If you’re a website owner, you know how important it is to keep your CPM rates high. But what if your earnings suddenly take a hit? A CPM drop can happen for many reasons, and one of the biggest culprits is bad ad placement.
The way you place your ads defines your revenue. Put them in the wrong spot, and people ignore them — or worse, they get annoyed and leave your site. This results in lower engagement, fewer conversions, and a big dip in your CPM rate.
In this article, we’ll break down the most common ad placement mistakes that cost you money and how to fix them. If you’re tired of seeing your rates jumping back and forth, keep reading — you might be making some of these mistakes without even realizing it.
Understanding CPM
CPM, or Cost Per Mille, means how much advertisers pay for every 1,000 ad impressions on your site. In simple terms, it’s how much brands are willing to spend to get their ads in front of your audience.
Unfortunately, not all ad impressions are equally valuable, and that’s where strategic ad placement comes in handy. That’s right, as a publisher, you might want to play around with your ad spots on the website to prevent CPM drops.
Common Ad Placement Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)
If you’re seeing a CPM drop, your ad placements need some tweaking. Even small mistakes can make a huge difference in your revenue. Here are some of the biggest placement blunders publishers make — and how to fix them for better engagement and higher CPM rates.
Ads That Are Hard to See
You might think placing ads anywhere on your site is enough, but if they’re tucked away in a sidebar or buried at the bottom of a page, they won’t get noticed. When ads don’t get enough impressions or engagement, advertisers will start paying less.
The fix: place ads in high-visibility areas where users naturally look. The best spots — above the fold (the part of your page that loads first, before scrolling) and within the content itself. In-article ads and sticky ads (which stay in view while scrolling) tend to perform well without being intrusive.
Overloading Your Page with Ads
While tucked-away ads are a problem, placing them everywhere is not the answer. It’s tempting to stuff your page with ads as much as possible, thinking more ads mean more money. But too many ads can overwhelm visitors, slow down your site, and make it feel spammy. If users leave your site too quickly (high bounce rate), advertisers may lower their bids, resulting in lower CPM rates.
The fix: focus on quality over quantity. Instead of bombarding visitors with ads, strategically place fewer, better-targeted ads. The best practice is to keep your ads balanced with your content, and if your site feels cluttered, you’ve probably gone too far.
Repetitive, Frequent, or Annoying Ads
Nobody likes to be forced to do something. The same applies to slider video ads when they aren’t muted by default. Sliders run immediately, so if they are also audible, the users might quit or even ragequit. Respect your users and provide a friendly experience, so that you can capitalize on a loyal audience. They say you can shear the ship 100 times but skin it only once for a reason.
Pop ads are great, but they can get annoying if they pop up five times in a row. You also wouldn’t like five chocolate cakes in a row, would you? Pop ads don’t have to open immediately, you can trigger them after some time has passed or when the users are about to leave the website.
And of course, seeing the same ad over and over again (say hi to our sponsor RAID: Shadow Legends) is the way to become an infamous meme. That’s where capping comes into play — albeit it’s a feature for advertisers. Nonetheless, with HilltopAds, you can be sure that your website won’t be bombarded with annoying ads, as we care for your UX as much as you do (remember us saying about the sheep earlier?).
Ads That Don’t Match Your Audience
If your site is about fitness, but ads there promote car insurance, then there’s a disconnect. Mismatching ads create a bad impression, causing the users to leave or question the quality of your website.
The fix: control which ads enter your domain and work with the networks that allow you to oversee ad categories and exclude the ones you don’t like.
Try out HilltopAds, for instance, as we respect our publishers and provide them with all the tools needed for work. Register now to see how we get things done.
Ignoring Mobile Optimization
More than half of web traffic comes from mobile devices, but if your ads aren’t optimized for mobile, they may not display correctly. Poorly placed mobile ads can get cut off, be too small to notice, or disrupt the user experience, leading to fewer impressions and lower CPM rates.
The fix: optimize your site for mobile users. Google prioritizes mobile site versions, so use responsive ad units that automatically adjust to fit mobile screens and avoid large ads that take up too much space. Mobile-friendly placements can significantly improve engagement and ad revenue.
Bonus tip: use Google PageSpeed Insights, or any other software, to improve your page speed if required and deliver the best experience for your visitors.
Not Using an Anti-Adblock
Ad blockers are becoming increasingly popular, with some reports estimating that 30–40% of internet users have them enabled. This means a significant portion of your audience might never even see your ads, leading to fewer impressions, lower engagement, and a major CPM drop. Advertisers pay for the delivered impressions only, so ad blockers eat away your revenue.
