5 Things You Didn't Know Are Slowing Down Your Ads
In today's digital landscape, optimizing ad performance is more critical than ever. As businesses invest heavily in online advertising, ensuring that ads load quickly and efficiently can make a significant difference in ROI. However, several hidden factors can slow down your ads, increasing costs and reducing effectiveness. In this article, we'll explore five key issues that may be undermining your ad performance, and provide practical solutions to address them.
1. Framework Overhead: Slow Hydration in NextJS
NextJS is a popular choice for developers looking to build server-rendered React applications. It offers numerous benefits, such as improved SEO and faster initial page loads, but it can also introduce performance bottlenecks if not carefully managed. One of the main culprits in slowing down ad loading is the hydration process, where the server-rendered HTML is converted into an interactive React application on the client side. If this process is delayed, it can cause significant delays in ad rendering, leading to a loss in impressions and revenue. This is particularly problematic when dealing with ads that rely on client-side rendering, as these ads will only load once the entire hydration process is complete.
Bad Example:
// A poorly optimized component with heavy client-side logic
import React, { useEffect } from 'react';
function SlowComponent() {
useEffect(() => {
// Heavy computation or API calls on client-side
for (let i = 0; i < 1000000; i++) {
console.log('This will slow down hydration!');
}
}, []);
return <div>Loading...</div>;
}
export default SlowComponent;
Optimized Example:
// An optimized component with minimal client-side logic
import dynamic from 'next/dynamic';
const AdComponent = dynamic(() => import('./AdComponent'), {
ssr: false, // Disable server-side rendering for this component
});
function OptimizedComponent() {
return (
<div>
<AdComponent />
</div>
);
}
export default OptimizedComponent;
In the optimized example, we defer the loading of the AdComponent until after the initial hydration, ensuring that the ad loads quickly without blocking other critical resources.
By deferring the loading of heavy components and ensuring that the critical parts of your site are hydrated first, you can significantly improve ad load times. This not only enhances user experience by reducing perceived load times but also increases the likelihood that ads are fully rendered when users first interact with the page. It's essential to strike a balance between server-side rendering for SEO benefits and efficient client-side hydration to ensure that your ads aren't the ones paying the price for a slow setup.
For more insights on optimizing ad loading in modern frameworks, you might find our article onPrivacy Sandbox and Faster Ad Loading useful.
2. Consent Management Platforms (CMP): Sluggish Compliance
Consent Management Platforms (CMPs) are crucial for ensuring that your site complies with privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA. However, the implementation of CMPs can often lead to significant delays in ad loading. CMPs typically block ads from loading until the user has given consent, which can create a bottleneck in your ad stack. If the CMP implementation is not optimized, this delay can result in ads loading too late, reducing their visibility and effectiveness. The key to minimizing this delay is to manage the sequence of operations so that your ads are prepared to load as soon as consent is granted, rather than waiting for the entire consent process to complete.
Bad Example:
// A CMP implementation that delays ad loading until after full consent
window.addEventListener('load', () => {
getConsentStatus().then(status => {
if (status.hasConsented) {
loadAds(); // Load ads after consent is granted
}
});
});
Optimized Example:
// Preloading ad containers before consent is fully processed
const preloadAdSlots = () => {
window.googletag.cmd.push(function () {
googletag.defineSlot('/1234567/sports', [728, 90], 'div-gpt-ad-1234567-0').addService(googletag.pubads());
});
};
window.addEventListener('cmpConsentReady', () => {
preloadAdSlots(); // Prepare ad slots before full consent
loadAds(); // Load ads as soon as consent is granted
});
By preloading ad slots and ensuring that all ad-related resources are ready to go as soon as consent is given, you can drastically reduce the time it takes for ads to load. This approach not only improves user experience by ensuring ads are visible sooner but also maximizes ad viewability, which can lead to higher revenue. It's a fine balance to strike—ensuring compliance without sacrificing performance—but with the right implementation strategy, you can achieve both. For a deeper dive into optimizing CMP loading times, refer to our guide onHow to Optimize CMP Loading Times.
3. Too Many Prebid Instances: Diminishing Returns
Prebid.js has become the industry standard for implementing header bidding, allowing publishers to maximize their ad revenue by opening up inventory to multiple demand sources simultaneously. However, there's a downside to this flexibility: adding too many bidders can significantly increase the time it takes for your ads to load. Each additional Prebid instance requires extra processing time, which can lead to delays in ad rendering. When the auction process takes too long, users may leave the page before the ads have a chance to load, resulting in lost revenue opportunities. It's crucial to carefully select and optimize the number of bidders to ensure that you're not sacrificing performance for potential revenue.
