Reasons That May Cause Google AdSense to Generate Unfilled Ad Blocks

Before we start looking into the subject, you must understand what are the reasons that may cause Google AdSense to Generate Unfilled Ad Blocks

• Low Advertiser Demand: In some cases, the demand from advertisers targeting a specific niche, location, or audience might be low, leading to fewer ads available for display.
• Ad Blockers: Visitors using ad blockers prevent ads from being displayed on the page, which can result in empty ad blocks.
• Ad Policy Violations: If your website or content violates Google AdSense policies (e.g., inappropriate content, excessive ads), ads may be withheld, leading to unfilled ad spaces.
• Niche Content: Highly specialized or niche content may have fewer advertisers interested, resulting in lower ad fill rates.
• Regional Limitations: In some regions, there might be fewer advertisers targeting that area, leading to unfilled ad blocks for visitors from those regions.
• Website Traffic Fluctuations: Sudden drops in traffic or changes in visitor demographics can affect the availability of targeted ads, leading to unfilled spaces.
• Incorrect Ad Code Implementation: Errors in placing the AdSense code on your website, such as incorrect formatting or placement, can lead to ads not being displayed properly.
• Page Load Issues: Slow or incomplete page loading may cause ads to fail to load, resulting in empty ad spaces.
• Targeting Restrictions: Advertisers may set strict targeting criteria (e.g., specific keywords, audience segments), and if your site doesn't meet those, ads might not be served.
• Content Relevance: If your content is not relevant to the ads available, Google may not display any ads, leading to unfilled blocks.
• Ad Refresh Rate: If you are using auto-refreshing ad units, sometimes there may be a delay in serving new ads, causing temporary unfilled spaces.
• Competing Ad Networks: If you are using multiple ad networks on your site, some may compete for the same ad space, leading to conflicts or unfilled blocks.
• Ad Format Restrictions: Certain ad formats (e.g., responsive ads) might not have a matching ad to serve in all situations, leading to empty spaces.
• Account or Payment Issues: If there are issues with your AdSense account (e.g., payment issues, account holds), Google may temporarily stop serving ads on your site.
• Ad Experimentation: If you are running A/B tests or experiments with different ad units or placements, some variations might result in unfilled ad blocks.
• Ad Serving Limits: Google may impose ad serving limits on your account if suspicious activity or unusual behavior is detected, reducing the number of ads displayed.
• Geo-Targeting Conflicts: Ads may be geo-targeted, and if the visitor’s location does not match the advertiser's target, no ads may be displayed.
• Inventory Management: If your site is part of an ad inventory management system, like header bidding, and no bidder wins the auction, the ad space may go unfilled.

Is it safe to remove unfilled AdSense ad units?

If you've ever experienced issues with manually placed ads not showing on your page, you're likely encountering the unfilled ad issue within your ins element, as indicated by data-ad-status="unfilled", according to Google. AdSense ad units sometimes remain unfilled after the ad request. In this tutorial, we'll explore whether it's safe to remove these unfilled ad units and how to handle them effectively, all in accordance with Google AdSense guidelines. The output in your element inspector will resemble the example below:

<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:728px;height:90px" data-ad-client="xx-xxx-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" data-ad-slot="xxxxxxxxxx" data-adsbygoogle-status="done" data-ad-status="unfilled">

Understanding AdSense Ad Units Status

AdSense updates ad units with a parameter called data-ad-status after the ad request. This parameter indicates whether the ad unit was filled with an ad or remained unfilled. There are two possible values:

• data-ad-status="filled": An ad was returned and is now showing.
• data-ad-status="unfilled": No ads were returned, and the ad unit is empty.

Handling Unfilled Ad Units

When ad units are unfilled, AdSense either collapses the ad unit or shows a blank space. The behavior depends on whether collapsing would cause page reflow. For ad units outside the viewport, AdSense collapses them. For other unfilled ad units, it retains the ad unit size and shows a blank space.

How to Hide Unfilled Ad Units

You can choose to hide unfilled ad units using CSS or JavaScript. Here's how you can do it:

Example 1: Hiding unfilled ad units using CSS

<style>
  ins.adsbygoogle[data-ad-status="unfilled"] {
    display: none !important;
  }
</style>

Example 2: Showing an image if the ad unit is unfilled

<style>
  ins.adsbygoogle a {
    display: none !important;
  }
  ins.adsbygoogle[data-ad-status="unfilled"] a {
    display: block;
  }
</style>

Limitations

There are some limitations to keep in mind:

• The data-ad-status parameter is only added to ad units on the top window, so it won't work for ad units served via a cross-domain window.
• It's not recommended to load AdSense ad units initially hidden because AdSense may not execute the ad request for those ad units.

Considering these limitations, it's essential to assess whether removing unfilled ad units aligns with your website's goals and AdSense performance.

That's it! You've learned how to handle unfilled AdSense ad units effectively. Remember to weigh the benefits against the limitations before deciding to remove them.