How do you expand a programmatic site list that underdelivers?
Part of Lookalike websites
The short answer
Expand an underdelivering site list by first confirming that the list, not the bid or the setup, is the cause. Then widen relevance one step at a time: a broader topic tier, related sections of trusted publishers, or a second market. Keep the quality, suitability, selling path and language checks fixed, and record every change for the client.
Key takeaways
- Before adding a single site, rule out bids, floors, frequency caps and campaign settings as the reason the list is not delivering.
- Relevance criteria can widen in planned steps, while made-for-advertising review, the suitability floor, the authorized selling path and language stay fixed.
- A second market needs its own audience evidence by country, not the first market's list with a new location setting.
- Every added site should carry a label saying which widened rule let it in, so the client can remove a whole step at once.
What should you do when a site list is too small to deliver?
Start by proving the list is the problem. A short list of strong publishers can underdeliver for reasons that have nothing to do with how many sites it holds: bids below the floor prices those sites set, a frequency cap that exhausts each reader quickly, creative sizes the sites do not carry, or a location setting narrower than the brief. Google notes on its placement targeting page (opens in a new tab) that popular sites can be more competitive, so you may need higher bids to get impressions there.
Five checks before the list grows
- Compare bids with the market. Look at win rate and bid responses for the listed sites. A low win rate on available inventory points to price, not list size.
- Read the delivery by site. If two or three sites take nearly all impressions and the rest take none, check whether the silent sites are actually sold through the buying path in the plan.
- Check formats and sizes. A list of text heavy publishers may carry few video or large display slots. Match the creative to what the sites sell.
- Review caps and pacing. A tight frequency cap on a small readership limits delivery by design. Decide with the client whether reach or frequency matters more.
- Confirm the targeting logic. In Google Ads, content targets combine with any logic, so a stray keyword or topic in the same ad group changes where ads can run. Remove anything the brief did not ask for.
Which relevance criteria can be loosened safely to gain scale?
Relevance is the part of a site list that was meant to flex. A brief may name a narrow subject, while the reader the client wants may also read about the subjects around it. The safe way to widen relevance is in labeled steps, each one a little further from the original subject, so the client can see and approve the distance being traveled.
The IAB Tech Lab Content Taxonomy 3.1 file (opens in a new tab) is organized in up to four tiers, with each category pointing to a parent. That structure gives a shared vocabulary for one kind of widening: a list built on a Tier 3 subject can move up to its Tier 2 parent, or across to a sibling under the same parent. The taxonomy describes content, not quality, so every site added this way still faces the full review.
| Widening step | What it adds | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Related sections of listed publishers | The neighboring sections of sites already approved, such as a music site's gear section beside its lesson section | The publisher is already vetted, so only the section's fit needs checking | Section pages can carry different ad layouts or sellers than the main site |
| Sibling subjects under the same parent | Sites on subjects that share a parent category with the brief's subject | Readers may overlap and the link is easy to explain | Siblings can include subjects the client never wanted, so each needs a yes |
| The parent subject | General sites on the broader subject | Large pool of inventory and sites that deliver steadily | Generalist sites can bring pages off the brief and dilute the context |
| Adjacent interests | Subjects the same readers follow but that are not in the brief at all | Reaches new readers at their other interests | Furthest from the message; suits a small, separate test line |
| Relaxed share of matching articles | Sites where fewer of the sampled articles fit than the original threshold required | Keeps strong mixed publishers that were just below the line | Lowers the evidence behind each site; set the new threshold in writing |
Take one step at a time and measure each one. If related sections recover enough delivery, stop there. This page assumes the list already exists; finding the first sites from a client's favorites is covered in the lookalike websites guide.
Which checks should never be loosened to gain scale?
Some checks describe what the brand will tolerate, not how close a site is to a subject, and pressure to deliver should never move them. When the original list was approved, the client agreed to those lines. Widening them quietly to fill a shortfall changes the agreement without asking.
Checks that stay fixed while relevance widens
- Made-for-advertising review: every added site is reviewed for the traits the ANA listed in September 2023 (opens in a new tab), including high ad-to-content ratios, rapidly refreshing ads and paid traffic sourcing.
- The brand's suitability floor and each category tolerance the client set, applied to the new sites' sampled articles.
- An authorized selling path: the site's ads.txt file (opens in a new tab) lists the seller the buyer will use, as DIRECT or RESELLER.
- Publisher status: stores, brand sites, forums and link pages stay off the list however close their subject is.
- Languages: new sites publish in the languages the brief allows, judged from their articles.
- Network grouping: sites that share an owner's ad or analytics codes still count as one entry.
