[Hidden-tech] Google AdSense for Content v. Search

[B. Kimo Lee]

Hi Jonathon,

AdSense if used wisely can make you money depending on several key  
factors. How high the average price per click is for the content type,  
how wisely you place your ads in your layout, and most importantly,  
how much traffic your site has. The theory behind AdSense -- being a  
context-based technology -- is that it seems to work best if you have  
well written, descriptive content on your pages that the AdSense  
system can read, because the ads will better align with the interests  
of the reader and be more likely to generate clicks. But again, if you  
don't have a lot of monthly page views then you're not going to make a  
whole lot of money from AdSense.

Google has recommendations about what parts of pages generate the best  
response, based on their data. Personally, I've noticed that placing  
an ad or a thin row of Link Ads near the top of the content column  
tends to perform better -- again, if the ad is well matched  
contextually. Some of my Leaderboard ads are working well depending  
upon the ad. Anything "above the fold" gets better response than  
below. But if you overload the page, viewers will ignore them  
altogether. I use an OpenX ad server to set up zones and track ad  
performance.

Again, the type of subject matter is very important in my opinion,  
because certain types of people respond differently to different ad  
types. A tech-oriented site targeting techno-geeks might find that  
text ads work better, whereas an arts site may work better with visual  
ads that have arresting images and headlines.

I can think of a publishing site whose visual design still maintains a  
first generation site look, but the webmaster knows his stuff as far  
as optimizing for Google and what his target audience needs and he  
brings in about $2k/month from AdSense.

I haven't had much luck with AdSense Search but I've only done limited  
testing of the search fields on domain parking pages. Not really  
enough info to draw any worthwhile conclusions, and not exactly a  
priority item for me.

In summary, some key takeaways might be:

1. High traffic increases click-through percentages.
2. Write good descriptive content.
3. Understand how your target audience reads your pages and place your  
ads accordingly. (Google has testing tools for this.)

I could probably think of more tidbits but you get the gist. I'm  
curious to see what others add to this discussion.

Best,
Kimo



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On Jul 14, 2009, at 8:16 PM, Jonathon Podolsky wrote:

>   ** Be sure to fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's  
> area.
>   ** If you did, we all thank you.
>
>
> 1) You can earn money from Google AdSense for Content by having  
> their ads on your website.
> 2) "   "  by having Google Search on your website and running the  
> ads there.
> 3)  For 1 and 2 above, placement can be different places on the  
> site: https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=17954
>
> A. Any opinions for whether ads are better for content or for  
> search, and what is the best placement?
> B. Does anyone feel that Google ads are not worth it, because it  
> doesn't generate enough revenue and makes the website less sticky?
>
> All the best,
>
> Jonathon Podolsky
> Producer at WholeHealthExpo.com
> Voice: 413.584.0010
> post events, help wanted, and general comments in our forums: www.WholeHealthExpo.com/forum
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