We have ran over 10 tests using data from GWT site speed reporting and I am 99.9999% positive GWT site speed reporting is still taking page load of Google Adsense ads into the load factoring.
Here is what we tested.
1. We used a site with a pretty large sample size of 40,000 unique visitors per day. Text only adsense ads for the first phase of testing.
2. We tested the site for 7 days without adsense enabled to get a baseline speed. (note) when adsense was initially removed page speed increased by 40% according to GWT.
3. So now we have our baseline speed. We then enabled adsense serving again to the website. Page speed decreased on the exact day adsense was enabled by an average of 40%.
4. We then tested this 3 weeks running back and forth in 7 day tests with adsense on then off...
5. Each time we disabled adsense site speed would increase on average by 40%. Each time we enabled adsense site speed would decrease by 40%.
6. We then left adsense enabled for 10 days. We then enabled image ads within adsense and site speed decreased by an additional 25% over the original decrease of 40%.
7. We then removed adsense and GWT reported a 65% increase in site speed after removal.
Our conclusion, Google is still taking adsense code into account for it's GWT site speed factoring. They originally had it listed as a factor but after I pointed this out on this WW they took action to remove it.
Our data confirms that this has NOT been removed from the page load speed factoring at all. If it has been then Google needs to take another look at this because something is clearly not working.
