You're running a successful ad campaign and your ads are getting traffic from Google’s Search Partners network. You think, "Great, more visibility from another search pool!”. Traditionally, Search Partners are known to include well-known sites like Ask.com. But here's the catch—Ask.com and those other sites aren't popular in Sweden, and many advertisers here have been left wondering: Where is this Search Partner traffic really coming from?
For years, it’s been a bit of a mystery. Advertisers have noticed clicks coming from Search Partners but had little insight into the sites behind them. This lack of transparency has left many in Sweden asking: Is this traffic valuable, or am I wasting my budget?
What we’ve uncovered might surprise you—and could be costing you more than you think.
Are you wasting ad spend on parked domains? Here’s what you need to know.
Recently, Google sent out a critical update regarding Content Suitability for Parked Domains in Google Ads. In their email, they stated:
"Dear Advertiser, We're making an important update to how Content Suitability works for Parked Domains in Google Ads.
Starting in October, new Google Ads accounts will be automatically opted out of serving ads on Parked Domains. This means your Search and PMax campaigns in new accounts won't appear on Parked Domains by default.
If you'd like your ads to appear on Parked Domains, simply navigate to the Content Suitability settings within your new account and opt in."
At first glance, this update may not seem particularly significant. You might be thinking, "Who advertises on parked domains anyway? That doesn’t concern me." However, that assumption could be a costly mistake. In fact, we've noticed that many advertisers unknowingly appear on parked domains, leading to wasted ad spend.
What are parked domains and why should you care?
A substantial portion of traffic from Google’s "Search Partners" network comes from parked domains—websites that are not actively being used by their owners but still display ads. For many advertisers, especially those running lead generation campaigns, we’ve seen an increasing influx of search partner traffic from low-quality sources, especially since mid 2023. For some advertisers, we've seen search partners increase to be up to 30-40% of the total search investments, a substantial portion of overall traffic.
The problem is that advertisers have little to no transparency over what these search partners consist of. Even Google cannot clearly define which domains are part of this network. Through our own research, we discovered that this search partner traffic often originates from parked domains, and instead of the standard text ads, they resemble display ads.
How does traffic end up on parked domains?
Here’s where things get even more interesting. We’ve identified instances where ads that look like native ads—on popular sites such as blogs and news platforms—are funneling traffic to parked domains. Once on these parked domains, Google ads are displayed, and this traffic is redirected to the advertiser's site. In most cases, the ads on these parked domains are poorly written and obviously auto-translated using tools like Google Translate. More concerning is that this is happening for high-cost keywords such as loans, insurance, and other competitive sectors.
Example of a “native” ad shown in the bottom of an article on a popular news site.
The role of arbitrage in parked domain traffic
This issue arises because the owners of these parked domains engage in what’s called arbitrage. They purchase cheap traffic from sources like Taboola, Meta, or TikTok and then sell it to Google at a much higher price, capitalising on the high cost-per-click (CPC) for certain keywords. This practice leads to inflated costs for advertisers without delivering quality traffic.
We’ve found several major brands and corporations unknowingly advertising in these placements, wasting significant portions of their advertising budgets. The damage is not just financial—exposing your brand on these low-quality sites also impacts your brand’s credibility.
Example of how an ad looks like.
Protect Your Advertising Budget and Brand Reputation
At Bluebird Media, we've long been aware of the challenges posed by parked domains, and we're pleased to see Google finally addressing this issue. Their recent update provides a layer of protection by automatically opting new accounts out of serving ads on parked domains. However, if you're running ads from an existing account, it's critical to review your Content Suitability settings to ensure your ads aren't inadvertently appearing on these low-value sites.
Should You Keep Search Partners Enabled?
From a performance standpoint, we typically recommend e-commerce advertisers keep Search Partners enabled. Since you're optimizing for concrete metrics like sales or profit, this ensures you're attracting genuine customers. For lead generation campaigns focused on qualified leads, keeping Search Partners on can also be beneficial, as Google's algorithm tends to optimize for high-quality conversions.
However, if your lead generation efforts are targeting softer KPIs—such as job applications or easy-to-submit forms, and/or you are worried about how these placements could affect your brand—it's important to proceed with caution. In these cases, we advise disabling Search Partners or closely monitoring the channel to avoid wasting your budget on low-quality traffic.
If you're concerned that your advertising spend is being wasted or that your brand is being exposed in inappropriate environments, reach out to us. We can help you audit and fine-tune your campaigns to achieve the best possible results.