Forum Moderators: martinibuster
I've only recently found out about Adsense and while I think it sounds like a great way to bring in a bit of extra money, there is something that bothers me about it.
I was thinking that maybe it has become so widespread that most surfers wouldn't bother to click on an advert anymore. I mean, before discovering what Adsense is I noticed these adverts, but I'm so used to seeing them that I would never click on them. I just dismiss them as a kind of spam (like popups.)
To make matters worse they always look really primitive and basic too.
Thanks for opinions.
I don't think your everyday average surfer will get tired of relevant, targeted, unobtrusive text based ads.
Done right, adsense is really like an extension of your content.
As long as we have legitimate advertisers, eliminate spam sites and MFA's people will continue to click on ads.
And it is a great way to make a lot of extra money.
And I just started 3 months ago so I know I'm part of the problem ;)
I've read a lot about blending and other tips to confuse people into clicking, As the public becomes aware of these techniques they work less and less.
I'm not confident enough to make a prediction but I wouldn't be surprised to see widespread blocking of google ads in the near future, though not likely in Firefox ;)
Write about computer parts and anything high tech, and it is a crap shoot.
The ads are very simple, which is great for my site, but I'm sure that there are sites where it would be hard to blend them in.
If you aren't sure how they will work, the best thing to do is give them a try. It costs nothing to join and you could test on a small part of your site....
but i agree, you're part of the problem if you plaster your marginal content sites all over with adsense blocks in order to squeeze out a few bucks. that's definitely not how it works. maximum one well placed ad per page is sexy, i tell ya!
sadly i have to admit that my users don't click anymore as they used to one year ago. but i wouldn't blame it exactly on adsense aversion, although it could be, that users didn't like what they have seen after their first click experiences (mfas?) and now refuse. i rather assume it has something to do with site traffic structure (more repeat visitors interested in content, less fresh visitors who are lost) and ad blindness (same boring ads, no changes in positioning). and of course, the "check out"-factor is gone.
it's not spam like popups, it's additional useful links if targeted well
People come to my sites to get information and the ads are part of this information. My CTR has increased over the past (almost) three years and so has my income. I don't see a problem with ad blindness as long as they are targetted to what my visitors are looking for when they come to my sites in the first place.
I consider some of the best sites to have AdSense on are ones which have informative content that /leads/ the visitor into then looking for a supplier or 'next step' and hopefully the AdSense adverts will be that step.
If visitors obtain everything they wanted when they visited then you're likely to have a very low CTR (think web-comics, news sites). If you have a site like "how to do gardening" or "Assembling a blue-widget" guides, chances are people will then be looking for a supplier of blue-widget parts or garden goodies.
I think a lot of clicks are by accident. People don't realize it's an ad or are just looking to go to another page and end up clicking on it.
If this is the case on your site don't be surprised when you get hit by smart pricing. I believe that in order for AdSense to work well long term (on any given site and in general) you have to achieve exactly the opposite: visitors who are aware that these are ads and click on them because they want to look at them.
One time, my sister, who is 19, called me to share with me some pics she had just found. It was a hi5-related site. I watched her browsing behavior and I saw, I kid you not, her clicking at least five times on Adsense ADS from that original page - clicking the back button and on another AD until she found something interesting.
She had no idea that they were not related to the main page. That site, however, had ADS blended in pretty well with pictures next to each text link. She has been using the internet constantly for many years.
She's a pretty smart person and she had no idea that the ADS were actually ADS. I think a good percentage of online surfers must be equally ignorant in that aspect.
She like to cook?
:-)
her clicking at least five times on Adsense ADS from that original page - clicking the back button and on another AD until she found something interesting.
It just shows that Adsense works: She found what she was looking for, google and the publisher got paid and the advertisers had their message displayed (and perhaps even won a new customer).
People are more comfortable with buying online now so if the ads are something they are really interested in they will click.
I'm seeing a good epc on my site, but over the last few months ctr has been dropping. I personally think that the reason for this is mainly that many of the advertisers have withdrawn from Google ads because of the sheer amount of MFA's in my sector, and the ads I see are relevant (ish) but not the highly targetted, well paying ones there used to be.
When people learn that the ads are spam and stop clicking on them, it's not just any one site that suffers. That visitor just doesn't click on Google ads on good sites, bad sites or search pages.
Go and ask a few of your freinds if they click on the Google ads and ask why not.
Google need to restore the lost credibility to adsense.
If the ad/advertiser quality slides downhill and the ads only lead to more ads...then people will eventually stop clicking
and there lies one half of the problem
One time, my sister, who is 19, called me to share with me some pics she had just found. It was a hi5-related site. I watched her browsing behavior and I saw, I kid you not, her clicking at least five times on Adsense ADS from that original page - clicking the back button and on another AD until she found something interesting.
:D
