Playbook: Right-size your content-to-ad ratio

Playbook: Right-size your content-to-ad ratio
What it does: tunes ad density to the sweet spot before AdSense's 'ad-heavy' filter throttles you.

Setup (effort 2/5):
— Count ads visible in any single viewport scroll. More than 1 unit per screen-and-a-half = too dense.
— Target roughly 30% ad area max above the fold; Google's policy auto-limits beyond that anyway.
— Insert in-content units only after a real paragraph break — never mid-list or mid-table.
— Kill the lowest-RPM slot if you run 8+. The bottom two often earn under 5% combined.
— Re-test session RPM, not just per-impression — fewer-but-better often wins total revenue.

RPM lift seen: +5-12% when cutting from over-dense; impression RPM rises as fill quality improves.

Pros: better UX, higher CPMs per slot. Cons: feels counterintuitive to remove ads.

Lift: ★★★☆☆ — Risk: ★☆☆☆☆
Best for: sites that bolted on slots over years. Skip if you run 3 or fewer.