Adsense & Chitika together: preliminary concerns

Are some of us being overly enthusiastic?

[digicamhelp]

I implemented Chitika about a week ago and, like most everyone else, am pleased with the amount I receive per click. So I've been implementing it more and more at my site. In some cases, Chitika code has replaced AdSense code.

However, the unaudited part of this is beginning to cause me consternation. Hopefully some of you will help me come to understand if my concern is unfounded...or not.

The issues since adding Chitika code:

Though traffic to my site has pleasantly and surprisingly increased this month, my Google Page CTR has gone down from an average of 3.8% to 2.45% since implementing Chitika. On one of the highest traffic days ever for my site, the CTR for Chitika is .60% while Google is 2.1%.

Overall, I'm making a little more money since Chitika pays more per click, but what is totally unknown is how revenue from Chitika will pan out after they do an "audit." I am totally unclear as to what to expect from an audit.

For my particular kind of website, it is THE premier time of year for traffic. I'm wondering if I've made a bad mistake implementing Chitika at this time. I've read some say the audit takes away about 30% of unaudited revenue. If that's the case, Chitika may not be worth my time and effort.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

Google has served me well. How Chitika will serve me is an unknown.

gail

[newguy1]

Chitika CTR has been growing well for me. I started at less than 1% and had an all time high yesterday at 15%. It performs very well on one of my sites and terribly on another.

Test placements, products and ad sizes. I am sure you'll come up with a winning combination.

I don't know about audited vs unaudited yet, I will get my first check at the end of the month.

[digicamhelp]

It performs very well on one of my sites and terribly on another.

Do you have a theory as to why such differences?

Maybe I need a bit more patience. But, as I said, this is high season for my site.

thanks for your input.

[newguy1]

The site it is performing very well on (double digit CTR) is aimed at 15-30 year olds. The site it is pitiful on (<1% CTR) is geared toward athletic adults.

I was actually just talking to my partner about this today and in jest we said that YPN is like the newspaper classifieds and Chitika is a full page magazine spread. I really think the picture and interactivity is where it is at for my younger audience.

Funny side note, I just added channel tracking to the Chitika code and found something semi-strange. On my review pages the accessory ad blocks get clicked 10x more than the actual product, but the product pays 30x per click more than the accessory so I still make more on the product. I am going to rotate ad placement this week to see how much influence that has on getting more clicks on the high priced product.

So far the bigger the Chitika block the higher the CTR, 468x180 and 160x600 are both very good.

[digicamhelp]

My Adsense revenue was about 50% lower yesterday than it has been in a long time, yet the impressions are at their highest. Chitika reports late in the day so I don't know yet how it did yesterday. If I don't see higher returns, I need to rethink my strategy and find a better balance between both types of ads.

Does anyone around here give site reviews as to ad placement? It seems you're not allowed to put your url in a post...anyway, my impression around here is that just about everyone seems rather secretive about letting others see their sites. Is there a reason for this? As you can probably tell, I'm somewhat of a newbie in these forums.