Hey Sallie,

We totally understand your perspective, and always agree that user experience is more important than anything. The CBA guidelines weren’t created out of nowhere – millions of dollars and thousands of hours of research went into how the CBA determined its guidelines.

Google uses them for it’s Ad Experience auditing, and for its decisions on Chrome-filtering. We understand that those guidelines aren’t going to be for everyone, which is why we provide the ability to alter them. But the CBA is creating guidelines that, based on their research, appeal to the largest concentration of readers, which makes the most sense for anyone wishing to make ad quality and quantity a priority, but also still earn an income.

The truth is, there’s no way to please every person when it comes to advertising, but the CBA does its best to find common ground, and that’s why we’ve aligned ourselves with them. The data backs up these decisions, which is important to us, because we base all our decisions on data too.

All the best,

Amber

Thank you for your reply. My only response is that while the ad usage may fit within what the CBA recommends, it doesn’t mean it is giving a quality user experience. This is especially true when the blogger has 3-5 ads (including video) that automatically launch the instant a reader lands and then has other things that start within seconds of someone landing on their site.

They may technically be within the CBA guidelines, but I do think it hurts your brand as well. Mediavine is prominently displayed on every one of those ads. There have been some I’ve encountered in recent weeks via Pinterest and Google search that were so bad I wished I had kept URLs to send you and show you what I mean.

I know I’m not the only one who has noticed this experience in recent months. It has come up in conversations regarding advertising.

Thank you for allowing me to voice my opinion. Some people would have simply deleted my original comment, but it is meant as helpful feedback. I know from interacting with many bloggers in blogging groups that people greatly appreciate you. But I believe Mediavine users would benefit from looking honestly at the user experience and not just through the lens of $$$. One of my favorite sayings is “Just because you can it doesn’t mean you should.” Some bloggers and website owners would really benefit from considering that wisdom.

Best wishes to you and your team!
Sallie

Hi Sallie,

We operate on full transparency around here. Not only did we see your reply, we take your feedback very seriously and willingly. You’re also not torpedoing any chance to work with us. In fact, I’d argue that we’re a better fit for you than any other ad provider out there, because we offer these configurable settings. From our research, we’re the only ones that do.

That’s actually the entire point of this blog post. As you can see from the numerous amount of settings, bloggers with Mediavine are in complete control of their ad settings. While we can’t control the additional elements they add, like subscription pop-ups, we definitely don’t advocate that anyone turn up the ads so much as to alienate readers.

But each blogger knows their own audience best of all. We don’t presume to know for them, which is why we offer such a wide array of settings. And then on top of that, we operate within the Coalition for Better Ads recommendations as well. No matter what a blogger wishes, we will never allow the ads to surpass those.

I realize that may still be too much for you, and that is understandable. Every person’s limit to advertising is different. If you were a Mediavine blogger, you could set your advertising limits to be very minimal. Or maximum, but knowing that you’d never move beyond what the CBA (whose members include Google, Microsoft, and Facebook) recommends.

We’re grateful that you took the time to give us your feedback, and wish you all the best.

Amber
Co-Founder, Mediavine

In the interest of full disclosure, I have a blog with AdSense. I’ve been contemplating asking to join MediaVine, but as a blog reader I’ve been completely turned off the past few months.

MediaVine ads have so taken over blogs that use them that I automatically click off a website if I see MediaVine ads loading. They are overwhelming. There are simply too many of them. I know you are trying to maximize revenue for your bloggers, but as a reader… Those bloggers have lost me. I don’t care how great the content is. This change you have implemented has ruined the user experience. It really has.

I am all for bloggers making money. But it has crossed the line from making money to being completely distracting and annoying. On many of your sites, it’s almost impossible to read the content because there are so many random ads of various sizes and styles constantly disrupting the flow. Add in subscription boxes and Pinterest boxes and everything else flying in and the user experience is truly horrible at times.

I’m honestly disappointed. I was excited to work with you, but not any longer.

Sallie