Why 70% of display ads fail to convert in 2025 (and how ClickPatol fixes it)

The average click-through rate for display ads is about 0.46%, and conversion rates are about 0.57% across the board.

That means about 70% of display campaigns fail to meet basic ROI thresholds when you factor in typical cost-per-click and customer acquisition goals.

If you are running Google Display Network campaigns and finding that your conversions are flat amidst decent traffic, rest assured, you’re not alone.

In this article, we will break down the data, expose the biggest culprit, poor placements, and show how ClickPatrol solves it.

Hidden costs of display advertising: Why campaigns underperform

Behind the growth of display advertising lies a harsh reality of hidden costs and diminishing returns.

Low conversion rates: The numbers behind display ads

As stated, the average conversion rate for display advertising campaigns is between 0.5% to 2%.

Another estimate says the average conversion rate on the Google Display Network is about 0.57%.

What this means is that for every 1,000 display ad clicks, only about 5–20 convert, and if your budget is being drained by low-quality placements, it could be even lower.

Why ad viewability and placement impact conversions

An academic study estimated that a large percentage of display ads were never actually seen by real audience.

Many ads load below the fold or remain hidden in inactive browser tabs, so they count as impressions but are never visible to users.

Placement plays a huge role here. In fact, as an expert explains, “If shown in places where your target audience usually doesn’t pay attention, you will likely not make conversions from display advertising.”

In other words, you could very well be paying for impressions that never had any real chance: not seen, not clicked, and certainly not converted.

Low-quality placements: Wasted budget and missed opportunities

A dataset revealed that on the GDN, the top 500 placements (websites/apps) had spent between $25 and $49, with zero sales leads.

Ad fraud and irrelevant placements also add to the noise. For example, estimates show that bot traffic accounts for 47.4% of all internet traffic, which can directly skew display ad metrics and waste budget.

So, the problem is not just “our ad didn’t convert” but “our ad was served in places where it had little chance to convert.”

High failure rate

The typical conversion rate for display ads is sub-1%, meaning that most display ad campaigns aren’t yielding acceptable conversions or ROI.

A huge part of the budget goes into invisible, irrelevant, or fraudulent placements. Therefore, for display ad campaigns, underperformance can be reasonably estimated at approximately 70%.

There is no single published statistic to confirm this, but it’s reasonable based on evidence from conversion benchmarks and placement quality. This is a valid hypothesis for performance marketers to consider.

Why placement quality is the root cause (and not just creative)

Many marketers focus on creative, copy, audience, or landing pages. That’s important, but we believe the ad’s placement is usually the silent killer. Let’s look at why: Bad placements equal no intent, low attention, and irrelevant context.

• If your ad appears on a site that isn’t your target audience, the click you pay for will likely bounce or never convert, resulting in wasted spend.
• When your ad shows up in a place that is not visible off the fold, off-screen, or on a site with poor viewability, you’ll be spending money but getting zero impact, essentially throwing your ad budget away.
• You might even pay for non-converting, fake engagement if your ad shows up on a website with click fraud or bot traffic.
• Poor contextual relevance undermines intent-display ads, which must align with the audience’s mindset, placement, and site context. If the ad is out of context, it fails.

ClickPatrol: Fix low-converting placements and improve ROI

The very problem of low-conversion display campaigns driven by bad placements is what ClickPatrol is designed to fix. Here’s how:

Excluding the low-quality and irrelevant placements

ClickPatrol identifies websites/apps and ad placements that are irrelevant to your brand or globally low-quality, meaning they generate poor viewability, bot traffic, or fraudulent placement.

By excluding those placements well in advance, your ads will run only on reputable sites where your targeted audience is more likely to engage.

Quality-first placement filtering

Rather than simply broad targeting and hoping for the best, ClickPatrol applies filters to ensure high viewability, high context relevance, and low fraud risk.

That means fewer wasted impressions, fewer irrelevant clicks, and better conversion potential.

Performance-focused optimisation

With better placements, the upstream funnel impression click more strongly ties to downstream conversion. Your creative and landing page still matter, but you are working from a much stronger foundation.

Even though your previous average conversion rate was less than 1%, with stronger placements, that number can rise meaningfully. That means more conversions per click and fewer wasted clicks.

Transparent reporting & ROI focus

With ClickPatrol, you get insight into which placements were excluded and how well the placements that did run performed.

That enables you to optimize budget allocation away from “junk” placements and toward high-performing ones.

Thus, the conversion problem is not “we need to fix the ad”; it’s “we need to fix the placement.”

ClickPatrol bridges that gap from wasted budget to efficient placement to improved conversion.

Display ads fail to convert: Recommended steps for campaign managers

If you’re managing display-ad campaigns or advising clients and you want to stop “display ads not converting,” here’s how:

Step 1: Audit your placements

Review your recent display ad campaigns. How many impressions or clicks came from “unknown” or low-quality domains? Are you paying for placements that produce no leads? If the answer is yes, that budget is a leak.

Step 2: Exclude irrelevant or toxic placements

Use placement lists or a partner like ClickPatrol to block sites or apps with poor viewability, bot risk, irrelevant audiences, or content mismatches.

Step 3: Alignment of placement with intention and context

Make sure your ad is showing in contexts where viewers are in the right mindset, such as when reading about your category. Contextual relevance boosts the odds of conversion.

Step 4: Track key metrics beyond just clicks

Not just CTR, focus on viewability, placements, conversion rate, and cost-per-acquisition. Wasted clicks still cost you.

Step 5: Optimize constantly

With improved placements in the mix, test creative, landing page, and messaging to further lift conversions. But start with placement.

Boost display ad conversions: focus on placement quality to beat the 70% failure rate

Shift your focus to placement quality to increase conversions. This means that ads should appear on reputable, relevant, and high-viewability sites. ClickPatrol optimizes ad placements by excluding low-quality inventory.

Clean up placements to reach your target audience and improve ROI. By prioritizing placement quality, you can increase conversions and reduce ad waste.

It’s time to stop letting your display ads fail to convert and take control of your ad placements.

With ClickPatrol, you say goodbye to low-quality ad placements and welcome improved ad performance. Start using ClickPatrol today to filter low-quality placements, boost display ad conversions, and maximize ROI.

Abisola

Meet Abisola! As the content manager at ClickPatrol, she’s the go-to expert on all things fake traffic. From bot clicks to ad fraud, Abisola knows how to spot, stop, and educate others about the sneaky tactics that inflate numbers but don’t bring real results.

View all posts by Abisola (Abisola)

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