Launching next month

To AdSense, or not to Adsens?

[shasan]

Hi all,

I am definitely a sucker for internet hype, and have an urge to apply for AdSense as soon as we launch.

It's going to be a widget-selling site with widget content all over the place. We make a lot our own widgets, and we sell some through affiliation.

Is there any downside to 'getting mah AdSense on' right away after launch? Or any upside to waiting?

Or doing it at all? It seems like a no-lose situation to me from what Ive read on the board, but maybe someone can share some cons.

cheers
shasan.

[dazzlindonna]

my experience is that you will probably get turned down at first if you apply with a brand new site. but as soon as the site is indexed by google and has a little PR then the acceptance is much more likely.

[communitynews]

One downside that I can see for someone selling widgets with their widget content is competitors will put their ads on your pages. You can exclude their domains but they can have more than one and move around on you. Do you really want your hard fought for customers directed to your competitors?

[tylercruz]

I dunno shesan, I just signed up 4 days ago and so far, I've been making a lot more with FastClick, although this morning did a lot better than the other 3 days..

[shasan]

hmm.. The whole competitor thing is starting to bother me, it's a little silly to send a customer to the competition, goes against everything I learned in business school. Especially since we make our own widgets to sell.

I wish there was a concrete way to make decisions like these.

arrgh! So many variables...ADD is kicking in...:P Just thinking out loud here guys, so these are the things I'll be thinking about now:

scenario one: No adsense
- avg conversion rate on my widgets
- avg margin on widgets

vs.

Scenario two: adsense
- avg conversion rate on my widgets (different b/c of adsense)
- avg margin on widgets
- avg CPC
- avg CTR
- %age of lost customers * avg value of lost customer
- frequency of potential repeat sales
- probability of losing a 'lifelong customer' to competition * average value of a 'lifelong customer'
- probability of losing referrals from the lost customer * average value of referrals

- plus all that fraudulent clicking stuff they're talking about on the other thread.

Of course, half the things I would never be able to put value on unless we've operated for at LEAST a year.

Hmmm... seems to be leading me to a wait-and-see conclusion.

The repeat sales/lifelong customer thing is bothering me even more. There was someone who said that the AdSense revenue on average would more than make up for lost sales/conversions/ctr's, but wondering if they have thought about the repeat sales thing...

Anyway, like I said, thinking out loud. Thanks for all the help so far.

Cheers
shasan.

[robho]

I don't think it makes much sense to put Adsense on a site which is seriously intending to sell widgets.

Aside from the fact your competitors may be advertising on your site, it would give the impression to me (as a consumer) that you sell so few widgets you need to supplement the income somehow by selling ads. Makes the site look amateur (or at least low-budget).

Pick a widget market at random and look at the top few retail sites in the sector - I don't see many of them cluttering up their pages with external advertising for other retailers in the same sector.

Any extra selling space on the pages should really be to promote more of your products - or at least something complementary to the business rather than directly competitive.

Adsense works best on, and is intended for, content sites that (generally) don't sell their own products.

[tombola]

I totally agree with robho.

I would never consider placing Adsense (or other) ads on pages that promote MY product(s).

Adsense is primarily meant for CONTENT sites.

[shasan]

sweet, that clinches it then. No AdSense for me, at least until I desparately need it for some reason :)

Thanks for the help guys
shasan.

[communitynews]

I did mention the competition thing earlier but I will point out one reason you might try it: you'll know how much it will generate for you within hours. I assume you can measure your own sales quickly too. If you like what you see, leave it, otherwise pull back.