A news site set a $0.40 floor and lifted revenue 14%

A news site set a $0.40 floor and lifted revenue 14%

A floor price is the lowest bid you'll accept. Below it, you'd rather show nothing (or a backup ad).

What happened: a local news site had no floor, so advertisers won space for as little as $0.05. They were buying cheap on purpose.

What the publisher did:
1. Looked at past winning bids and saw most landed around $0.60.
2. Set a floor of $0.40 — high enough to push bidders up, low enough to not scare them off.
3. Watched fill rate (the share of ad slots that actually get filled).

Result: revenue per thousand views rose 14%, and fill rate barely moved.

In plain English: a sensible floor makes buyers compete harder instead of grabbing bargains.