Major changes to AdSense

Pricing structure and ad relevance

[markus007]

Unless adsense is sending out a april fools joke, what do people think of the changes? Every site has a unique pricing model?

For example, a click on an ad for digital cameras on a web page about photography tips may be worth less than a click on the same ad appearing next to a review of digital cameras.

[edited by: markus007 at 8:08 pm (utc) on April 1, 2004]

[RoySpencer]

Since April 1 we are seeing a significant increase in CTR and revenue. I haven't seen a significant difference in ad types, but we get so many different kinds it would be hard to know for sure.

[hyperkik]

The changes Google has made have, over time, affected my site, but they have primarily balanced out - e.g., a lower EPC with a higher CTR.

I don't think Google will cry bitter tears if the publishers it has deemed to produce lower ROI for advertisers switch to other services, as if their calculations are correct and the other services continue to charge a higher rate for those clicks, AdSense becomes a better deal for advertisers.

My primary complaints about AdSense remain:

* The hyperactive "offensive content" filter blocks ads from popular pages - even when Google has advertisers who would like to advertise on those pages (and who are relegated to less relevant pages as a result of the bad filtration); and

* The contextual filter is not very good at figuring out when 80% of a site is on a particular subject, that 20% of the site might benefit from different types of ads. **** seems to anticipate that its filters are imperfect, and lets publishers suggest themes and keywords. Google should do the same, even if it is cautious about how it uses the publisher-provided information.

[karatekid]

"Oh, there's a pattern emerging alright, it appears every single person on this forum has taken a big pay cut."

That's close enough for government work. Between this and other boards looks like 90% of posters were like me and basically let go, with about 5% unchanged and 5% earning more.

[Jane_Doe]

Not every publisher has been negatively impacted by the recent changes. Some sites have improved earnings. I suspect that people with complaints may have more motivation to post than people who are not having issues.

If you have multiple kinds of sites and use channels, I think it may be easier to see which kind of sites are coming out ahead and which are making less revenue with the recent changes.

[Timeshare Guy]

I agree totally karatekid, we ALL seem too be taking a pay loss. But as someone posted earlier, is that being reflected in the charges to advertisers? Is this whole episode to fatten Google's wallets? I am also an advertiser on Adwords and I have set up a test. Identical adverts, identical CPC, identical keywords, but one campaign on search and one on sites.

Will be interesting to see what I get charged!

[viggen]

I do have a significant increase in EPC since April 1st, however I don't have a clue why I get more and so many less.

cheers
viggen

[peterdaly]

Varya:

No, every single person on this forum has NOT taken a big pay cut.

I don't think there's enough data to make any firm conclusions. Thurs-Sun are my lowest earning days of the week in any case.

Ditto. Too soon for me to tell. The EPM which is all that really matters to me does not look too different yet.

At this point I have no obvious net gain/loss.

My affiliate links trend near a 10% converstion which I believe is rather high, and may have a direct correlation to my lack of seeing a major AdSense CPM drop.

[kwasher]

I have set up a test. Identical adverts, identical CPC, identical keywords, but one campaign on search and one on sites.

Will be interesting to see what I get charged!

Hey TimeShareGuy, I like this idea... I hope you let us know your results!

[arubicus]

Late post europe-

"Because the difference in conversion rates between, say, an article on widgets and a gmail e-mail message about widgets is likely to be even greater than the difference between the difference in conversion rates between a widget ad on a SERP and one in a review." - europe

I agree because gmail e-mail, SERP, articles are seperate advertising mediums. Thus the need to let advertisers decide.

"Largely"? Partly, maybe. But it's unrealistic to pretend that there aren't intrinsic differences in value between leads from different media--and it's also unrealistic to expect advertisers to jump through hoops to increase conversion rates from traffic that doesn't perform well and which they'd just as soon avoid altogether." - europe

Whoa there. Read what you said. If you were to teach an advertiser to convert well off of content do you think they would do it? They sure would. Why is it so unrealistic to expect advertisers to learn how to market with a different medium?

Would you market the same in a newspaper as you would in a magazine? Would you market the same on TV as you would on radio? No marketing your products change to the type of media you are using.

I am not saying what google is doing is wrong but if google were to seperate content from SERP from email... and let market force determine the value you would see many more advertisers want to give it a try and learn what works. You can't have the same pricing scheme to fit all.

Even now with a discount provided, it is based on a different advertising medium's prices and value. You still won't see the effect on ROI as you would hope to see. I think google should seperate biddings then work on a better technology to deal with conversion issues and discount from there.

[ignatz]

For anyone tracking EPC and CTR values through this thread... after a pretty bad day yesterday, EPC and CTR today is above average compared to the last x months.