I keep hearing ads above the fold (ATF) is a no-no these days. Pretty much ever since Panda has been released into the wild. The statement makes no sense to anyone who ever attempted to make money showing ads on their sites but it's especially damaging for forum sites.
I mean, forums have always been struggling with click-through rates and over time I see every forum I visit (well, OK, maybe not WebmasterWorld) put more and more stuff as high up on the page as they possibly can. Indeed, I do the same on my own forums. Some of the most prominent and respectable forums I visit have 4-6(!) ad spots before you see any content whatsoever and some even have a page-takover ad before you get to see the page and only then your normal ATF ads.
So, if Panda is so hostile to ads above the fold (I just keep thinking:" where the hell else should they be?") - does it mean that forums are generally and necessarily doing badly these days? Again, WebmasterWorld is a special case 'cause I can't remember when was the last time I used Google to find it, but for us normal people, what's there to do?
Has the above mentioned hostility to ATF ads been confirmed by G, does anyone know? Also, given that Google's own AdSense ad location heatmap places 3 out of 4 ads squarely above the fold, is it possible that some special rules exist for forums?
Thanks for all your comments!
