I can’t blame app developers for monetizing their technology, but I do blame digital professionals that don’t proactively mitigate waste derived from in-app, in-game, and otherwise low-end 320×50 mobile ad placements. I’m speaking to the placements that often drive high CTRs and low CPCs, often looking great on paper to the end-client for whom you’re running ads. The low CPMs, large reach, and huge Click volume are often completely misleading. In reality, you might find that 50% of those ad clicks never reach your website; users are hitting the ‘back’ button or closing the browser before your website has a chance to render on their screen.

You might also find that the users which do reach your website show a bounce rate in the high 90’s. I’m speaking to a real-world example, having reviewed (and completely restructured) a recent client’s advertising efforts. In that example, those 320×50 ads claimed to have driven thousands of conversions but our client hadn’t looked further to see that 99% of them were post-view, meaning that 99% of those conversions came from people who had never interacted with an ad. That’s quite a stretch.

Mobile presents huge opportunity and reach, and that marketplace continues to grow. It’s important that you understand what safeguards and settings are available, to the fullest extent, and to know when and where the smarter choice is to disagree with suggestions from the ad platform itself. Do you know where and when to paint outside of the lines? Equally important is to monitor website sessions compared to ad clicks, and even track session duration and downstream signals. Be aware that click-based website actions can contain some bot/fraud/other visitors, so keep an eye on true, real conversion events as a barometer; forms, enrollments, purchases. There’s a lot of garbage mobile traffic out there and if you’re not protecting yourself from it and actively monitoring for it, eventually you’ll be wasting money on it. Some of that traffic (Performance Max…) will appear to generate ‘engaged sessions’ in GA4, but don’t let that fool you.

This isn’t to say that 320×50 mobile placements are a scourge, just that safeguards, exclusions, and proper targeting are necessary if you’re to bring value from your ad spend. Real, tracked, somewhat tangible value is the goal. That also means educating your client as to why you’re restricting spend on a high CTR, low CPC avenue. As is normally the case, proper tracking and adequate data are critical in stewarding your ad spend toward maximum ROI.

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