Forum Moderators: martinibuster
What I have been wanting and I think what a lot of people were expecting/hoping for after June 1st was a significant user experience improvement for visitors to my site that click on an AdSense ad.
By that I mean fewer ads that...
1. Lead to pages full of ads & links
2. Advertise green widgets yet lead to a general shopping mall site where green widgets are not to be found
3. Are otherwise misleading
I haven't noticed any significant improvement post-June 1st. If someone has noticed a significant improvement, please post. As I posted in the first long "June 1st" thread, I was skeptical there was going to be a significant improvement.
And as I posted before that thread, I had already begun focusing my time and energy more on non-AdSense income for the long-term. I'm going to continue that.
One day this week, I'm going to remove AdSense and replace it with YPN on 5 of the best pages on my best site. Regardless of how ugly it is, I'm going to give Yahoo 7-10 days to see if they can begin delivering some decent ads.
I'm going to start contacting advertisers directly and offering ads on my pages to replace AdSense on those pages.
My goal is to move away from AdSense slowly and eventually be completely AdSense free if there aren't significant improvements.
I still have hope for AdSense. I certainly believe Google can change things, my doubts are about their willingness. It almost seems as if Google is comfortable being the Internet's equivalent of those magazine classified "Moneymaking Opportunities" ad sections. If that's their objective, that's fine, magazines make money off those type ads. Maybe that's necessary for Google to make the payments on that private jumbo jet. But it's not something I want to be associated with long-term.
Over the past few weeks, when I saw junk ads on other sites, I started taking the time to send a quick message to the owner of the business. A few responded and thanked me for my email while saying their hired webmaster was in charge of the site and they weren't aware the junk ads were being displayed. I had hopes if more people became aware and contacted Google to complain things might change.
But that was a silly belief on my part. They know the problem. Solutions are available. They simply aren't willing.
By the way, one last point. Hurricane season is approaching. If a local hardware store placed an ad in my local newspaper advertising emergency electric generators for sale yet didn't have any generators for sale, readers would eventually complain to the newspaper and I have little doubt the newspaper would stop carrying those ads and be very critical of future ads placed by the hardware store.
FarmBoy
Yes, my revenue and eCPM are down a bit like you, but I attribute that mainly to the time of year.
Rgds
Damon
The question I am curious about is if actually selling a product (other than Adsense) on MFA or borderline-MFA sites made a difference in G's latest "Adsense Ethic Cleansing". One could argue that the inclusion of an actual product for sale could have offered a degree of legitimacy. And if that said product could be purchased via Google Checkout, I bet it would do wonders for legitimacy. Regardless of what is said about the advantages of using multiple Google products, I do believe it could make a difference if a site were to make a few bad choices.
My point is that if Google kicks all of those out who are using AdSense, then won't the websites just move their display ads over to a competitor, thereby producing similar results, but costing Google heavily in the long term. Please don't heckle me, as I am just trying to create thought here!
ps: Thanks Green_grass for your previous reply on my last post :-)
I suspect that in any less fragmented industry, by now someone would have rounded up a bunch of random surfers and asked them to take a wander around the net, clicking on any ads that interested them, and reporting on the experience.
I'd love to know if Google has done this - and if not, why not? - and if the results have been published anywhere. Forget new site toys. We need real user feedback!
The question I am curious about is if actually selling a product (other than Adsense) on MFA or borderline-MFA sites made a difference in G's latest "Adsense Ethic Cleansing". One could argue that the inclusion of an actual product for sale could have offered a degree of legitimacy.
You could argue it, but the argument wouldn't be convincing. The Web is loaded with sites that offer something for sale (whether directly or through affiliate programs) but are operated by black-hat SEOs, scam artists, and other people whose definition of "legitimate" is likely to be different from Google's.
In any case, Google isn't going to blow off 100+ years of modern advertising history by creating a new advertising paradigm that says "media audiences bad, retailers' audiences good." Ain't gonna happen.
