San Francisco — In late April, Google introduced AdSense category filtering for a handful of publishers, which helped publishers block ads by ad category, such as block all ringtone ads. And now, AdSense publishers who wish to gain additional control over what ads appear on their sites are in luck; search advertising giant Google recently announced that it has expanded the category filtering feature, and is extending the feature’s beta to countries including the U.K. and the U.S.
Do you disfavor dating sites? Drugs and supplements? Politics? No problem. As publishers are already aware, category filtering allows you to prevent ads from up to 5 specific categories such as religion, politics, and dating from appearing on your pages. Simply selecting a few boxes, you can prevent related ads.
The beta is now available in “English-speaking countries including, but not limited to, Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, the U.K., and the U.S,” and you filters will be enforced to ads in English, regardless of how they are targeted.
In addition, Google will also allow you to view the percentage that each category contributes to your earnings, which can help you understand any revenue impact you might notice as a result of filtering.
Based on positive response from initial beta testers, Google has also made a few improvements to the feature, these are:
- Ad Impression Impact: To give you a better sense of how many ads you would be filtering, we have now added an extra column to show you the percentage of ad impressions on your pages which fall into each category.
- More Accurate Percentages: Ad impression and earnings percentages are now calculated based on impressions from the previous 30 days instead of three. This extended time frame should provide a more accurate picture of the types of ads you are receiving and how much revenue they are contributing.
- Category Descriptions: We have also added details about each category directly within your account to help you understand the types of ads that may fall into each.
Arlene Lee of the Inside AdSense Team explained in few words about the new category filtering feature on the Inside AdSense blog, “To give you a better sense of how many ads you would be filtering, we have now added an extra column to show you the percentage of ad impressions on your pages which fall into each category.”
So check-out now whether category filtering has been activated for your location, sign in and visit the Ad Review Center, located under the “AdSense Setup” tab.