Forum Moderators: martinibuster
Some sites I know I want on there--ebay, MFA sites (narrowly defined as sites with no content to speak of other than directory listings or very brief articles), a few shady companies I know of. Some sites I had on the list I've now removed, so the review was useful for that reason.
But there are two sites I am not sure about and I would like to hear opinions on how to deal with them. Ironically, they are the closest to true competition of all the sites on the list. I wrote a book on my industry that I promote on my site (in a section with no AdSense on it, BTW). These two sites promote ebooks that could be considered competition for my book, though the material they cover is slightly different (and they aren't as good, in my opinion).
What would you do? Would you block them? Or would you allow their ads? And why?
Thanks for your thoughts.
Similarly, there are a few sites that I've added to my competitive ad filter who are in direct competition with me. They have popular sites, so the clickthrough may be high if I allowed them. But I usually begin thinking about the fact that my visitors may be so intrigued by these sites, that they may choose to rely on them for information instead of me.
I guess it's all a part of the risk in advertising others' ads.
I guess
My ad filter is full by the way... Anyone from adsense reading this - please increase the size allowed! 200 is not enough to get rid of the scum that are reducing adsense credibility. Thanks for listening!
However I would keep those ads because they are genuine advertisers. They are not just "another layer" grabbing some of the advertisers money. They are actually paying you for leads to sell a product.
Well put. That for me is the key consideration in distinguishing a site for the filter from one that I want ads from: does the site actually provide a product or service?
I'm just not sure if that should be the ONLY consideration, though, since as I said they are selling a product that competes with my book.
I would continue to block those advertisers that directly compete with your core product, if its really just two or three.
Main rationale being that (I think) it leaves a strange taste if you are displaying ads for a similar product that is not as good as your product. Consider this: You enter the store of a BMW contract dealer. He tells you how good the cars are. Then he realizes that you are not really in to buying a car from him today. Suddenly, he remembers that the Ford dealer in the next town pays him a few dollars if he sends customers over, and he recommends to you to go there, "you might like the Fords over there". What would you think? I would think this guy can't be serious.
And yes, while we are at it, Google, please increase the list limit to 500. Surely not a big deal. Technically, that is.
I joint the call for better tools to block crappy ads.
1 - Increase the list to 500.
2 - Provide a page listing your blocked list that has an indication of if Google are currently serving ads from that advertiser enabling us to clean up the list easily. Also note on the screen if that domain is still live or not.
3 - Have the facility to block all ads from one advertiser.
I'm sure this list is not exhasutive, but these options would greatly increase the value of adsense for a lot of serious publishers with serious visitors. And more than likely increase Googles pot of cash at the same time.
I think the car dealership analogy is not entirely accurate. Many people could enter my site via a search engine and not see the section where I promote my book....
Here's a different analogy. Let's say the New York Times publishes a collection of photos and articles from their pages as a look back at 2005. Should they take ads from publishers who have similar books? (probably)
[added] david_uk: I've been blocking them ever since I discovered them some time ago. During my review of my site's advertisers, I did unblock several that didn't meet my criteria of sites I should block. I didn't unblock these.
Perhaps a week-long test to see what impact unblocking them has.
Not all my visitors can afford my product and in many cases my product does not suit them. In such cases the visitor will leave my site and continue searching. So why shouldn't I offer them a viable alternative and be paid for it in the process?
One form of competition I do block is the useless spam directory or the MFA. These are more of a threat to us as publishers because presumeably they are low payers and artificially inflate the number of publishers with our niche. They also have the undesireable effect of lowering our credibility.
But I'm leaning towards unblocking those ads.
Any other opinions or experiences?
