In the world of digital advertising, a concerning trend has emerged that's costing advertisers billions: Made-for-Advertising (MFA) sites. But what exactly are MFA sites, and why should advertisers be wary of them?
An MFA site is a website made just to earn money from ads. Their primary goal isn't to provide valuable content to users, but rather to generate profit by purchasing cheap traffic and selling ad space at a higher price. If you've ever landed on a website cluttered with ads, featuring thin content spread across multiple pages, chances are you've encountered an MFA site.
These websites often copy content from other places and mix good stuff with bad. When you visit them, you're hit with tons of ads and very little useful information. It's annoying for people trying to read something, and it's bad for companies buying ad space. Why? Because people don't stick around or click on ads on these sites, so companies waste money.
Plus, if a well-known brand's ad shows up next to clickbait or low-quality content, it can make the brand look bad. So, both regular internet users and big companies are getting a raw deal from these MFA sites.
MFA (Made for Advertising) sites often use catchy headlines and clickbait to attract visitors, generating page views and ad revenue. These sites usually have low-quality content and use aggressive tactics like pop-up ads, auto-play videos, and intrusive ads to increase revenue.
These are the most common characteristics of MFA sites
MFA sites flood their pages with ads. We're talking about way more ads than you'd see on a typical website. It's not uncommon to find that ads take up over 30% of the page on desktop sites. This makes it tough for visitors to find and enjoy the actual content they came for.
These sites use aggressive tactics to show as many ads as possible. Ads refresh automatically, videos start playing without warning, and you might have to click through several pages of a slideshow just to read one article. Each click or refresh means more ads in your face.
Most visitors to MFA sites don't arrive there naturally. Instead, the site owners pay to lure people in, often using clickbait ads on social media or other websites. This can account for almost all of their traffic. It's expensive to buy visitors this way, so these sites have to use pushy ad tactics to make money.
The articles and information on MFA sites are usually not great. They often just copy content from other places, use outdated information, or churn out generic articles. The focus is on having something – anything – to put ads around, not on providing valuable information to readers.
MFA sites typically look unprofessional and are hard to use. They're often built using basic templates with little thought given to how visitors will interact with the site. The design priorities are clearly about squeezing in more ads, not creating a good user experience.
These practices not only frustrate users but also risk damaging the reputation of digital advertising as a whole. We in the industry often refer to these as "Made for Arbitrage" sites because their main goal is to make money from the difference between what they pay for traffic and what they earn from ads, rather than providing value to users.
So why haven't MFA sites been eliminated? There are several factors at play:
MFAs exist because advertisers want cheaper ad spaces, driving ad costs down significantly. Running a successful website is expensive, especially with high-quality video and display content. Verification companies like DV, IAS, and Deepsea often target and block these sites, focusing now on MFAs. Cutting MFAs would drastically reduce revenue for advertising companies and make meeting budgets difficult.
Consider the financial performance of leading ad tech companies, which are both billion-dollar public firms. This demographic constitutes their core market, with the majority of advertisers purchasing clicks that ultimately convert into real sales. The sustained existence and scale of these companies indicate that their ads effectively convert into sales. Additionally, revenue incentives for some ad tech platforms to continue including MFA inventory are a significant factor in their business models.
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