleadsense_without_youtube.com Then hit save. Hope it helps.

Yesterday, news broke on Twitter about the Wall Street Journal claiming that Google “broke its own standards in ads deals”. They are saying that 80% of the ads YouTube serves aren’t compliant with their own terms of service. As you may know already, YouTube Ads are AMAZING because they show before OR after videos on YouTube… But sometimes, YouTube runs these ads as embedded videos on 3rd party websites, like Yahoo, ESPN, or even blog articles like Buzzfeed. These 3rd Party websites use YouTube as a resource to bring their media to life… And in return, YouTube capitalizes on their traffic. Win-win scenario for both parties if you ask me. But here’s the problem… These ads are supposed to be shown on these 3rd party websites with: ✅ Sound on ✅ They must be “fully viewable” ✅ And skippable And the WSJ is claiming that 80% of the YouTube Ads on these 3rd party websites are shown: ❌ Muted ❌ As “auto-play” videos that are off to the side ❌ And unskippable Not only that, but the person who broke this article on Twitter did some more research and found that 1 out of every 2 YouTube Ads is actually being shown on these 3rd party websites… As opposed to 1 out of every 5, or 10… …thus affecting traffic quality, and in reality, the campaign as a whole. So what does this mean for you as an Ad Man? It means that things are changing, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Historically, advertising has always been affected by 3rd-party-related changes, and we’re the last to know… …but the first to adapt. Think of iOS 14 and Facebook Ads. Think of the Responsive Ads update to YouTube Ads. Think of YouTube Ads getting rid of placement targeting, keyword targeting, etc. Point being, these changes are always happening and the industry just keeps getting stronger… But at the same time, we can’t “just ignore it” because that’d be negligent and irresponsible. This DOES matter… Because we are yet to see the effects in our campaigns and the way we advertise. But now we are AWARE of what’s going on…