skyscraper ads : left or right or content

[dcallan]

Well I guess the title says it, I'm wondering if the left hand side or right hand side traditionally has a better CTR for skyscraper ads. I read a guide before that says the right hand side is much more effective as people read from left to right. However at this stage my site was set up nicely for ads on the left hand side. I do get decent results but I want better, do you think ads would perform on the right. Any replies are much appreciated.

[yoyo8]

I think right side would be better because that's where the scroll bar is.

[fidibidabah]

People still use scroll bars? I didn't think you could buy a mouse these days with out one on it? Hell, the new Microsoft mice has a scroll bar that goes up and down and TILTS LEFT TO RIGHT, it's wonderful.

Anyway, I'd imagine it would be 2403508347 better on the left side, because the navbar on most pages is on the left, so people are used to looking there. Cheap? Dishonest? I think so, but that's just me. Plus, us dumb westerners read left to right. Generally, if you're going to go skyscraper, navbar on the left, AdSense on the right.. That doesn't mean you'll get the best results that way, it just seems to be the general consencious of fairness.

[europeforvisitors]

I'd put it on the right because precisely because people expect the navigation bar (not ads) to be on the left. If you've got a navigation bar on the left, placing the AdSense skyscraper on the right will ensure that the ads display "above the fold."

[John_Caius]

...also reading text will tend to draw your users' line of gaze to ads on the right. Put them on the left and they may be more likely to get ignored, in the same way that you typically read the main content on the page before the left navigation bar or the header buttons.

I'm sure we had this conversation early on in the program with some people trying different variations, but I can't find it right now.

[258cib]

Ah, something I have had some first-hand experience with.

The right hand column is THE place to put the ads. The reader, it seems, doesn't look on the left for anything other than the nav bar, which they think they know well.

Results in some cases were triple or more clicks.

But, the best place of all is to wrap it around the text, above the fold, on the right. But, then, that's not for skyscrapers. Probably. Hmm. Might work on some layouts. Maybe. Nah.

[401khelp]

Since the start of AdSense this discussion has come up periodically. Many have experimented and the most common conclusion has been that the right hand side is more effective. Still, specific site performance can vary.

We actually did a lot of experimentation and found the 300 x 250 Inline rectangle in the content has been the most effective for us. It is always on the right hand side.

[dcallan]

"The right hand column is THE place to put the ads. The reader, it seems, doesn't look on the left for anything other than the nav bar, which they think they know well.

Results in some cases were triple or more clicks. "

Really? this is very interesting, recently just increased my ctr by integrating the ads more (still on the left though) may move them to the right at least for A trial perioid.

The last post before this spoke of inline ads, how successful are these and can you allign text around them like images.

[patoruzu]

The Google Adsense page in spanish [google.com...] includes two sucessful case studies. One of the sites uses the skyscraper on the left side; the another one, on the right. I placed it on the left, because I have links to related internal pages on the right side and I don’t want to change the navigation stream of the site. Maybe there are not important differences. Google recommends to use every possibility: left, right and embedded in the text.

[europeforvisitors]

Google recommends to use every possibility: left, right and embedded in the text.

Yes, but only one at a time. :-)

[258cib]

I suspect sending political spam using a state email address--it's the name of the list you used-- is against policy. I'd watch that.

Don't misunderstand me. I haven't seen any number on wrap-around, but I think that would work best. I was talking left vs right. And, it depends on the layout and graphics, too.

In a nutshell, I think the ads work in context to what the reader is reading, so you want to look at your page where the ads are in line with the text.

[patoruzu]

>>>but only one at a time...<<<

...on the same page!

[401khelp]

...can you allign text around them like images.

The answer is yes. This is how we do it.

[nutsandbolts]

Very, very interesting. I will try it on the right and report back :)

[dcallan]

Very, very interesting. I will try it on the right and report back :)

I try on the right too.

[401khelp]

If you want to see how we do it, just sticky me your email address and I'll send you a url where you can check it our and view the code -- hint -- use a table.