User blog:Brandon Rhea/Ad Tests on Fandom

Over the last few months, we've talked to you a lot about the ad experience on Fandom. We told you why we want to have a better ad experience, what we've done so far, and how we plan to do it. These discussions led to the introduction of Wiki Modernization, where we will use ads in front of great featured videos that will allow us to remove other ads across the site and improve site performance.

So what will that look like? We're getting very close to that answer.

Fandom is Testing New Ad Placements
Alongside our development of wiki videos and the new page and article headers, we've been hard at work developing tests to determine the perfect mix of ads for both users and advertisers. For each test variation we are running, we kept these points in mind:


 * There needs to be fewer ads per page, so the page looks and performs better.
 * Pages with featured videos need even fewer ads than pages without featured video.
 * Fandom and users alike want to improve the quality of ads.

We're excited to be at this stage.

What Do the Tests Look like?
Beginning in May we will be testing four different options for a new logged-out advertising experience on pages with and without video. Each version has some elements that follow you as you scroll:


 * Pages with a featured video will continue to show a minimized video player on scroll.
 * A redesigned Trending Fandom Articles module will feature relevant and popular entertainment news and stories.
 * Some tests will have ads that follow you as you scroll. These will not alter the layout of the page content.

Here is an example of an ad test without video:



Overall, each version has fewer ads on the page, particularly on the right side and the bottom. With fewer ads to load, we expect improvements in page performance.

How Will Success Be Measured?
When we introduced Wiki Modernization, we said that our goal is to offer you a modern digital experience that provides the right content at the right time, is easy to navigate, and delivers a better experience for both users and advertisers.

We will measure the success of the new ad placements by monitoring how people use the site (specifically, the amount of pageviews per user), making sure the ad mix can continue to support the site and the development of new features, and monitoring page load performance. We'll likely have a couple of versions that become the final product, and we'll choose them based on which placements best meets these goals.

User feedback is also an important determining factor. We want to know what you think about these tests. Let us know what you think!