Forum Moderators: martinibuster
I am a little disapointed with AdLinks though. They look amazing but trying to get the visitor to click twice is poor!
Well yes, but you have a choice. Use regular ads when you opt for single-click income.
The point of the ad links - I guess - is to have something that looks like topics instead of ads, so it doesn't devaluate your pages as much.
This may be good or bad, depending on your site.
In either case, choice is good.
Earlier I put them on a couple of pages to try. On one page it shows a search box because it can't find suitable ads, and on the other it gives me various relevant categories showing lots of irrelevant ads.
I've since put it on a page that is more tightly focussed, and the categories and ads it come up with are very relevant. I've got one ad unit, and the adlink box on the page. I'll see how it goes, but I think the ads I've seen may well be of interest to visitors of that page.
It appears that as always you need to work on the page content so that the Google algo can give you the best targetting it can.
--My sites are "info" sites (in addition to one being a "cause" site and the other a "product" site). I work very hard to pinpoint the relevancy of my affiliate marketing offerings. So, for example, a page on purple widgets will have AM ads for purple widgets, purple widget accessories, purple widget books, purple widget magazines, etc. I strive to make my AM ads enhance the visitor experience much like gaming ads enhance a computer gaming magazine. When Google AdLinks shows more info sources/ads related to purple widgets, this is providing an additional service to my visitors. (Your Mileage May Vary.)
--On my pages, there are many nooks and crannies for me to place AdLinks ad blocks. The AL ad blocks are small, not unattractive, harmonize well with my existing menu formats. I don't see at all how their appearance is off-putting or annoying, or contribute to ad blindness.
--I was finding it exceedingly difficult to get 2nd and 3rd ad units to show reliably. The AdLinks units always show. I was able on some pages to get a 2nd and 3rd ad button to show, if not always, at least some of the time. AdLinks ad units are no larger than ad buttons. For the same amount of screen real estate as the single-ad buttons they are replacing, AdLinks blocks are gaining me potentially dozens of additional advertisements.
--I am not worried about AdLinks driving down my overall CTRs. I might be wrong, but I really don't see them lowering the CTRs on other traditional ad units, which in my case were pathetically low in any case. Yes, impressions will about double. But I expect clicks to increase, even if not by much. CTR is computed as (Adsense clicks + AdLinks clicks) / (Adsense impressions + AdLinks impressions). If the denominator about doubles, if Adsense clicks stay about the same, if AdLinks clicks are non-zero (presumably), so the CTR goes from, say, 2.0% down to 1.25%--what do I care? The overall click totals have increased, and that's what really counts. No clicks, no earnings.
--I am not really concerned about AdLinks lowering advertiser conversion rates, leading to a Smart Pricing penalty. AdLinks ad blocks are clearly marked as advertisements. If a visitor is motivated to click on an AdLinks link, ipso facto he/she is somewhat pre-qualified. If he/she then goes to the further trouble of clicking on one of the follow-up ads, ipso facto that user is motivated.
From my perspective, AdLinks is a virtually cost-free way to expose my site visitors to many more ads. The downsides are minimal. The upside potential may be small, but--who knows? I might be pleasantly surprised.
Okay, so call me "AdLinks Fanboy".
