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Ad refresh, reconsidered

There are a lot of tools and techniques that web publishers can use to maximize ad revenue. This includes A/B testing, header bidding, and lazy loading ads. A commonly used technique is ad refresh.

This strategy refreshes ads which can increase the number of ads shown to the user. This, in turn, should produce higher revenue-per-session for the publisher. Ad refresh is especially beneficial for sites with engaged users, such as those that spend longer times on pages.

Previously, Sortable has publicly stated that we don’t support the use of ad refresh. We thought that the overall user experience would be negatively affected. That wasn’t the case. After much testing (and success), we’ve learned that end users are accustomed to ad refresh. It had minimal impact on their experience.

Snapshot from Sortable Analytics

How does ad refresh work?

Standard ad refresh implementations allow publishers/website owners to update code in an ad unit. Or, on a page which allows ad unit refresh at set intervals. Typically after an ad is in view for a set time interval, for example after 60 seconds.

Our managed refresh solution

At Sortable, we simplify ad refresh implementation through our managed refresh feature. Our platform can auto-enable viewable ad refresh for all ad placements without requiring any code changes from the website owner.

Managed refresh is a tool that publishers can use to gain additional viewable impressions. As seen with increasing impression volume, viewability, and potentially, revenue. For best ad refresh results, a publisher’s property should have three or more demand partners/sources competing in their ad stack. In fact, having under three demand sources can result in negative participation rates and decreased fill.

How does Sortable implement managed refresh?

Implementing managed refresh, similar to desktop anchors, is easy:

  1. Make your Sortable account manager aware you want to implement managed refresh ads to your site(s).
  2. Managed refresh is remotely for publishers starting at 5%-10% of traffic for a minimum of one week. No code or any other changes are required by publishers.
  3. Sortable tracks changes in fill, CPM, page views per session, and revenue on each side of the test.
  4. If the initial test results are positive, Sortable will increase to 50% traffic at a minimum of one week.
  5. Lastly, once testing is completed, the publisher decides if they’d like to make push to 100% traffic or disable managed refresh.

Our results

Overall, Sortable’s testing has seen managed refresh increase revenue anywhere from 5% to 40%. Just by increasing the number of viewable impressions. Why not give it a go yourself? Interested in activating managed refresh? Get in contact with your account manager or email success@sortable.com.

Not a Sortable customer just yet? Learn how Sortable’s solution stacks up against the competition, earns you more revenue, and has the best analytics platform in the industry. Request a demo today and start on your path to earning more.