Affiliate Week Profile: Google AdSense By Sean Michael Kerner
March 29, 2005
Ad Formats and Placement
Google offers a number of different formats and continues to add new ad capabilities on a regular basis. Fundamentally though, again, it's all about relevance and context. The job of the publisher is to pick the right format that will provide contextual relevance such that a user would click.
Google recommends that users place ads above the fold (that is on the viewable area of page before scrolling) which is good advice but certainly not the be all and end all in terms of placement. Statistically speaking a skyscraper unit (120x600 or 160 x 600) is generally thought to yield greater click-throughs as an advertising unit (at least on mainstream Internet sites), though that that is likely not the case for every publisher or every site. Leaderboards (728 x 90) offer a bigger footprint than a traditional 468x60 banner size, which may help to increase the likelihood that a user will notice the unit. Inline rectangles — of which Google offers four sizes: 300 x 250, 336x280, 250x250, 180x150 — are, generally speaking, the right format to use for ads that you want to place inside of the "body text" of your site.
It's also generally considered to be a solid best practice to have your ads match the color style/scheme or your site, so as to make them appear to look like they belong. The trick to getting the highest potential click-through is to place the ad where a) the user will see it and b) it will be contextually relevant without being overly intrusive.
Keys to AdSense Success
Advertise your AdSense-enabled sites with AdWords
Track performance with channels
Optimize content
Consider skyscraper and inline rectangles
Include "other" Google placements (Search and AdLinks)
Create channels for proper reporting
Search and AdLinks
Adding Google Search to your site is also a good thing to do, especially since now with AdSense you have the opportunity to earn some revenue as well. Search can be used in "Site Search" mode or for wider Internet-based searching (Google Search) from your site.
Google recently launched a new ad option called "AdLinks" which serve up links without the advertisement (the blurb under the title). It's unclear at this point how effective the new format will be, however, as experimentation coupled with measurement is the key to revenue optimization.
Text vs. Image Ad Formats
Google also offers AdSense publishers the opportunity to serve image ads as well as text ads. Unfortunately, however, Google AdSense's current (March 2005) reporting tool does not break down ads served by text or image type, so you'll have no way of measuring the relative effectiveness of one against the other for your site. That said, Google does claim that image ads will have a "higher value to you than the corresponding set of text ads that might otherwise run in the same slot."
Monitoring and Reporting
It's critically important to create "channels" for the different sites (or even areas within one site) to help properly evaluate the success of your AdSense efforts. Without channels all you'll know is how total impressions were served and how many click-throughs, without any page level breakdown. You can create and manage channels from within the "Reports" tab for either Ad Performance or Search Performance. Whenever you create a new ad or search placement, be sure to generate code for each channel on which you plan to serve the ads to ensure proper accurate reporting.
The AdSense preview function shows you how sample ads placed on your web site will look with the layout scheme you have selected. (Click for larger image)
In terms of evaluating if AdSense makes sense (or cents) for you, it's a good idea to set your own expectations as to what a click-through should be, as well as what you expect your payout to be from Google. Generally speaking, I consider the minimum threshold for what I consider to be a worthwhile ad placement (in terms of click through) as one that has a minimum 1 percent click through rate. In my experience an average "successful" site is anywhere from 1 to 3 percent. Certainly, you can get higher click-through rates, but it's important to have reasonable expectation in order to have a baseline for improvement.
In terms of earnings-per-click, not all keywords and site content will yield the highest value keywords and thereby the highest value clicks as per Google. Unfortunately, Google AdSense doesn't tell you which ads offer which payout. However, by being aware of AdWords (as mentioned earlier) you'll at least have some idea beyond your own report of what to expect.
Use Common Sense to Make Cents
Before Google AdSense came along, it wasn't all that easy for small publishers to get set up with an ad program that both worked and actually paid out. By following the same basic rules that you would for search engine optimization you can ensure that you'll get the most relevant ads for your site and in turn also increase your click through rate.
Drive traffic to your site with AdSense's cousin, AdWords and utilized the AdSense Preview tool to get a better understanding of what ads may show up on any given site. Though certainly not perfect, Google's AdSense reporting tools are there to help you track (and improve) your performance.
In the final analysis making "cents" with AdSense really involves a healthy dose of common sense. Good Content + Good Relevant Ad Placement = AdSense success.
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