MFA sites – what publishers should know?

What are MFA sites

MFA (Made for Advertising) sites are, first and foremost, designed to generate easy revenue without considering fair internet practices. Instead of delivering meaningful content to users, they manipulate them by, for instance, using clickbaits, tabloid-style headlines, many pop-up ads, etc. Usually, the primary purpose of MFA website owners is to generate satisfactory ad revenue. Importantly, advertisers want to avoid paying for ads on these types of sites. However, these sites still manage to fool advertisers by altering the targeting options advertisers rely on. Additionally, many may not realize that MFA sites account for a significant portion of programmatic ad budgets – some studies indicate that this can be as high as 7.9%!

Made for Advertising websites – how to recognize them

According to IAB UK, these are the factors that characterize MFA websites:

1. Ad placement and ad density – Made for Advertising sites usually overload their pages with too many ads, often placing them in intrusive spots that disrupt readability and frustrate visitors. It’s vital to remember that such kind of activity may result in a rise in banner blindness, where users no longer pay attention to elements that resemble advertisements;
2. Suspicious traffic patterns – if a site’s visitor count jumps dramatically for no apparent reason, chances are it’s not real people but artificially created traffic designed to make the site seem more popular than it truly is;
3. Low-value content – MFA website owners don’t care for quality – blog posts or articles are not particularly helpful to users and often don’t cover the whole topic, sometimes including incorrect information. Additionally, oftentimes, the content is mass-produced using AI without proper fact-checking or human oversight. This not only frustrates readers looking for reliable information but also diminishes trust in the platform;
4. Navigation and user journey – these aspects on MFA sites are often intentionally confusing, forcing visitors to navigate through multiple unnecessary clicks just to access basic content, maximizing ad impressions.

Why MFA sites are a problem for publishers

• Poor User Experience – sites with bad UX strongly frustrate users, making them leave quickly. What’s even worse is that it might encourage them to download ad blockers; if you are interested in that topic, you can read more in our article on how to increase ad revenue by preventing ad blocking;
• Loss of advertiser trust – the rising number of MFA sites is causing advertisers to rethink programmatic advertising, cutting back on campaigns and exploring other strategies such as influencer marketing;
• Risk of being blacklisted by advertisers – websites that appear similar to MFA sites risk being removed from advertising campaigns.

Building a trustworthy and profitable site in a world full of MFA sites

• Maintain a balanced ad-to-content ratio – it’s best to find places with high viewability instead of focusing on quantity; in other words, try to locate your website’s most attention-catching areas;
• Create high-quality content, not only for your visitors’ sake but also to improve the page’s ranking. It’s a fact that Google cares for content quality, so it’s especially recommended to provide E-E-A-T values (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) to your site;
• Try to detect bad traffic sources and take action. You can find bad traffic by identifying unusual patterns, such as rapid, repetitive behavior or unusual IP addresses, for instance, with the help of Google Analytics;
• To ensure transparency, it’s a good idea to add an “about us” section on your website. Don’t forget to include all the information that makes you stand out and the reasons why people should trust you on the topic that you produce content about;
• Work with trusted ad monetization partners, such as optAd360, that will help you create a profitable ad layout with the perfect number of ads in the right spots that earn. With solutions like Revenue Booster that places ads in the most effective spots based on user activity, you can be sure that ad layout maximizes revenue without compromising User Experience. On the other hand, tools like Ad Mapper will help you create a completely new, profitable ad layout from scratch.

optAd360 – ad monetization partner that helps in earning ad revenue

Publishers need to be aware of the risks associated with MFA sites and avoid shady practices that could lead to their site being categorized as such. What is the key to long-term success in digital advertising? Focus on quality content, transparency, and fair monetization – stick to these principles, and you’ll attract advertisers who actually want to work with you. Additionally, if you’re looking for a reliable monetization partner who will help you generate satisfactory ad revenue, join us, and you won’t have to worry about User Experience!