%20(1).webp)
About ShopGoodwill
ShopGoodwill.com, launched in 1999 by Goodwill of Orange County, is the first nonprofit-run e-commerce auction site. Users bid on donated items like art, antiques, jewellery, and electronics. Sales support Goodwill’s mission by funding job training and employment programs. As of 2024, it has generated over $2.5 billion, with 130+ Goodwill organisations participating.
The Challenge
ShopGoodwill.com (SGW) was exploring new revenue streams as part of their growth strategy. Publift reached out to SGW at the right time, having seen strong success with other marketplaces like Gumtree, carsales, and Trader Interactive. However, a key challenge for them was their past experience with Google AdSense—while programmatic advertising had been tested before, its ads were negatively impacting the overall user experience.
“We were getting a lot of noise both from our sellers as well as from customers of just 'Hey this is kind of tacky, it doesn't look good, this is off brand for Goodwill'”
- George Burt, COO at ShopGoodwill.
Some other challenges included:
- The AdSense setup was not aligned with their goals, demonstrating that monetisation could be done without compromising user trust while respecting the brand’s values.
- No technical support that led to a lack of moderation of the website.
“It wasn't a good experience because we didn't have a partner such as yourselves to help moderate things and help us understand what we didn't know.”
- George Burt, COO at ShopGoodwill.
The Approach
Our Fuse tag solution allowed SGW to display fewer ads, which worked well with their high pageviews (PVs) while maintaining a positive user experience. Key aspects of our approach included:
- Enabling fewer ads compared to AdSense, ensuring a less intrusive experience.
- Ensuring a strong emphasis on UI/UX, integrating ads seamlessly into their site.
This approach helped them see advertising as a viable and well-integrated revenue stream rather than a disruptive element.
“Since we've transitioned from Jess (onboarding) to Callum (account management), it's been very much the same. We didn't have to go back and, oftentimes when you have a trade of hands, you have to go through and reiterate your whole story and get caught up, [but this] was very seamless.”
- George Burt, COO at ShopGoodwill.
After the onboarding process, ShopGoodwill.com took on Publift’s recommended optimisations. However, we took a cautious approach in key areas:
- Gradual ad rollout for seamless UX: ShopGoodwill introduced ads carefully, starting with a header on the homepage, followed by a video rectangle on the search results page, and eventually implementing a sticky footer.
- Block competitor ads: To protect their revenue streams, they maintained an extensive and highly customised blocklist.
- Avoiding sensitive categories: As a nonprofit, the business is mindful of their public image. Publift ensured we were strictly blocking ads related to alcohol, drugs, and gambling to uphold their reputation and mission.
- Misleading ads: ShopGoodwill wanted to ensure their ads looked obvious and were not misleading customers and causing unwanted clicks.
With this cautious approach, we implemented a variety of changes, both visually and non-visually.
Visual Changes
A new ad unit
We implemented In Content units from December 2024 that generated an uplift of 30%.
Utilising z-index to customise the sticky footer
To ensure ads did not interrupt the bidding process, which is the main interaction on the page, we assigned higher z-index values to the sticky footer and bidding interface elements, guaranteeing that these critical components consistently appeared above any ad placements. This layering effectively prevented ads from obscuring or interfering with the primary bidding activity.
Non-Visual Changes
We implemented several non-visual changes that significantly boosted revenue, including:
- Customising the integration of the best Prebid network for ShopGoodwill.com gradually, to optimise ad performance.
- Adding AdSense backfill, allowing for the monetisation of unfilled impressions.
- Implementing blocking optimisation, which improved inventory utilisation and contributed to revenue growth.
Yield Experiments
While ad unit optimisations boosted revenue, there comes a point where further adjustments could affect user experience. We explored Yield Experiments to generate incremental revenue. Since October 2024, we have implemented experiments involving changes to the fuse-tag logic around timeouts, the ad refresh strategy, and the usage of identity solutions. This brought about a median increase in revenue of around 10% daily.
These changes were key to enhancing revenue without compromising user experience.
App
ShopGoodwill.com also operates a mobile application that receives between 1.5 to 1.8 million screen views daily. Publift is currently working towards launching ads on the app using FuseSDK, marking the first time ads will appear on the platform. We're collaborating closely with their app developers across both iOS and Android to implement the integration.
The Results
ShopGoodwill has experienced steady ad revenue growth since joining forces with Publift.
ShopGoodwill's viewability has also steadily increased, reinforcing that strong ad visibility is just as vital as revenue growth for long-term success.
If you are looking to monetise your marketplace without compromising your brand safety and core revenue streams, reach out to us so we can talk about how Publift can support your goals today!
.webp)
