The Role of Ad Quality in Digital Advertising
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Digital advertising has grown into a massive ecosystem, but it comes with its own share of challenges—fraud, intrusive formats, and irrelevant content that affect user experiences and publisher credibility. At IndieAd, we had the chance to sit down with Yuval Shiboli – who was, at the time of this conversation, Director of Product Marketing at GeoEdge – to tackle the importance of ad quality, especially from a publisher’s perspective.
Originally presented in our podcast, this article dives into the key insights from the episode and why publishers and advertisers alike need to prioritize ad quality.
Why Ad Quality Matters
For publishers, their website is their product. It’s the digital storefront where users interact with their content – and ads. While programmatic advertising has revolutionized the industry, it has also introduced significant risks, such as malvertising (malicious ads), low-quality ad experiences, and inappropriate ad content.
Yuval shared, “20–35% of the user experience on a publisher’s site isn’t their content—it’s the ads. If those ads create a negative experience, it can hurt user retention, engagement, and trust.”
The trade-off between revenue and ad quality often puts publishers in a tight spot. While maximizing impressions per session might increase earnings in the short term, it can compromise long-term credibility and loyalty.
Breaking Down Ad Quality: Security vs. Content
Yuval highlighted two dimensions of ad quality:
- Security: This includes protecting users from malicious ads designed to spread malware, phishing links, or scams. These ads exploit the programmatic supply chain to target users on a massive scale, often disappearing before they’re detected. Yuval noted, “For fraudsters, the programmatic ecosystem is paradise. It allows targeted, scalable attacks without leaving a trace.”
- Content: Even when an ad is technically safe, its relevance and appropriateness for the audience matter. For example:
- Ads for alcohol on a kids’ content site
- Gambling ads on a religious or family-friendly website
- Excessively intrusive ads, such as auto-playing videos with sound or pop-ups that disrupt the user experience
“Each publisher has unique sensitivities,” Yuval explained. “An ad for wine might be inappropriate on a kids’ site but perfectly fine on a luxury lifestyle site.”
Ad quality is like Joy in Inside Out - it evokes the right emotions, ensuring that the audience connects with the message on a meaningful level.
The Ad Ops Dilemma: Responsibility Without Tools
Ad operations teams often find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place. Their job is to maximize revenue while ensuring a seamless user experience. However, the tools they traditionally have are often inadequate for managing the complexities of programmatic advertising.
When inappropriate or malicious ads slip through, ad ops teams face blame from all sides – users, editorial teams, and advertisers. Yet, identifying the source of a problem ad is often impossible, given the vast number of ad networks and SSPs (Supply-Side Platforms) involved.
The Solution: Automated Ad Quality Control
Companies are stepping in to provide publishers with tools that automate the enforcement of ad quality policies. These tools operate in real-time, analyzing ads before they reach users and blocking those that don’t meet the publisher’s standards.
Key benefits include:
- Real-Time Blocking:
Ads are analyzed and filtered instantly, ensuring that malicious or inappropriate content never reaches the audience - Custom Policies:
Publishers can set granular policies based on their audience and brand identity. For example, blocking specific categories like gambling, even if disguised under “entertainment” - User Feedback:
Some solutions allow users to report bad ads directly to the publisher, creating a feedback loop that informs future policy updates
Yuval emphasized the importance of ad quality monitoring: “Without the right tools, publishers are left trying to clean up messes after the fact. With real-time control, they can proactively protect their audience and brand.”
A Smarter Approach to Revenue vs. Quality
One key takeaway from the episode is that publishers don’t have to sacrifice revenue to maintain ad quality. Publishers can replace low-quality ads without losing impressions by using tools that block problematic ads and allow re-auctioning of the blocked inventory.
Additionally, ad quality solutions can help publishers evaluate their SSPs. If a specific SSP consistently delivers low-quality ads, publishers can adjust their supply paths to optimize both revenue and user experience.
Final Thoughts: Ad Quality as a Competitive Advantage
As Yuval pointed out, ad quality is more than just a technical issue—it’s a competitive advantage. Publishers who prioritize clean, relevant, and user-friendly ad experiences will build trust, retain audiences, and ultimately drive better long-term revenue.
For advertisers, it’s a reminder that their campaigns are part of the user experience. Creating ads that are not only engaging but also respectful of the context they appear in will foster better relationships with audiences.
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