1:Some Low Traffic Keywords have great exposure on AdSense
Upside: This is great- it gives rarely searched keywords the ability to do some work bringing in the customers.
Downside: Unfortunately, I cannot optimize my ad for the context it is being shown in. In fact, I don't even know what context it is being shown in.
2:Keyword Research:What's good for AdWords, is not good for AdSense
Contextual relevance and Search Engine Keyword Relevance are two different things- and demand a different approach. The words that are contextually relevant to any page will be different from the words that we traditionally target.
I have some keywords that receive zero impressions from Search, but 300 impressions through AdSense Context Matching. This begs the question: Are there other relevant terms that we are missing? Are these Garbage Impressions, are my ads being shown in relevant context in the first place?
3: Leave out the Advertiser- Watch your CTR go down.
I have found relevant AdSense Pages that my ads aren't showing up in, and only 25% of the ads that are showing up are relevant. The rest are non-relevant garbage ads.
4:AdSense Technology Needs Improvement
In order to improve the productivity of AdWords, Google needs to rethink the AdSense program from the perspective of the advertiser because it is becoming obvious, from my experience, that the AdSense algo needs help.
5:Don't take my word for it: Take the CTR Test yourserlf
Do an experiment: Enable the new AdWords Interface and generate a report measuring Clicks, CTR, and Impressions for Content Targetted Ads. I did, and the results I found for Content Targetted ads were disappointing compared to the regular AdWords performance.
Conclusion
There's more money to be made, but the AdWords team needs to talk to the AdSense team.
You have begun to lay the groundwork for the deep rooted contradictions that lie in disparate ad serving vehicles (ADsense ~Adwords) that are run within the confines of one PPC keyword bid/mgt environment.
As G and O continue to make inroads in the contextual advertising arena, and as their appetite for more and more third party content becomes more and more of a priority, look for savvy marketers like you to begin to demand the reconciliation of these disparate ad serving vehicles.
There are stark differences between a search (ADwords)and surf (ADsense-contextual) ad. And the idea that the advertisers only option in recognizing these differences is to opt-out, is simply shortsighted, and as I have suggested previously, a play on general marketplace ignorance.
I love ADsense and ADwords. Simply empower us with the tools and capabilities to take advantage of the unique characteristics of these ad vehicles.
I wuld like to change copy for example for those who are "searching" and those who are "browsing". Both are valid targets, but we need to target better for each.
Thay said, to me as an advertiser the lower the CTR the better, in some ways, on Adsense. That gives me good branding, without paying for it, and (at least for now), not causing changes to me CTR minimums on Adwords.
To me the real key is not so much CTR (I would expect this would be lower anyway for various reasons), but what the value of a click is in each system or maybe if i could - each site. I would love to choose fr example what Adsense sites i appear in, and which i dont want to appear in.
So the key is ROI for my ad spend. I dont assume Adsense ads are returning less ROI, we have already got some examples where they are actually returning higher ROI, and some examples of the other way around, despite the well founded assumption that Adwords clickers are better qualified to buy.
So anything to help us work out the ROI better, the better, no problem. As far as CTR, low click rates are an advantage, so its less of a problem, but if CTR for content sites went up dramtically i would probably like to know why, and which sites are sending this high CTR, so i can visit them and evaluate for them the "value" of click they are sending.
Perhaps it is time that if we sell widgets and bid on "selling widgets" it covers "widget sales" "widget purchase "widget buy" and "widget shopping".
I guess this is a bit of a call for themeing.
After all the pages showign adsense ads that come up for a search for "widget shopping" or are linked toby pyges coming upfor "widget shopping" (or link to such) are all candidates for our targeted adword.
Simple keywords may jsut, well, be too simple.
SN
I guess this is a bit of a call for themeing.
I would love to choose fr example what Adsense sites i appear in, and which i dont want to appear in.
Right now we have no choice, and no idea, of where our ads are being shown. I think killroy & chiyo express good points that are founded in a desire to make the system work better. The Applied Semantics technology would make smarter decisions about context if AdWords gave us choices about the context.
And this goes back to an improved interface & greater control= More $ for Google, Publishers, and Advertisers.
By eliminating human intervention, the very thing that makes the regular AdWords so relevant, they are making AdSense less profitable.
So on my car spoilers page I can link to pages about stereos and alloy wheels, and AdSense then shows ads for those tpics but NOT about spoilers.
There is much work to be done, but also potential for the future, and I doubt AdSense will stand still for long, but rather evolve quickly.
SN
