Link units -performance vs. ads

new to link units, what should I expect?

[dibbern2]

I tried link units several months ago after reading the recommendations made here by several members.

Now that I have about 3 mos. data, I'm a little confused about what to expect. Perhaps someone could shed a little light...

My link unit stats look dismal when compared to ad blocks. The click rate is under a per cent (is that vague enough to be within TOS?), about a tenth of ad block performance. eCPM is very small, about 5% of ad blocks.

Is this a normal snapshot of how link-units perform for you?

Thanks.

[hunderdown]

I do much better than that with the one adlink I have on my site. Based on my experience and what I've read here, the optimal placements for adlinks and adblocks are different.

If you can use channels to identify particular adlinks that are not performing well, try an adblock instead, or try it somewhere else on the page, or....

[malachite]

While hunderdown is right that moving them around, trying different placements can help, I think it's just one of those things that adlinks work well on some sites and not on others.

Some folk here on WW do really well with them, others have mediocre results at best. FWIW, having tried them for around 3 months on my site, I'm with you in the mediocre category ;)

[21_blue]

hunderdown, you've said a few times that you get good comparative performance from adlinks, which has intrigued me because, like dibbern, I've always found them to perform poorly by comparison with regular ads.

I've therefore had a look around your site to try to understand your comparative success with adlinks. I like the position of your adlinks on your homepage, and doff my cap to the skill with which you've integrated them into the page design (it really is an excellent design).

But having had a look at several pages, I didn't see a single ad block! I hope you aren't offended, therefore, if I wonder and ask whether the relative performance of adlinks on your site is due not to the success of adlinks but to the low prominence of conventional adblocks?

On my site, adblocks get high prominence in recognised hotspots (though separated from body text and not 'spammy' in appearance). I therefore get a very healthy CTR and EPC and eCPM that makes adlinks seem insignificant when I've tried them. I wonder, therefore, whether a high ad prominence on your site would yield a different comparison between adlinks and adblocks?

[hunderdown]

21_blue, re the pages on my site where there are no adblocks: some are 2nd-level index pages, which take people to the articles, some are key pages that get a lot of repeat visitors and just don't perform well with adblocks, and some are the pages related to my book, which make up one section of the site. There are adblocks on at least 1/3 of the pages on my site. When I do have them on a page, they appear usually on the left, aligned with the beginning of an article. Fairly prominent, and high up the page--I never put them in a footer. The only exception is that on some blog pages I'm experimenting with a lower placement.

But where there are adblocks, they perform pretty well. Not as well as the home page, of course, but part of that is the amount of traffic. CTR for adblocks in my site is maybe 2/3 that of the adlink.

I have tried adlinks on other pages, BTW. They never did well.

[21_blue]

hunderdown, I've found some adblocks now :-)

It is interesting that you choose not to put adblocks on 2nd level index pages because I get good results from them: collectively, the home page and 2nd level pages have provided about 20% of overall income.

My log files suggest that when someone is exploring the site, they go from the entry page to the home page and then downwards, either directly to pages of immediate interest or via the 2nd level index pages. But if they don't see anything of interest, they then exit (often via an advert). Hence I think ads on 2nd level index pages are an important source of revenue. My 2nd level pages are topically focused, so I get targeted ads and fairly good results, with a moderate CTR and good EPC. The only potential problem page (as discussed in t'other thread) is the home page, where ads tend to be much more mixed and the EPC position is unclear.

I note that annej said earlier today in the home page thread that her 2nd level ads tend not to get clicked, so perhaps my experience is not universal. But 2nd level ads are an important part of my site's exit strategy.

[dibbern2]

Thank you muchly for all the thoughts.

Would you think that a one-dollar eCPM for adlinks could cause problems by lowering overall site eCPM, perhaps triggering a smart pricing issue?

Overall eCPM is 40-50 times greater than that for the adlinks.

[annej]

I get more than a quarter of my earnings through adlinks placed in the upper LH corner of a page but now I am beginning to wonder how many of those would have been clicks on the regular ads if I didn't have the adlink units.

Also I wonder how adlinks are considered in terms of smartpricing. Though my adlinks get a much lower click through rate they pay as well per click as the regular ad units.

I have the adlink placed below the regular unit in the HTML on each page so the regular unit should be getting the best ads. But then I don't know if adlinks even affect the first regular ad unit.

There are so many factors to consider in this it's mindboggling.

[21_blue]

dibbern, personally I don't think it would cause any problems. If you weren't getting such a good eCPM from conventional ads, such a low eCPM might open the door for junk ads - but with such a good return that seems unlikely.

The only potential downside I can envisage is that you might be able to get better results by replacing the adlinks with conventional ads. But, as I don't use adlinks, this is more guesswork on my part than insight based on experience.