Bad Example:
// Too many bidders, leading to longer loading times
var adUnits = [{
code: 'div-gpt-ad-1234567-0',
mediaTypes: {
banner: {
sizes: [[728, 90]]
}
},
bids: [
{ bidder: 'appnexus', params: { placementId: '1234567' } },
{ bidder: 'rubicon', params: { accountId: '1234', siteId: '5678', zoneId: '91011' } },
{ bidder: 'anotherBidder', params: { id: '99999' } },
// Adding too many bidders can slow down response times
]
}];
Optimized Example:
// Optimized Prebid setup with a focus on high-performing bidders
var adUnits = [{
code: 'div-gpt-ad-1234567-0',
mediaTypes: {
banner: {
sizes: [[728, 90]]
}
},
bids: [
{ bidder: 'appnexus', params: { placementId: '1234567' } },
{ bidder: 'rubicon', params: { accountId: '1234', siteId: '5678', zoneId: '91011' } }
// Focus on fewer, high-quality bidders
]
}];
pbjs.addAdUnits(adUnits);
pbjs.requestBids({
bidsBackHandler: function(bidResponses) {
googletag.cmd.push(function() {
googletag.pubads().refresh();
});
}
});
Streamlining your Prebid setup by focusing on the most effective bidders can make a significant difference in ad load times. By reducing the number of bidders, you not only speed up the auction process but also ensure that the bids you receive are more relevant and competitive. This approach helps in striking the right balance between maximizing revenue and maintaining a fast, responsive ad experience for users. It’s also worth monitoring and adjusting your Prebid configuration regularly to adapt to changing market conditions and advertiser demand.
4. Google Publisher Tag (GPT) Loading Delays
The Google Publisher Tag (GPT) is an essential tool for serving ads on your website, but if it isn't prioritized correctly, it can cause significant delays in ad loading. GPT is responsible for handling all the complex logic required to display ads, including targeting, auction handling, and rendering. If this script loads too late, it can delay the entire ad-serving process, leading to lower viewability and potentially lost revenue. The key to avoiding this issue is to ensure that GPT is one of the first scripts loaded on your page, allowing it to initialize and start processing ad requests as early as possible.
Bad Example:
<!-- Loading GPT too late in the page -->
<script src="https://example.com/other-scripts.js"></script>
<script src="https://securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/tag/js/gpt.js"></script>
Optimized Example:
<!-- Prioritizing GPT with async loading -->
<script async src="https://securepubads.g.doubleclick.net/tag/js/gpt.js"></script>
<script>
window.googletag = window.googletag || { cmd: [] };
googletag.cmd.push(function () {
googletag.defineSlot('/1234567/sports', [728, 90], 'div-gpt-ad-1234567-0').addService(googletag.pubads());
googletag.enableServices();
});
</script>
By prioritizing the loading of the GPT script and utilizing asynchronous loading methods, you can ensure that your ads are ready to display as soon as the page loads. This not only improves ad viewability but also enhances the overall user experience by reducing the time it takes for content to appear. Additionally, it’s important to regularly review your GPT setup to ensure it’s aligned with best practices and to update it as Google releases new features and optimizations. This ongoing attention to detail can make a significant difference in the performance of your ad stack. For more tips on optimizing GPT, check out our article onHow to Optimize GPT Loading Times
5. Unoptimized Creative Assets: The Silent Killer
The quality of your creative assets—images, videos, and animations—directly impacts the performance of your ads. Unoptimized assets are often larger than necessary, leading to slower load times and increased data usage, which can be particularly detrimental on mobile devices. When ads take too long to load, users are more likely to scroll past them before they are fully visible, resulting in lower engagement and reduced ad effectiveness. Ensuring that your creative assets are properly optimized is a simple yet powerful way to improve ad load times and overall performance.
Bad Example:
// Serving large, uncompressed images
const largeImage = document.createElement('img');
largeImage.src = 'https://example.com/large-image.png'; // Uncompressed PNG file
document.body.appendChild(largeImage);
Optimized Example:
// Serving compressed, optimized images
const optimizedImage = document.createElement('img');
optimizedImage.src = 'https://example.com/optimized-image.webp'; // Compressed WebP file
document.body.appendChild(optimizedImage);
By converting images to more efficient formats like WebP and compressing other media files, you can significantly reduce load times without compromising on quality. This not only improves the speed at which ads are displayed but also enhances the user experience by reducing the overall page weight. Optimizing creative assets should be a regular part of your ad management process, as it can have a substantial impact on both ad performance and user satisfaction. Additionally, consider implementing lazy loading techniques for non-essential assets to further improve loading efficiency.
Conclusion
Optimizing your ad performance is not just about cutting costs—it's about enhancing the overall user experience and maximizing the impact of your advertising efforts. By addressing the hidden factors that can slow down your ads, you can ensure faster load times, higher viewability, and ultimately, better ROI.
Catch Metrics is the leading solution to help solve ad stack performance problems.Get in touchto learn more from our experts