Forum Moderators: martinibuster
I for one do not like that as people may click on that rather than the ad.
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In fact I have now just seen one add that had no ads but just a whole bunch of links for related searches.
On the flip side, it does give an interesting insight into what keywords they are using to provide the targeting ads.
This could help Google to "persuade" more advertisers to join/try Adsense program. This set up a "bridge" between Adsense and SE ads.
After the surprise and welcome news of the colours this is a bit of a disapointment.
Ads should be cleared and uncluttered. The Ads by Google was a nice limit imho.
2) The "related searches" topics seem pretty random--more so than they'd be on a search page, where at least the user has entered a keyword or keyphrase that Google could use to make an educated suggestion.
It seems very unfair though...
I would like to know more about "Related Searches"
What are they going to put on the AdSense next without informing publishers? I think Google should ask before putting certain things on the code. But then again who am I? Google? Not! ;)
It seems very unfair though...
deja vous?
this will reduce ctr for sure.. especially on pages with just a few links..
OK so thats two links to google on every page now. a text link to adwords and now one straight to google.
We knew that any changes were possible. This may well sort out the waverers who were not sure if they were going to implement Adsense throughout their pages.
I remember many years back, google used to pay 5c for every click on a google search box on your site. I wonder if they are planning the same? :(
relax guys - i think they are adding more options, they are probably testing things by going live every now and then.
Am relaxed but I really do not like this as the reason to have AdSense on pages is for revenue not to increase the number of searches Google does.
Plus because of the size of the ads if you wanted to click the left ad in a banner you could accidentally click the search links instead which would leave no revenue it seems.
Good for SE ads advertisers while "bad" for publishers.
Maybe too early to draw the conclusion. I would keep one eye on those stats.
Maybe it will cause only serious content publishers who are confident of their brand and site to use adsense to any extent in the fullness of the time. So I can see at least one silver lining.
the final effect may be that people who are looking to buy will have an extra link to leave your site without any compensation - and probably click on the same adwords from the google serps they were directed to which were on your site to start with. I think its unlikely they will return to your site from the google serps, unless you have a very original niche, and leading site, and they would be highly unlikely to click on the ad after returning.
I can already see certain people chuckling and snickling surriptuously this morning. (other affiliate and ad servers, overture, publishers who have not started using adsense or put much effort into it yet!
Whatever, this is a highly significant change.
[edited by: chiyo at 2:53 am (utc) on Aug. 7, 2003]
If only they could track these searches and credit the publishers... That would be awesome!
[edited by: RobbieD at 2:45 am (utc) on Aug. 7, 2003]
This blank space brought to you by Google
Me too... but in fact, the "blank space" on my site is courtesy of me, because I'm the one paying for it.
Not cool... not cool at all.
whatever you call it, it's hardly not unexpected yes? We always knew that the agreement meant that Google could do whatever they wanted. And signed up with that knowledge. Most people were expecting a "bait and switch", reduced CPC's or whatever they want to call it.
How many publishers really seriously read the TOS before inserting the code. Even a quick read should have suggested this was highly risky territory.
Its juts business. I dont have any problems with it at all. If at one time in the future the disadvanatges of adsense outweight their benefits, in comparison with other revenue options, we would just drop it, like any business.
I certainly dont see any breach of trust by google.
But, I think everyone who has tried AdSense has been hugely impressed with the ease of use/amount of money/speed of payment, no? We can't start moaning because everything is not as we would like - Google's primary concern is to get searchers to use their product, so they can a) licence it and b) sell advertising. The related searches is just an extension of that.
If you feel this will hurt your site more than not having the ads, take them off. But if you only feel it will hurt your google revenue - well, it looks like they've found a good way to kill the spammers who were looking for the highest paying words so they could throw up crappy sites and watch the money roll in!
One last thing, we all thought that they were watching for big changes in CTRs for 'suspicious behaviour' - with the ad colour changes + related searches will that even be possible now?
[edited by: seaboy at 3:02 am (utc) on Aug. 7, 2003]
I posted my thoughts about it on the other "related searches" thread on this board: [webmasterworld.com...]
Basically, I've completely removed google adsense from my sites.
Major problems are:
- Related searches links look like content on your site, rather than ads by google.
- Related searches seem to have the tendency to list similar content as that on your site, giving users a link OUT from your site to others of similar content. This would be fine if you got paid for it, but uh.... I don't remember ever having feelings of wanting to become a charity for Google.
- No revenue generated by clicks.
Yes, but not an empty box of a different color from the background! If it were transparent then fine. But a big colored box? Gimme a break.
11. What are related searches?
"As part of the AdSense program, Google may suggest up to two relevant search queries below the AdWords ads on your website. These queries are labeled as 'Related searches.' If we do not yet have relevant ad inventory or have not yet crawled your web pages for content, related searches may appear in place of ads."
They go on to say it's not possible to opt out of related searches.
Up to two relevant search queries? That's not what they're doing! ... On some of my pages I'm seeing four related searches -- unpaid, unwelcome exit points -- even though the tower has a full complement of targeted ads.
The related searches feature is intended solely to enhance the user experience and serve as a valuable information resource. Neither Google nor AdSense publishers earn any revenue from clicks on related searches.
We believe related searches are an integral and valuable part of the AdSense program. Therefore, we don't have an opt-out feature this time.
