Google Gives Publishers More Control of Ads

Soon it will be easier to control what Google ads show on your web site. With the launch of the Ad Review Center, publishers can manually approve or block ads that show on their site. That means you can block ads that you find offensive, ads that are poorly targeted, or ads from your competitors – all in one place.

Google is quick to point out that blocking ads may not always be the best strategy. That’s because ads are in an auction and more ads means more competition and therefore a higher payout. The default setting will be “auto-allow” so ads will run unless you block them. Inside the Ad Review Center you can review all your ads at one time. If you choose you can manually review ads but it will stop them from running on your site for 24 hours.

If you decide to block an ad you’ll be asked for a reason and Google will give the feedback to advertisers. This will facilitate some communication between advertiser and publisher, which is valuable for both.

The Ad Review Center will be gradually be released to all publishers over the next few months. You’ll know you have the feature when you see a green box at the top of your ‘Competitive Ad Filter’ page. That is located under the ‘AdSense Setup’ tab.