europeforvisitors - 2:28 pm on Aug 5, 2004 (gmt 0)

If "spammy" sites work then they will stay. The comments regarding that this will be the downfall of the program if Google does not maintain a certain "idealistic" content evaluation of sites ignores that this is nothing new to the publishing community, just a different program in adsense. The practice of sites developed to generate a monetary return only is not new or original.

Junk sites are like weekly shoppers or those bulk-rate advertising supplements that you get in the mail. They may work for some advertisers, but they're limited in the types and numbers of advertisers that they draw.

The challenge for Google is how to keep sites with questionable content (or no content) that deliver satisfactory conversion for some advertisers without requiring all advertisers to take potluck. AdSense will fail to reach the larger and more lucrative mainstream advertising market unless it provides more choices and controls to advertisers.

Time to take off them rose colored glasses, realize that google needs to drive a return for the new stock holders and will loose some of their idealistic goals in the process. The market (advertisers) will drive Google's decision making now as their revenue stream is so tightly tied into the adsense/adwords program.

Idealism has nothing to do with it. (See above.) Improvements to the AdSense network will be driven by advertiser demand and by competition from other networks.

BTW, it isn't hard to envision any number of competitors to Google in the contextual ad space over the next few years. Aside from Overture and smaller players like Quigo AdS**ar, we may well see the emergence of specialized networks in profitable niche markets as OEM equivalents of AdSense enter the marketplace.