entitling ads as "Sponsor"

Will it decrease CTR

[pawas]

I am creating a new website, in which I have made a seperate table entitled "Sponsor" for contextual ads (adsense).
I wanted the adverts to be prominent, I was wondering that will it affect the CTR?

[John Carpenter]

I would be careful with that label.

[google.com...]

Publishers may not label the ads with text other than "sponsored links" or "advertisements." This includes any text directly above our ads that could be confused with, or attempt to be associated with Google ads.

[mgpapas]

In my experience drawing additional attention to the fact that links are sponsored makes them less likely to be clicked.
I suppose though that it depends on what your site offers. My site for instance offers FREE widgets. The people who come to my site are looking for something for free, IF they see "SPONSORED LINKS" they'll know someone is going to try and sell them something and will be less likely to click.
If however you were selling widgets and the ads on the page were for types of widgets people may be looking for that you don't sell drawing additional attention to them might be helpfull.

[david_uk]

I think your ctr will go down, as there is a strong possibility that Google will regard this as breach of TOS and boot you out of the adsense program. In this case a CTR of 0.

You would probably be better to work out the optimum spot for your ad blocks, and follow the rest of the good advice in this forum.

[AdSenseAdvisor]

pawas,

As John Carpenter mentioned, AdSense program policies state:

"Publishers may not label the ads with text other than "sponsored links" or "advertisements." This includes any text directly above our ads that could be confused with, or attempt to be associated with Google ads."

Hope that clarifies things, and thanks for asking!

-ASA

[Mr_Fern]

What's the difference between choosing "Sponsor" over "Sponsored Links" regarding a breach?

[Rodney]

What's the difference between choosing "Sponsor" over "Sponsored Links" regarding a breach?

One is against the terms of service ("sponsor"), one is not ("Sponsored Links") :)

I think it all comes down to the meaning of the phrase with the 'ed'.

Sponsored Links mean that someone is paying for the links, where as "sponsor" implies that a particular advertiser or advertisers are "sponsoring" your site, which they are not.

I think a 'sponsor' also sometimes implies an endorsement or approval of the site being sponsored, which is also not the case with 'sponsored links'.

Semantics.

[kaz]

implies an endorsement or approval of the site being sponsored, which is also not the case with 'sponsored links'.

Oh okay. So a sponsored link means that it does not endorse or approve of it? Good try explaining it, but as you said - Semantics.

[edited by: kaz at 11:18 pm (utc) on July 29, 2005]

[Mr_Fern]

Sponsored Links mean that someone is paying for the links, where as "sponsor" implies that a particular advertiser or advertisers are "sponsoring" your site, which they are not.

I think a 'sponsor' also sometimes implies an endorsement or approval of the site being sponsored, which is also not the case with 'sponsored links'.

That makes sense. lol @ your first sentence. Duh! :)

[Rodney]

So a sponsored link means that it does not endorse or approve of it?

Yep, exactly :)

I'm sure the language was poured over by legal teams and in the end, they found those were the safest terms.

But a sponsored link just means that the link is a paid for link, whereas a sponsor means something more intimate :)