Have you seen the new AdSense rail ads which are part of the auto ads experience? They have been enabled by default on all accounts recently. This is basically targeted ads visible on large screen views wherein large parts of the sides of the website are usually empty, especially if you have a narrow body design, and it gives an opportunity for Google AdSense to show ads on both sides of the website.
Note that the Side rail ads are not available if you are manually choosing ad units, and these are a part of the new ad options available with AdSense auto ads only. See how the side rail ads are appearing on our website right now.
Advantages of Side Rail Ads
The best advantage is that it allows AdSense publishers another opportunity to get more income as they are able to showcase more ads which might get more clicks and higher click through rate if done right. It doesn’t disrupt the user experience on small screens and only targets large screens users, such as those viewing your site on 4K screens and more!
Another huge advantage of these advertisements is that they are floating and fixed, which is unlike the standard AdSense policy where you cannot use sticky ads or use JavaScript to fixate Google AdSense ads to the screen as it will violate terms of service. The fact that ads are always visible to users while they scroll through your long-form content ensures your ads are always visible and therefore there is a better chance of higher CTR, which might make you more money online.
I particularly love AdSense auto ads because it allows me to use the power of AdSense smart algorithms to decide where to place ads on our website, place responsive ads and optimize the ad experience regarding ad placement to help get higher page clicks and improve the page RPM.
Cons of Side Rails Ads
The main disadvantage of using Adsense side rail ads can be that it adds further to the ad clutter of already hosting a large number of AdSense auto ads which might be running on your site and can lead to banner blindness.
Of course, you can choose to reduce the number of AdSense auto ads by simply moving the slide bar to reduce the number of ads. But if you are using a large number of ads, especially if ads are sliding down from below the screen or above the screen and you have multiple in-article as well, then possibly adding side rail ads on both sides might make your site feel cluttered with ads and might reduce the user experience.
So you need to assess how the side rail ads blend with your site design. You can also check your AdSense earnings as to how much income the AdSense side rails ads are contributing to your Adsense income, and whether are they worth the diminished experience which might be visible to large screen users.
Disable Side Rail Ads
There is an option to turn off side rail ads if you so desire by going to the AdSense auto ads options and turning of this feature.
As of now, I love the side rail ads as they are tweaking and adjusting in a design well over the period of time as I observe them daily. If they make a good amount of money, I am sure a lot of people will be happy with using them.
So do try out AdSense auto ads and enable Side rail ads to see if you like the experience.