The fix: instead of ignoring ad blockers, take a proactive approach with an anti-adblock strategy to recover lost CPM revenue and ensure that your monetization strategy remains effective, even as ad blockers continue to grow in popularity.
Using Two Popunder Codes on the Same Page (or in the <HEAD> Section)
One more popunder-related issue is doubling the popunder script. Unlike banners, popunder ads are trigger-based. They can emerge either after clicking somewhere on a page in particular or when some time has passed. Typically, such scripts are put in the <HEAD> section of your HTML. However, two popunder scripts can conflict, cause errors, and mess up ad performance.
The fix:
- Use only one popunder script. Running multiple scripts can interfere with tracking and cause technical issues.
- Adjust popunder frequency. If you want more impressions, don’t add extra scripts. Instead, ask your ad network manager to tweak the ad frequency to better balance revenue and user experience.
- Monitor performance. Regularly check CPM rates, bounce rates, and user engagement to see any signs of performance early on. This way, you will be able to confirm indirectly whether popunder script works as intended or not.
Multiple Ad Network Scripts
Just like running multiple popunder codes, stacking scripts from different ad networks can cause problems. They may conflict, slow down your site, or even prevent ads from displaying properly. The biggest issue — CPM drops since one ad network’s script will always load first, you might not get a fair comparison of performance. Moreover, extra scripts can slow down your page, which hurts user experience and SEO.
The fix: test ad networks one at a time. You can try as many ad networks as you want, but do it separately. Running them simultaneously makes it hard to measure which one actually performs better. Evaluate performance with key metrics. When testing, focus on:
- Ad quality
- Profitability of different formats
- CPM rates and overall earnings
Either 0 or 100, Wrong Ad Fill Rate
Another simple but common mistake is related to Ad Fill Rate. You will lose money either by completely ignoring the metric or obsessing over it. Ad Fill Rate is the percentage of times an ad actually appears when there’s an open spot for it. If it’s too low, you’re not monetizing your website efficiently. If it’s forced to be 100%, you might end up with low-quality ads that annoy your visitors.
The fix: find the golden mean. Monitor your fill rate, work with reputable ad networks, and optimize your setup so you’re filling those slots with good ads — ones that actually make you money without wrecking the user experience.
Affiliate Marketer’s input
Wrong ad placement concerns publishers and advertisers alike. For example, ads might be misleading or poorly made.
Make Your Ads More Engaging
A generic ad can be a waste of money for affiliates, so it’s best to take your time when making it.
- Use high-quality images and videos — blurry or boring visuals won’t cut it.
- Keep your messaging clear — don’t overcomplicate it. Focus on what grabs attention fast.
- Test multiple versions — you never know what will work best until you try different headlines, images, and calls-to-action. As a rule of thumb, go for about 10 creatives so that at least one carries the whole campaign.
Target the Right People
The wrong target audience is also a waste of budget, so double-check your targeting settings.
- Refine your audience targeting. Focus on people who are actually interested in your product. Use lookalike audiences, retargeting, and interest-based targeting.
- Geo-target wisely. Sometimes products are too unique to be sold outside specific GEOs.
- Exclude low-engagement users. If certain groups aren’t clicking, remove them from your targeting.
- Place budget caps to protect your budget with a fail-safe mechanism.
Keep an Eye on Trends & Performance
Event marketing can be a great way to increase your bang for your buck. Monitor the latest news and most important events in your vertical to see how you can align your ads with trends.
- Check analytics daily. Use Google Analytics, Facebook Ads Manager, or other tracking tools.
- Watch for seasonal trends. Black Friday, Christmas, and Halloween are famous (or notorious, depending on the vertical) for traffic shifts.
Last but not least, when it comes to the bidding model, affiliates should favor CPM over CPC if they are confident in their Conversion Rates (CR). If not, CPC might be a better option to protect one’s investments. Making the most out of your ad bids is not that difficult with the right partners by your side, like HilltopAds. We have years of expertise, top-notch tools, diverse ad formats, and tons of info in our blog and FAQ; register now to see it all firsthand.
Closing words
Ad placement is more than just ad barrage, you need a strategy. Simple mistakes, like placing ads where no one sees them, bombarding users with too many popunders, or running conflicting scripts, can seriously hurt your CPM rates and user experience. But when you get it right, your ads will perform better, engage users, and attract higher-paying advertisers.
If you’re looking for a smarter way to boost your ad revenue without annoying your visitors, HilltopAds has your back. With high-quality ad formats, smart optimization tools, and a team that actually helps you succeed, we make sure your ads work for you, not against you.
Want to earn more with better ad placements?
Sign Up with HilltopAds and start making the most of your traffic today!
FAQ
Some questions about ad placement mistakes pop up more often than others. We’ve prepared the answers to such questions.