- Legal and platform limits named in the brief, such as audiences or content the client cannot advertise to.
How do you add sites in a second market?
Adding a market is a new search, not a new location setting on the old list. The sites that serve readers in one state or province may have few readers in the next, and the publishers that matter in the new market may never have appeared in the first search. Start with what readers in the new market actually visit.
The Chrome UX Report (opens in a new tab) gives one public signal by country. Its country values are inferred from users' IP addresses and use ISO 3166-1 codes, and country dimensions are available in BigQuery but not in the CrUX APIs. Its popularity rank (opens in a new tab) is on a log10 scale with half steps, such as top 1k, top 5k and top 10k, measured by total navigations. The data works at country level, so it can say a site is popular in Canada or the United States, not in one province or state.
Adding a second market to an approved list
- Write the new market into the brief. Name the country or region, the languages and any local subjects the client wants, such as regional news or local events.
- Recheck every existing site for the new market. Keep sites that show an audience in the new country and mark the rest as first market only.
- Search for local publishers. Look for publishers based in the new market and for sites based elsewhere that readers there visit.
- Run the full review on every new site. The fixed checks apply exactly as they did in the first market.
- Set the platform location option on purpose. Google describes Presence targeting for reaching only people in the targeted locations, and broad geo targeting, labeled Presence or Interest, as also reaching people interested in those places. Choose the option that matches the brief.
How does PlacementGraph help expand a list without padding it?
How do you show the client what changed in an expanded list?
The client approved a list, so an expanded list needs a fresh approval and a clear record of the difference. The simplest record is a change log with one row per added or removed site, the widening step that let it in and the evidence behind it. When delivery recovers, the client can see which step did the work, and when a site disappoints, the whole step can be rolled back without rebuilding the list.
Definition
- Expansion tier
- A labeled group of sites added to an approved list under one widened rule, such as related sections or a second market. Each tier is approved, measured and removed as a unit.
What does a careful list expansion look like on a real brief?
Fictional example
A digital piano retailer in Utah adds a second market
A fictional Salt Lake City retailer of digital pianos approves a list of 31 publishers on piano lessons, music theory and home recording. Delivery runs well short of plan. The planner first checks bids and finds them in line, then reads delivery by site: nine of the listed sites carry no display slots in the sizes the creative uses. Adding two sizes helps, but not enough.
The planner proposes Tier A, the gear and instrument review sections of six music publishers already on the list. The client approves. Tier B, sibling subjects such as songwriting and music production, goes in as a small test line.
For Tier C, the client adds Idaho and Nevada. The planner runs a new search, keeps the existing sites whose readership reaches beyond Utah, and adds four music education publishers. Two candidates fail the made-for-advertising review and are logged as rejected. The client receives version three of the list with every change labeled by tier.
Frequently asked questions
Should underdelivery be fixed by switching to open exchange buying?
No. Open buying without an inclusion list removes the review that made the list worth having. If the approved sites cannot deliver even after bids, formats and widening steps, discuss a separately labeled open line with its own exclusions and a small share of budget, so the client can see what it adds and what it costs in context.
Can sites removed from the original list come back in an expansion?
Only if the reason they were removed has changed and the site passes the full review again. A site dropped for being off topic may fit a wider relevance tier. A site dropped for made-for-advertising traits or for an unauthorized seller should stay off, whatever the delivery pressure.
Is it better to add many small sites or a few large ones?
It depends on the brief, and neither is better by default. A few large sites can deliver predictably but may cover the subject in only one section. Many small specialist sites keep the context tight but take more review time and deliver less each. A mix, with each site labeled, lets the client judge.
Does adding a second language count as adding a market?
Treat it the same way. A French language search in Canada finds a different set of publishers than an English one, even in the same province. Run a separate search in the new language, check each site's language from its articles, and label those sites as their own tier.
Sources
- About placement targeting (opens in a new tab)Google Ads Help
- About combining content targeting types (opens in a new tab)Google Ads Help
- Target ads to geographic locations (opens in a new tab)Google Ads Help
- Content Taxonomy 3.1 (tiered categories file) (opens in a new tab)IAB Tech Lab, GitHub
- Leading Trade Groups Define Made For Advertising Websites (opens in a new tab)ANA, September 26, 2023
- ads.txt Specification Version 1.1 (opens in a new tab)IAB Tech Lab, GitHub
- CrUX methodology: dimensions (opens in a new tab)Google Chrome for Developers
- CrUX methodology: metrics (opens in a new tab)Google Chrome for Developers
Researched and written by PlacementGraph Research. Read how we research, source and update these pages. Corrections: diana@placementgraph.com.