Forum Moderators: martinibuster
I am finding that in the case of Ad Links, that if a surfer clicks on the Ad Link in the ad unit, nearly *all* click through to at least one of the sponsored listings on the second page.
Secondly, EPC seems comparible to the EPC on the ad units on the same pages.
CTR is skewed however, due to double impressions for those who view the sponsored listings.
Interesting results though.
What confuses me is, do we get "paid" on the 1st click, or only after the user clicked on an ad from the 2nd page?
That's a very good question. If we don't, then that means that we ourselves can click on this Ad Links to see what sort of page that leads to. If we do, then we can't click on the Ad Links to see the results.
Perhaps someone from Google can answer this VERY IMPORTANT question.
There is no payment earned by Google or you on the first click. You can therefore click the Ad Links. Google has commented here that the only danger with clicking the first link is that you are skewing the stats...
Thanks!
Do you have a link to that Google comment?
[webmasterworld.com...]
Perhaps someone from Google can answer this VERY IMPORTANT question.
Google has already answered that question, now it's up to you to READ THE ANSWER.
Read the TOS, and the Google documentation, then ask questions.
i fear that adlinks will cause more ad blindness
In what respect?
Do you feel that they are more likely to click on Ad Links rather than Adsense or possibly avoid ads altogether?
Let's all give it a try, initial results seem to be very promising for the niche sites which has to be good.
After all, it costs nothing for anyone to try it out does it?
my guess is that they will be exposed to more ads and it will be unlikely that repeat vistor will click on adsense ads.
Do you feel that they are more likely to click on Ad Links rather than Adsense or possibly avoid ads altogether?
more likely to click on adlinks
Let's all give it a try, initial results seem to be very promising for the niche sites which has to be good. After all, it costs nothing for anyone to try it out does it?
yes results are promising for me too because it is a new thing and it is attempt by google to reduce ad blindness for vistors who frequently saw adsense like ads on search results and gmail.
I didn't really look too much in detail at Ad Links. However, now I think about it, I have a site in which the adLinks would fit perfectly.
I've just uploaded the code and I'll let you know how they get on.
And I don't blame my visitors, either. Adlinks is pulling up garbage. On a page for, say, traditional Albanian clothing, the first Adlink says "Traditional Albanian clothing"--great! And what's behind it is... the Gap, Babyzone, Shopper . com. Ridiculous. If the regular ad blocks can pull up well-targeted ads, why is Adlinks a drooling moron?
It's possible that this is a regular fluctuation that just happened to set in when I put up Adlinks, and when targeting gets better Adlinks might be worthwhile. But it's got three more days to prove itself, and then I'm pulling it off my site.
Any comments?
I am seeing much, much better targeting for AdLinks than traditional Adsense.
At least the category links are better. (I admit that I've been too afraid to click on any of the category links yet. Irrational paranoia.) The traditional ad blocks continue to show a much higher percentage of off-kilter ads, crap, and spam, and the same things repeated ad nauseum page after page.
I have the impression, too, that my AdLinks targetting is improving over time. (I implemented AdLinks the very first day they were made available.) I discern no corresponding improvement in trAdsense ad relevancy.
If the regular ad blocks can pull up well-targeted ads, why is Adlinks a drooling moron?
Great question since I assume you're satisfied with Adsense targeting. It does seem very strange to say the least since my Ad Links are spot on and if I had the choice right now I would prefer 3xAd Links rather than 3xAdsense.
Anyone from G who can suggest why some sites are not receiving targeted Ad Links?
Anyone from G who can suggest why some sites are not receiving targeted Ad Links?
The first day I posted Adlinks, my clicks shot up and I got a little extra revenue. Immediately after that, EPC went *splat* and has stayed at about a third of the previous EPC for the past few days. It's not that Adlinks clicks are worth less, either--the entire site is effected.
Looks like more support for the theory that low CTR reduces smart pay pricing.
Could location of the Ad Links have anything to do with it?
Could be. I am tending to see better targetted AdLinks in the middle of the page than toward the beginning or toward the end.
Could location of the Ad Links have anything to do with it?
For me, at least, that's not a factor. Two of the Adlinks boxes are in the same div tag as the regular ad blocks (as kind of an "If you didn't find what you wanted there, try here" setup).
Could be. I am tending to see better targetted AdLinks in the middle of the page than toward the beginning or toward the end.
I would assume that if you can get the top bidders for everything related to widgets, you could get a higher paying pool than if you only get everything related to blue widgets.
Two of the Adlinks boxes are in the same div tag as the regular ad blocks
You're featuring 2 Ad links? That's against the TOS:
Please place only one Ad Links unit on any content page. This number does not affect the current limit of 3 regular ad units on any page
SmartPricing might automatically take account of this, eventually, but would it boost your earnings across the board or just for AdLinks?
I think it's clear that people will click the Ad Link and then an ad and that the CPM is at the very least close to other AdSense units. The subjects of my sites couldn't be further apart. One is an activist site, one is finance-related and another is consumer electronics. The electronics site's CPM was especially tasty as was the CTR but it's not at all hard to see how people going to such a site might click ads.
Does anyone else have some short term experiences to share?
Results:
1. Location (b) receives 5 times as many clicks as location (a).
2. Location (b) has increased total earnings by 125% whereas location (a) made no noticable change to anything.
Because my site's so small, I have the luxury of seeing clicks almost as they come in. It looks as though after clicking on the first Adwords link, many people click on several ads before leaving the page, as though the amount of energy they put into clicking on the first link and the lack of other options on the page made them want to get something out of the experience before they gave up. It helps that Adwords are targeting like a three-year-old with a pop gun.
Ahh, the glory of the frustration factor. It's like being a scraper with a clean^H^H^H^H^Honly-gently-concerned-for-the-moment conscience. If Adwords continues to get this sort of results, I wouldn't be surprised to see Google pull it; but for now, it's an edutaining ride.
