Forum Moderators: martinibuster
Your candid views are appreciated.
I wanted to address the part of the original question asking about SEO. It's been discussed elsewhere in forums that no evidence has been found that putting adsense on a site affects PR (I have PR 0 pages that generate paying ads, but they don't appear SERPs-wise).
But... here is an example to help clarify: you have a 10 page site on widgets, and add a new page 11 on a different topic, say on gardening. You test it on your local machine, with AdSense code running, and you get some ads (either PSA's or for wierd stuff like hosting services - may be related to the html file name). You copy it to your server, and view it online for the first time (and assume that it's not yet even linked from any other page).
What ads does Google show?
From my experience, you'll have a slight "wait" time for this first viewing as the page loads (or partial page loading of other parts until AdSense is finished), with the AdSense section apparently causing the delay. You'll then see either:
A) PSA's
B) Widget-related ads (i.e. the new page is assumed to be related to the rest of your site)
C) gardening-related ads, targeting specific words in your new just-published content (i.e. Google sucked up your page, analyzed it in a second, and spit back relevant ads... a very cool trick, I think).
D) Page title/url-related ads (i.e. used html file attibutes)
E) Mix of B,C & D
Anyone else observe stuff like this?
A) PSA's
B) Widget-related ads (i.e. the new page is assumed to be related to the rest of your site)
C) gardening-related ads, targeting specific words in your new just-published content (i.e. Google sucked up your page, analyzed it in a second, and spit back relevant ads... a very cool trick, I think).
D) Page title/url-related ads (i.e. used html file attibutes)
E) Mix of B,C & DAnyone else observe stuff like this?
I have seen all of that stuff. I've also seen some adblocks be entirely void of any content without having an alternate ad or color set to appear if only PSA's are available. Maybe they simply don't make PSA's in all adblock sizes!?!
As for AdSense changing my life? Indirectly. I was recently able to upgrade my nearly 5 year old computer system with a new 19" LCD monitor, XP Pro and a wireless keyboard/mouse with the income.
Dreaming of a new 4wd truck next.
I don't know what a PSA is ...googlespeak?
I would have thought that somewhere the adsense mechanism would help in serps or pr.
If someone is searching Google for a specific term, would Google refer to the adsense part for relevance?
I don't know what a PSA is ...googlespeak
Public Service Announcement.
If there are no ads for Google to show for your page, it can show a PSA from a non-profit organization (NPO) such as the Red Cross. There are no earnings for you when that happens. If you want, you can block PSAs and have an alternative ad of your own shown instead.
If someone is searching Google for a specific term, would Google refer to the adsense partners as a priority?
For general revenue feedback, you may find this thread an eye-opening read:
[webmasterworld.com...]
Good Luck!
KOB
"Did Adsense change your life?"
Yes -
- It pays for the 2nd & 3rd family holiday each year.
- It pays for the second (new) car
- It buys and pays all my IT equipment / services (PC's, broadband access, ...etc)
... and many more "niceties" in life.
I thank my stars for the day I found Adsense, and this site.
Without giving away the URL
Does it improve pagerank? No.
Let us not confuse someone whos trying to learn from scratch.
That one comment would have been a disaster for me 2 years back when I was just beginning to learn Adsense.
And yes, Peewhy, it changed my life and now I dont have a day job at all.
whether it really does generate revenue
Yes.
or if it is simply another cog in the machine to gain higher serps or PR?
No, because it does neither.
I've still got this bee in my bonnet about adsense being a small cog in the serps/pr mechanism and although a few of you have said there is no connection (and I respect that opinion), I feel the need to monitor it and see what happens.
Here's my simple take on this.
If someone is searching for left handed widgets and although it isn't a popular key phrase, Google knows it has an adsense 'member', thus there's a reason to lift it to a good position in order to gain that opportunity ...wouldn't it do it?
It's not that I disbelieve someone more experienced in adsense than my 6 hours, I haven't seen anything concrete and I hoping that someone will provide this.
peewhy - i know you are new to Adsense - but the ads are not indexed by the search engines because they are included via javascript.
Search engines do not crawl with JS enabled, therefore they do not see the ads, as such.
PR means PageRank - which is a scoring system Google developed - which you can see if you have the Google toolbar installed. The scoring system is based on incoming links, so therefore your PR cannot be increased by having adsense on your site, because Adsense doesn't increase the # of links coming in.
The content of the creatives (in other words, the adsense ads) is not indexed.
If you view a page with javascript deactivated, you can see that the adsense does not appear.
So I hope that satisfies your question.
You also requested that people give you advice about Adsense.
