It is increasingly difficult to be accepted into Google's AdSense program, and that's unfortunate because an exciting new format has been released that will likely take much of the burden off of publishers trying to figure out their monetization problem.
Google's new AdSense Auto ads use machine learning to make "smart placement and monetization" decisions on behalf of publishers - and it may just signal that true automation in advertising has arrived. There's no question that Google has deep stores of data on not only those displaying ads but consumers browing and interaction habits too (particuarly if they're using Chrome). Why not make good use of it, right?
Pubilshers only need to place one piece of code once on all of their pages and Google does the rest. What's unique about Auto ads is that they are shown only when they are likely to perform well and provide a good user experience. The system will identify available ad space and place new ads. That makes it very easy to use and what's more, they can easily be turned on and off.
Publishers may have other reservations about the format however. Great control is often excercised over how certain brand elements appear and tracking every page view by users in order to ensure compliance is not going to be easy for publishers. Without a preview tool to see what/how/where Google's potentially going to display the unit gives total control to the machines and many publishers likely aren't ready for that.