Google Ads is finally making a move that should help clean up ad placements. Starting March 19, all advertiser accounts will automatically be opted out of showing ads on parked domains—those empty, placeholder websites that aren’t actively used by real users.

For years, parked domains have been a low-value placement, eating up ad budgets with poor-quality traffic and minimal conversions. This change flips the default setting, meaning advertisers will no longer have to manually exclude these sites.

But before you move on, this isn’t a free performance boost. If parked domains have been working for your strategy (unlikely, but hey, you never know), you’ll have to opt back in manually.

What’s Happening?

Google is changing the default setting for parked domain placements within the Search Partner Network. Here’s what’s shifting:

• Automatic Opt-Out: Starting March 19, all accounts will no longer serve ads on parked domains by default.
• Gradual Rollout: The change won’t happen all at once—some accounts will see it earlier than others.
• Manual Opt-In Available: If, for some reason, you actually want to target parked domains, you’ll need to manually opt back in via Content Suitability settings.

This update is part of Google’s ongoing effort to clean up low-quality placements and help advertisers get better traffic without wasting spend.

How It Affects Your Campaigns

For most advertisers, this is a win. Parked domains have historically delivered weak performance, so cutting them out automatically means better traffic quality without extra work.

• Better Ad Placement = Better Results: Your budget is now less likely to be wasted on useless clicks from sites that don’t actually have an audience.
• Slightly Reduced Reach: While this removes junk traffic, it also means a slight dip in overall ad reach.
• Manual Control If Needed: If parked domains were working for you (unlikely), you still have the option to opt back in manually.

This move signals that Google is prioritizing quality over sheer reach, which is generally good news for performance-focused advertisers.

Then there’s the question of CPCs. Now that domain placements will be reduced by tens of millions, businesses will be bidding on much fewer online entities. 

While these sites weren’t exactly the best use of advertising dollars, it’s important to monitor your cost-per-click before and after this change to ensure you don’t see any spikes in costs here. 

What You Need to Do

This change should improve ad performance for most businesses, but you’ll still want to track results and make sure it’s working in your favor.

1. Check Your Past Performance: If you’ve been running Search Partner Network placements, pull historical data to see if parked domains were hurting or helping your campaigns.
2. Monitor Your Metrics After the Rollout: Keep an eye on click-through rates, CPCs, and conversions to see if this opt-out improves performance.
3. Manually Opt Back In (If Necessary): If parked domains were somehow driving good results for you, go into your Content Suitability settings and opt back in.
4. Shift Budget to Better Placements: With parked domains out of the picture, consider reallocating the budget to better-performing placements to maintain reach without sacrificing quality.

Google finally did something advertisers have wanted for years—cutting out a major source of low-quality traffic. Most advertisers won’t need to lift a finger—this should be an automatic win.

But if you want to stay ahead of the curve and make sure your ad strategy stays optimized, let’s talk. We’ll make sure you’re maximizing every dollar and not leaving easy wins on the table.