Forum Moderators: martinibuster
For example, a click on an ad for digital cameras on a web page about photography tips may be worth less than a click on the same ad appearing next to a review of digital cameras.
[edited by: markus007 at 8:08 pm (utc) on April 1, 2004]
Anyhow....Has ANYONE asked Google about this? I used to FEAR losing Adsense when I accidentally clicked ONCE on an ad. Seems trivial now
March 31st was a record high day for me, but from what I understand, the changes did not go into effect until April 1st. April 1st was a strong day as well, while April 2nd was back to normal levels.
I am an Adwords advertiser as well and have not necessarily seen a decline in daily spend so far.
I feel bad for all those who are indicating large losses in revenue, but I think it would be a good idea to wait a month or so before drawing any conclusions. Data over a couple of days is usually deceptive.
I also think this new change may very well encourage publishers to optimize their page content better for improved results, and what may come out of this is an overall improvement in the quality of content among publisher sites.
Some publishers may very well become frustrated and drop out of the program, but a smarter approach, I think, would be to optimize your site as we begin to discover what Google is rewarding.
Google's intention here may very well have been to encourage an improvement in content quality rather than taking a larger cut in earnings as many have suggested.
1) Most publishers are seeing a decline in revenue, and a fair percentage of those are seeing a massive decline of 70-80%.
2) The decline seems to be mostly due to a fall in EPC, with some reporting a decline in CTR.
3) A few publishers reported a revenue gain (again, mostly due to EPC) during the first day or two, but now that seems to be swinging back to norm.
4) AdsenseAdvisor and possibly other Google reps read this forum and by this time are well aware of publisher's angst over this latest change.
5) Google may make changes that benefit the publisher, or they may not. They may choose to "fix" this latest problem, or they may not. The ball is in their court now.
I would like to humbly suggest that while we continue to report on changes, that our energy be put to work finding alternate revenue streams. I myself have been pretty lax since AdSense paid well up until now, however this latest decline in a series of declines since the program inception has forced me to rethink. Take this weekend and the following weeks to consider alternate programs, direct approach to advertisers, etc.
It's probably to early to tell yet, but it seems like that may be a little more important now.
I was able to move some text around on a few pages and it seemed to improve the targeting quite a bit. Previously these pages had very targeted ads, but with the changed the ads went way off the mark. Rearranging the content seems to have fixed that.
Compare your sites to the original Google example:
For example, a click on an ad for digital cameras on a web page about photography tips may be worth less than a click on the same ad appearing next to a review of digital cameras.
So how strong is the shopping interest of your target audience? Do they come to your sites to find informations or do they come to compare products and prices, read reviews, and look for shopping opportunities? IOW what do you think is a click worth on your sites - what do you think would be the CR for an advertizer on your sites?
I think it has been mentioned several times, here in the Adsense forum, that the content just before and after the ad block carried some weight when it came to targeting.
That would explain why a rectangle ad floated right next to a paragraph where I mention writer's block & quilting alternates between selling quilting stuff and kindergarten blocks. The article is on creativity. It's kind of amusing but not what the reader will click on.
I'll try moving the ad to a different part of the article and see what happens.
I'm also seeing other wildly off-target hotel ads on inside pages.
For the most part, targeting hasn't changed much, but where it has, the new ads are completely off-base.
I will wait a month. But as it stand now, I would make more money with some basic popunders/overs and banner advertisement (back to the old days). I do believe my site is well targetted and would produce a good conversion rate for advertisers, so I would first try going directly to some of them.
My earnings are about 1/2. Now my click through rate has plummetted... mostly because the ads being dispalyed advertise for how to get rid of a product my site promotes! This is a far cry of the days when I was scared of accidently "clicking" on one of my google ads!
If the numbers are the same in a month, I think I will add a "bendover and use with lube" link to the google adsense site on my links page.
So how strong is the shopping interest of your target audience? Do they come to your sites to find informations or do they come to compare products and prices, read reviews, and look for shopping opportunities?
On a travel-planning information site like mine, searching for information and shopping (booking) tend to go hand in hand. And while my site is primarily editorial in nature, its affiliate links generate substantial income every month--far in excess of my AdSense revenues.
One concern I have about Google's new pricing structure is that it may be underestimating the value of leads (as opposed to immediate purchases). For big-ticket items, or for purchases that require human interaction between the buyer and the seller, users aren't likely to hit an "Order" button the first time they visit an advertiser's site. Advertisers of such goods and services are looking for leads, not for instant e-commerce sales, and if inquiries aren't counted as conversion, any system that uses conversion tracking to determine click value would tend to underestimate and understate the value of such leads. (Cruises are a good example: A travel agent might make a commission of $2,000 on a luxury cruise for two, but only after back-and-forth conversations with the prospect and the cruise line.)
