Display campaigns, all types, including Remarketing and all the other flavors are a great way to get more traffic, clicks and conversions if done right. However, its so important to make sure your ads are showing on sites that result in your business goals being met (traffic, purchases, leads, etc.) So, to do this its important to not only target the right sites, audiences etc. but also to exclude your ads from showing in places that results in poor results.
One place that advertisers often can waste money, paying for poor quality clicks is having your display ads show on mobile apps. Think seeing your ads in regular apps, apps that are games, news apps and any other type of apps. Many people don't realize that by default, Google will show your ads in apps, all types of apps.
Yes, for some advertisers it makes sense to show your ads in apps. But for many its simply a waste, can lead to poor performance and wasted ad spend.
First, you can go in Adwords to your Placement Performance Report. You'll see there how many times and places your ads are showing in apps, not just website. You may be shocked to see how many impressions, clicks and ad spend having your ads show in apps result in. And yes, remember that even if you aren't spending much for these spots, if they have a high number of impressions, your campaigns overall Quality Score and performance can suffer.
How to do it:
So, how to exclude your ads from showing on mobile apps? Under campaign exclusions, add this in: adsenseformobileapps.com. This will exclude your ads from showing on any and all mobile apps. You can get more granular with this if you like, excluding from certain mobile apps.
Another thing to think about is who might be accessing the mobile app. Many, many mobile apps are used by children (and adults) playing games. If they see your ad, they may click on it just because its their. All these clicks by curious kids could result in alot of extra cost to you.
Warning Example:
For example, we have a client who sells software. But their logo has a cute animal. Imagine an ad with a cute animal in an app that kids play. The kid might click on it thinking its another game, just because its cute and eye catching, or they think its even part of the game, with no intention of buying software. That could add up to alot of clicks by curious kids. This can give you an example why it may be good for you to exclude your ads from showing on mobile apps.
ps- Additional credit to Bryant at getfoundfirst.com. His link here has nice screenshot on how to add the exclusion.
Have you used this tip, if so, leave a comment below...