Related Searches on AdSense Ads

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[Visit Thailand]

Has anyone noticed the Related searches on the AdSense Ads? Just below the ads are two links to a Google Related Search.

I for one do not like that as people may click on that rather than the ad.

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In fact I have now just seen one add that had no ads but just a whole bunch of links for related searches.

[buckworks]

<<If we do not yet have relevant ad inventory or have not yet crawled your web pages for content, related searches may appear in place of ads. >>

PixelJuice, I haven't checked yet today, but they were doing something quite different from that last night. Some of my pages had as many as four related searches even though the tower was filled with real ads.

[mat_bastian]

"ads shown are running ahead of the daily limit"

what do you mean 4eyes? Are you saying they may have been runnning ads past advertisers budgets and now have to cut back to make up for the over extension?

[4eyes]

mat_bastian

AFAIK Google spreads adwords over the whole day in an 'intelligent' way to make sure that the ads do not exceed their daily budget, whilst still getting an even hourly distribution.

From that data they should be able to work out which ads are likely to meet that total through Adwords alone, and use Adsense just to top up the others.

Whatever their logic, if they don't change things PDQ I am pulling the lot - the CPM today has dropped down below the rates I can get elsewhere. My figures (assuming they are being accurately reported by Google) are statistically significant now - my page views are normal, but my CTR and revenue per click are both less than half the previous figures.

[Skier]

Adsense will not be on my pages much longer.

Google has every right to do as they please. It is still disappointing that such a promising concept (for my needs) has failed to deliver.

When first introduced, I thought that adsense could add value to my site. The income for both me and Google was a nice bonus.

I really believed that adsense could add value to my site by delivering related, but complimentary ads. In practice it only carries my competitors, and ignores the specific topics of the content pages on which I chose to run ads.

Now, with the ads more visibly cluttering the page, and the Related Search linking to my major competitor(which I had blocked for adsense) - the whole package is a net negative for me.

Maybe it is good for some sites - This latest move has convinced me it ain't good for mine.

[PolishGuy]

Related Search linking to my major competitor(which I had blocked for adsense)

I have exactly the same situation - I can block my competitor for AdWords but I cannot from related searches... it makes the whole concept - in long term - a very evil thing on part of Google.

I think that Google is scared of certain upcoming competition (better I will not mention it) so their AdSense is a scheme conceived to keep their position in Search Engines ("Related Search" is a final proof of that), not a serious business proposal for publishers.

[Camster]

Might be a coincidence, but all the related search links I tried from my ads on several sites took me to searches that had a full complement (6-10) of adwords.

[Jenstar]

Interesting comments while I was away from my computer. I spent ages reading, and I haven't even checked beyond this one thread. Now some of mine comments, and this is a long post :)

Not a single positive comment on this move by Google

As chiyo mentioned, that should be revised to few - I was also one that had some positives (giving publishers an idea of what keywords were being targeted to a page/site)

AdSense banner says: buy widgets here
and underneath related searches keywords say: free widgets

Hopefully, Google will offer an option of banning specific keywords, much like how you can ban specific URLs right now. I can definitely see how publishers would be upset with that. While some wouldn't click on the free one, many, many others would (including one of my particular niches).

I remember a post from a member a while back saying that Overture UK and not allowed his ads because he was running Google AdSense.
Now with these related searches sites are not only running Google Ads with one small link they are trying to take them directly to their Google's search engines result pages.

This is a very real possibility. I can't see other search engines booting the New York Post or ABC.com from the serps, but what about the other little sites who are trying to earn some extra money through a site that might not generate much income otherwise?

True, Google tends to deliver the most traffic, but many view their traffic from other search engines as a security blanket, especially when Google does funny things and a site might drop from the serps. Being penalized on other SEs for using AdSense with those related searches there could be an unfortunate after affect. And unfortunately, our sites are going to be the groundbreakers for this, if it does end up having a negative impact with our sites in the other SEs.

Google should in time have an option to keep or remove the "related searches"

They obviously want to promote their searches. If given the chance, I can't see many publishers NOT opting out, if given the choice. But it will be interesting to see if anything changes based upon user feedback. I don't think starting petitions or spamming the AdSense emails with "Google is evil" messages will help. But, as Google Guy said last night, he will pass along our feedback to the AdSense crew.

How many people will click on Related Searches when almost all the publishers and webmasters take them off their site and move to the competition.

There were many here who were happy with AdSense and wouldn't have given any competitors a second glance. But with this change, I am betting those who have kept AdSense during this change could be much more easily swayed to make the switch. And those who have already removed their AdSense code obviously will. I am sure the new competitors are reading these threads with glee.

My scenario is opt-out, for a fee.

Now that is a very interesting idea. I can see how Google doesn't want to pay for clicks on related searches. But allowing publishers to opt-out for a fee is brilliant. Then webmasters could decide whether it was worth the paycut to disable the related searches.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think the searches belong on the AdSense regardless. But that is Google's decision to do that, with their TOS. Offering webmasters a way to opt-out with a financial incentive for Google to offer it is at least something for Google to consider as an alternative. Not ideal, but a possible (and interesting!) solution. And there probably would be many who would like to try a shot at the additional income by not opting out. It would become clearer what effect these ads have on CTR of the ads.

Especially in the light of the momentarily humourous but undoubtedly damaging "this blank space..." message.

I admit, chuckled the first time. But it got old really fast.

pixel I believe (but of course am not sure) that that clause was added about the same time as the Related Ads themselves. <edit>in reference to: [google.com...] </edit>

Yes, I am pretty sure it was added yesterday, along with the new information on ad color choices. Google says it is our responsibility to keep up on policies and terms, which they can change at any time, but they don't let us know when it has been changed. There is no date on the FAQ to let us know it was updated at all. The terms is dated, however, and does not appear to have changed since June.

[valortrade]

I'm betting they replace the related searches with a small "Search google" box.

I would be fine as long as no SPECIFIC "brands/keywords" shown in the "related search".

[Jenstar]

all the related search links I tried from my ads on several sites took me to searches that had a full complement (6-10) of adwords.

I noticed this too, but hadn't checked this beyond my own site, so I wasn't sure if it just happened to be a coincidence (my niche tends to produce many, many Adwords anyways).

On another note, having a tiny Google search box would be better than the related searches. I think that is a good idea, and less obtrusive since people actually have to think about what keywords to use to leave your site. Make them work a bit to leave, if they aren't planning on clicking an AdWord ;)

I think if Google had related searches right from the beginning, there wouldn't have been this backlash since it would have just been the way it was, take it or leave it. Introducing it a month and a half into the program was a mistake.

[valortrade]

Why would they want to pull people back into Google rather than click on one of the adsense links?

Maybe because the ads shown are running ahead of the daily limit?

More advertisers still stick with SE ads and show less interest (due to less confidence) in Adsense.

Also, I would agree that those shown ads are probably running out of "fuel" quickly and some are pulling out of "contextual-ads" program due to low ROI.

In the end, probably Google does not see their revenue up much through this new program, even having some "damage" to their own SE ads.