Search Queries Affect AdSense Ads Shown

Try this at Home & Watch Your Ads Change

[martinibuster]

I always suspected that keywords used to access my sites were playing a role in determining the ads shown to those visitors. But until today I never experimented to see it in action, nor seen apparently definitive proof.

I queried my site name (minus the dot com) plus a general keyword phrase related to a certain widget. Only one ad showed, and it offered a guide to this particular widget.

Then I did a more specific query and clicked through to the same page, all snapped into focus according to the keyword phrase I entered, showing different ads from the other query.

It was a good confirmation of something I and most of you probably already know, that keyword queries affect the ads being shown. Go ahead and try it if you haven't done it before. It's like the brother to the old?q=keyword in the URL trick.

Implications

• For those interested in relevance of ads shown, unless you are checking by entering your site by using the same keywords as your visitors, you may not be seeing anywhere close to the same ads.
  
• If you are dissatisfied with CTR you may want to mine your logs for keywords used to access your sites and check if the problem is related to unfocused keywords, or keywords that are triggering least paying ads.
  

[bobothecat]

I always suspected that keywords used to access my sites were playing a role in determining the ads shown to those visitors. But until today I never experimented to see it in action, nor seen apparently definitive proof.

I noticed this when accessing a friends account on AOL, and using the AOL/Google search box. The ads shown where very relevant to the search.

This was about six months ago, and it's still occuring... it's also great in finding new/unforseen sites/ads to add to the banned list that I likely wouldn't have seen from just going to my page directly.

[incrediBILL]

I always suspected that keywords used to access my sites were playing a role in determining the ads shown to those visitors.

I wrote about this over a year ago but Google has reigned in some of the vulnerabilities to that feature which almost allows that technique to work the link like a hint. You could previously build custom URLs that included a keyword to bring up certain better paying ads. It doesn't work as easily as it did back then when I first tripped over it and published something that probably made them blush, a word I can't repeat here ;)

However, try something like this....

[domain.com...]

On a site with weak targeting, like a generic blog I tested tonight showing ads about blogs, you might get the adlink units to respond to keywords like "MP3" or "MUSIC" for example. My site targeting is very strong so that doesn't work on my site, but location keywords like "TEXAS" and certain terms in my niche area will change the ads slightly.

However, the days of "?q=mesothelioma" changing a couple of ads are over.

It seems like the effect of the "?q=" param has more weight when it comes from an actual search engine, esp. Google, so people can't game the system with crafty links.

[edited by: incrediBILL at 6:42 am (utc) on Feb. 28, 2007]