Forum Moderators: martinibuster
My advice to everyone - set channels on the different ad units on each page, and you can judge the results for yourself.
Atomic
m
I have used a skyscraper running alongside articles, and added a box below longer texts. That code was called first when loading the page and got all the good ads, while the skyscraper (when actually displaying) mostly contained one or two ads only.
As soon as I find time to figure out how to call up the code later on on the page, I will go back to two ads.
I'll still keep tracking it though. Give it another couple of weeks to see how the addition of ad units really impact the bottomline.
The number of clicks is definitely up and the EPC is definitely down.
Interesting...
M
I have not seen any WOW posts that it has been great yet . . .
Group 1 CTR - 100% (during testing period)
Group 2 CTR - 7% of group 1
Group 3 CTR - 11% of group 1
Group 1 CMP - 100% (during testing period)
Group 2 CMP - 4% of group 1
Group 3 CMP - 4% of group 1
Prior Month CTR with only one group - 102% of group 1
Prior Month CMP with only one group - 151% of group 1
Group 3 is only on a few pages with groups 1 and 2. Groups 1 and 2 are on about 40 pages. I'm going to remove group 2 and test for 1-2 days.
then this is one of the dumbest, lamest stunts ever pulled by google
Google has given us options, and in my view choices are great for everyon, one does not have to have one ad unit, two or three - it is down to us as publishers to decide what best works for you and your site(s).
Plus time is needed to evaluate this whole thing.
If this is the case (and I have no idea if it is, but I'm fairly suspicious), then this is one of the dumbest, lamest stunts ever pulled by google
Absolutely not. The fact that we are getting almost 2 digits in CTR for ads placed at the bottom of the article -- an option we would never have considered if the multiple ads format was not allowed -- is the wow factor for us.
With this arrangement, we are hitting two birds with one stone: we are getting users to read our entire article, and we are getting them to click on ads. Whereas before where we placed large rectangles at the start of the article -- users who clicked may invariably left our site without reading our entire content -- now we have the perfect arrangement of showing users what we got and earning from them when they are done reading the content. It is very heartening to know that users are actually reaching the end of the page, no matter how long the article! Hence, users now have two options -- not read the article and leave the site by clicking on the ad at the start of the article; or stick around to read the entire content then leave via the ads at the bottom of the page.
Give it a try. Track it very carefully. And see if it works for you. If not, big deal, simply remove it. It is hard to make decisions from what people say here. Remember, it is easier to complain and whine (and we have lots of that here) than write about good experiences.
then this is one of the dumbest, lamest stunts ever pulled by google
Think of all the webmasters that pleaded with Google for multiple ad units. So now they go and offer what so many wanted, and it is a dumb stunt?
No one *has* to run multiple ad units. If you don't like the results, just take them down. But like alika, you never would have known til you tried, and those are great results.
The jury is still out on this one for me. I am waiting until the end of the weekend before making any decisions.
And its a damn sight more money than the affiliate style programs we were testing out. Naturally those had to be "general" in scope, as our site is geared that way, and that meant a very low clickthrough rate compared to the targeted stuff.
And with one series in particular, where quite a few people read all the through, its been a godsend - it's a love it or leave it type of series, and our tests at the top and then later the bottom last month were inconclusive as for the best placement... this way we get the best of both.
But overall, our CPM / total payments are diminishing rapidly since the beginning of the month. I hope its hurricane season/vacation/school starting, and not the start of a down trend. For the past 6 months we've been improving every month, sometimes dramatically.
Only other thought here is that we haven't added a lot of content last month, so we're seeing a "hit" for it this month. That's where the down trend may be. I think its total coincidence with this new launch.
Anyway - don't even think twice about trying it, go ahead and do it, put a trial several columns if not your whole site. I mean, how could it make things worse?
In other words, instead of one - 4-ad block, use two - 2-ad blocks. Or some similar combination.
You CTR would still fall, but you would not be exposing your site to additional, lower paying, ads.
The CTR drop is still bothering me though. If CTR figures into smart pricing, then you might need to get quite a big an increase in clicks to compensate.
Anyone done this and seen an maintained their CTR, or seen an increase in CTR?
don't even think twice about trying it, go ahead and do it, put a trial several columns if not your whole site. I mean, how could it make things worse?
How could it hurt? That might depend on how smart pricing works. If smart pricing only allows for downward movement of EPC*, then an unsuccessful trial of multiple adblocks could have a long term negative affect on earnings, even if a publisher reverts to displaying a single adblock on each page.
* I don't know if Smart Pricing allows for EPC to move up as well as down. Anyone here know from experience?
Ha - if they are, they're probably not here like we are wondering if it's working or not. :-)
I guess we shouldn't jump the gun on data less than 8 days old, anyway. Generally speaking the longer the data the better things will look or at least the truer the picture. I've made some fast decisions about data - things based on a few days of results - only to find that it was a blip, and long-term my original idea was more sound.
If smart pricing only allows for downward movement of EPC*
Our EPC increased by 30% after smart pricing was introduced in April. And onwards after that we saw a continuing increase.
We started with Adsense in June last year, and saw our EPC continuously drop every month. Smart pricing, though, was godsend to us as it increased back our EPC to the July-August 2003 levels. Our EPC is now higher than ever
It is NOT TRUE that smart pricing only allows for downward movement of the EPC. Some sites benefit from it, while some are whacked in the head by it.
My EPC has been pretty steady, so I couldn't attribute any previous minor ups and downs to Smart pricing.
Good to know it works both ways.
M
