Forum Moderators: martinibuster
It be much better if we were offered a selection of three or four labels that could be used on the ads? We could then choose the one most appropriate for our sites. For example I believe that "Contextual Ads by Google" would be more likely to encourage my specific audience to click.
There is no better way of saying, "Look, I am a cheap scraper site. You can see that because I carry ads with a cheap and cheesy message. They are probably no use to you so don't click them."
Has there ever been any feedback from Google on this? Have they given us any clue why they continue to do knowing that it generates so much ire?
Please don't anyone suggest that I remove the ads. I am trying to be constructive and realistic here. ;)
It's obviously a branding thing, and I personally prefer it to the "Contextual Ads by Google" alternative you suggest, which would be meaningless to my visitors, and indeed to most visitors....
If you're looking for a response, ask for AdSense Advisor, not Googleguy, by the way. Have you emailed AdSense support?
My guess is that it actually helped people pay attention to the ads (combating banner blindness) overall and maybe even had a positive effect on publisher earnings (overall).
I think as the designers and owners of our site, we have a heightened sensitivity to what we think makes our site look bad in the eyes of visitors. I think the actual visitors to our sites (that do not have an "emotional/work related" attachment" to it) could probably care less about the extra o's.
That's just my 2 bits though.
It's obviously a branding thing, and I personally prefer it to the "Contextual Ads by Google" alternative you suggest, which would be meaningless to my visitors, and indeed to most visitors.
Yes, but my visitors are mainly intelligent, highly technical people who would probably appreciate "Contextual ads by Google" more than "Ads by Gooooooooogle." If it is "obviously a branding thing" what have they got to lose by sharing it with their Adsense partners?
I personally could not possibly care less, and would rather Google focused their efforts on larger issues that need to be addresssed instead of minutia.
Effort? What effort would it take to let us know what this is all about? What effort would it take to allow us to choose our own ad labels?
I suppose it's just a matter of opinion. ASA?
Have you emailed AdSense support?
Come on. The folks at Google are already well aware of the critical comment and consternation that this has caused. For whatever reason they seem to have chosen not to comment so I would think that there is no chance of them telling little old me ;)
It would be great if someone could come out with even a semblance of an argument in its favour.
It makes the line stand out more. That's a good thing if it attracts the attention of potential advertisers.
Pretty soon, we'd see: On a parent's site: "These cute little ads come from Google". On a travel site: "Ads visiting from Google" On a made for AdSense site: "Click the ads from Google." And before long, there'd be hundreds of alternatives instead of "Gooooogle." Why would Google want that? Not only do they lose the branding but they would have the headache of administering the "alternate ads label program" and approving proposed texts.
And I wouldn't assume that Google "knows" about this in an official sense if you haven't contacted them. ASA doesn't seem to spend a lot of time here. Send them a detailed, well-reasoned emailing explaining why you want to use a different ad label. Maybe you would get no response, but if they keep hearing from people, maybe they'd decide they could offer a few alternatives.
Pretty soon, we'd see: On a parent's site: "These cute little ads come from Google". On a travel site: "Ads visiting from Google" On a made for AdSense site: "Click the ads from Google." And before long, there'd be hundreds of alternatives instead of "Gooooogle."
That is not what I was proposing.
Please read the original post again. Particularly, "It be much better if we were offered a selection of three or four labels that could be used on the ads?"
The reason behind the Ads by Gooooogle label is that we've found it is memorable and stands out in users' minds. We can't currently control which ad units, pages or sites will receive new branding features, including the 'Ads by Goooooogle' tag-line.
However, I'll be sure to pass along your feedback; we're always evaluating new tag-lines.
-ASA