My advice is that you read the Terms and Conditions in detail, read the FAQs and tips in depth, and finally, NEVER EVER (for any reason) click on your own ads. Ever.
The bee has left my bonnet!
I just couldn't see how or why adsense isn't part of the PR/SERPS mix or why it is divorced ...Google's wisdom I suppose.
Thanks for the advice re clicking on the links, it's certainly tempting.
How tolerent is Google when first starting out in respect of placement, too many ads, conflicting ads and all the other stuff in their terms and conditions that are as clear as day when you're used to the environment and as clear as mud when you're new to adsense?
PatricDeese has clarified everything I think.
Europeforvisitors is the master of safe and money-making websites, and what he says is absolutely right too.
If you ask me what type of website is better - that's such a large area to discuss!
A website which gets a huge number of visitors and which displays relevant, high-paying google ads is the best. However, that is not a target really.
It should be more about what is the kind of website that is best suited to you, something that you can update regularly, add lots of content, unique (so you dont have to excessive battles over SERPs). That is different for everyone.
I am a generalist, good at no one thing. So I have general informative websites that deal with a large variety of topics. I do not care about high paying ads, as they are the areas where you cant usually get quick decent rankings. I much rather pages that I can make quickly on topics I am interested in, which have reasonably good ads...
On the other hand, say if you are a sports enthusiast, probably you can make a sports and sports equipment website.
These are just examples - the site whcih is best for one is not so for another. The site which can display high paying ads may mean tremendous battles in SERPs and perhaps you can do that, perhaps you can't. Its your choice.
I just couldn't see how or why adsense isn't part of the PR/SERPS mix or why it is divorced ...
PR and SERP are Google's main asset.
Do you think they are going to pollute them to help you earn a few dollars?
Also, let's imagine a search for "electrowidgets".
You are thinking it would be reasonable to Google to do the following:
1) You have a page about electrowidgets. Great. you put adsense on it.
2) Google rewards you by putting you page at #1 for electrowidgets.
3) When a user searches for electrowidgets, they find your page, then sees a wonderful ad and then clicks on the ad.
4) G gets 10 cents of the click, and gives you 5 cents.
Huh?
If they were selling SERPs (and they are not) they would not need to sell them to you, they would sell them to advertisers directly (to the electrowidget makers) so they can keep the full 10 cents :-)
But, anyway, they don't. Not even to advertisers...
But what do I know, I've only been involved in Adsense for half a day. Perhaps I shouldn't ask the experts and get on with making mistakes.
sorry if my phrasing somehow turned out "un-kind".
I just wanted to explain myself.
Not being a native english speaker, sometimes I lose the control of what I am saying ....
When most people embark upon these new projects, it is all very cloudy. Thankfully we do have the good people at WW to bounce our questions, problems and ideas to and fro. And I thank each and every one.
I view google as a big machine with lots of cogs each having a part in the mechanism.
I fully understand the way SERPS are (well maybe not fully!) and I know the difference beween PR and SERPS.
I've seen 'ads by gooooooooooooooooooooooooogle' and took little or no notice. I never imagined anyone making sensible money out of it and assumed it must be a method of enhancing rank and/or position.
I was very surprised to hear extremely positive results and I have signed up, got approved and I can see the clicks going up every time I check ... no money yet but I'm confident.
I'm on the life changing road now and I'll remember you all!
As regards google's tolerance:-
Although it's tempting to click on the ads, just don't. Having said that, if you do click on your own ads purely by accident (very occasionally!) they are tolerant. I clicked on mine on two occasions. Both were slips of the mouse (nav bar next to ads) and when I emailed them they thanked me, pointed me to the TOS.
As regards placement, where you place them is pretty much up to you, as long as the first ads are visible above the fold. You can only have three ad units per page (adlinks count as ad units), and you have to be careful if you have other advertisers on site. You can't alter the javascript, but as long as you use the adsense pages to set up your ads, then you are fine.
I click on one by accident... I have a strange laptop that moves things or open files if the mouse is kept on for a second or so...very strange.
In blind panic, I grovelled to Google and I'm awaiting sentencing.
Well my turnover has increased by 100% ..there's no stopping this money making machine!
Thanks for your help.
My site is a joke site ...a site of jokes I should say and new ones are submitted by visitors daily so the content is quite fluid....and often topical!
I've only put adsense on the first page whilst I monitor it.
I'll PM the url.
In fact, my menu was against the TOS as the ad's aren't supposed to be obscured. I have since changed the menu, and notified adsense.
I seriously doubt they will kick you out - I don't think you are alone in your curiosity. Although 1 click is technically a violation, I'm pretty sure that they go easy on those that 'fes up and don't repeat the offence.
