People's reaction to Google ad placements

[norbiu]

The best ad placement on my site would be a 336x280 large rectangle inside the content, on the left side under the title, but I feel like a sellout every time I see it.

The ads don't perform as well if I put them after the content, in the sidebar or anywhere else.

I know this sounds stupid, but will keeping the ads in that position affect my traffic in a bad way?

[nippi]

no. it won't, if you blend well, and provide adequate navigation elsewhere.

[Hobbs]

>will keeping the ads in that position affect my traffic

Yes, if you put ads in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable with your page, you visitors will probably feel the same.

Two things to do:

- Get your priorities right: More money or Happy visitors or The best mix of both

- I knew you would choose the best mix, and for that all you need to do is experiment with blending and different page layouts and ad sizes, get feedback from friends on how your pages look, all while monitoring how the ads perform, it's a time consuming process, but it's you that chose the "best mix" not me ;-)

[Forest Dweller]

I've struggled with my conscious over ad placement, too. Personally, when I'm looking at a website for the first time, those big rectangles of ad blocks within the content seem too pushy and I get a feeling that the site's not sincere. The compromise on my own site, an informational site that I created out of love for the subject, has been to keep the ads and link units to one side and the bottom of each page. I'm carrying the maximum amount of ad units per page, too. I get between a 3 - 6% ctr with that layout. So, I've decided to live with that and increase traffic (and money) by writing lots and lots of new content.

I've been using this layout for about 5 months and have managed to increase traffic (and money) by about 40% in that time. I'm not going to get rich quick (or ever) with this method, but I'm happy. I know advice like "follow your gut feeling" or "follow your heart" aren't very business like or web masterly, but that's what works for me.

[annej]

norbiu. I do the rectangle ad just like you do but I float it to the right. This way people will probably read the article text first and I do want them to get interested in the page. Yet the ad block is right there if they notice an ad they are interested in.

I don't know if the click through would be a little better if the ads were on the left but it's a compromise I'm comfortable with.

[ken_b]

I doubt it will affect your traffic in any significant way.

That said, if the placement of such a large ad in that location bothers you I'd suggest trying a 200x90 AdLinks (link unit) in that spot.

I have the AdLinks in about that same location (it comes after the first few lines of text) and it works very well (for me anyhow) while taking up much less space.

[norbiu]

Thanks for the replies. I think I'll try to replace the rectangle with adlinks to see how it works goes.

*sigh* I remember the good old days a year ago when I had half the traffic and twice the revenue. Oh well..