There is no obligation whatsoever to tell you how the amount is actually calculated, or why certain ads will be displayed or not displayed. I mean, you knew that, right? What is so unfair about this setup?
zett,
I didn't read anything about inactivist claiming unfairness. I read about inactivist suggesting areas in need of improvement, asking for (hoping for?) changes, etc.
There's a big difference between constructive criticism and whining about something not being "fair." inactivist was offering the former, not the latter.
My point is that if Google kicks all of those out who are using AdSense, then won't the websites just move their display ads over to a competitor, thereby producing similar results, but costing Google heavily in the long term. Please don't heckle me, as I am just trying to create thought here!
eazygoin,
That's a valid concern and a number of people share the concern.
For us publishers who care about user experience, the problem is not going to be solved just by addressing the AdSense side of the business. Changes have to be made on the AdWords side also, because that's where the ads come from that end up in AdSense displays on our sites.
FarmBoy
My point is that if Google kicks all of those out who are using AdSense, then won't the websites just move their display ads over to a competitor, thereby producing similar results, but costing Google heavily in the long term.
If an arbitrageur/MFA who's dumped by Google AdSense applies for an account with a Google competitor, one of two things will happen:
1) The application will be rejected, in which case no one except the arbitrageur/MFA will be hurt; or...
2) The application will be accepted, in which case Google will have successfully outsourced its trash to the competitor, making the competitor weaker over the long haul.
I agree with your sentiments and the reality of it is that Google may suffer short term, but if it can be shown to be attempting to improve overall results, then in the longer term it will attract better quality advertisers and publishers. Those advertisers and publishers may have to raise their bids to obtain better placement, and in turn they will hopefully get better conversions.
One could argue that the inclusion of an actual product for sale could have offered a degree of legitimacy. And if that said product could be purchased via Google Checkout, I bet it would do wonders for legitimacy.
Understand your point, but I've seen one MFA that for months has had the Google cart graphic, probably used just because it's supposedly to show a sign of legitimacy. Kind of like how some businesses get BBB membership when they aren't legit.
There has to be a better way to discern quality sites.
p/g
inactivist,I would just like to point out that when you entered your business relationship with Google, you choose to accept the terms of the contract. Under these terms they get a certain real estate (that you select) on your sites, and they pay whatever they think is appropriate for this service. There is no obligation whatsoever to tell you how the amount is actually calculated, or why certain ads will be displayed or not displayed. I mean, you knew that, right? What is so unfair about this setup?
I wasn't trying to claim any kind of unfairness. Or did I? I don't recall that in my posts.
What I'm trying to do is to point out what I see as a few serious weaknesses in the AdSense program, at least on the publisher side. It seems that the forces are unbalanced, and that bothers me a bit.
Just to be clear: I *like* AdSense, or I wouldn't be using it. But it's starting to feel like I'm using it because it's the only game in town, and I think that's a bad thing for G long-term, if you know what I mean. I'm sure others will disagree with me, and that's fine. We don't all have to agree; I'm satisfied to be able to share my perspective.
We have quite a big network of large authority sites and not only are the ads cleaner but also a substantial increase in ctr and epc across many of the properties over large levels of daily inventory beyond a standard deviation.
Thank you Google Team for finally starting to look into this matter.
As for earnings:
I have noticed earnings started picking up around mid to late May, with 1st of June ushering in some of my best days since 2006. Whether this trend continues or not is another story.
[edited by: Scurramunga at 2:02 pm (utc) on June 8, 2007]
I see AdWords and AdSense flooded, immersed, drowned, with cheap clicks in the near future.
Care to explain what leads you to this vision?
There will be a new wave of really cheap clicks on AdWords pushing AdSense income per click way down.
With site-targeted contextual ads being on Google's list of forthcoming products, it's likely that the spread between the haves and have-nots will become greater, just as it is in the offline advertising world. After all, if you're an advertiser selling accessories for Lamborghini owners, why would you want to pay the same for clicks from working-class-car-fantasies.com as you do for clicks from wealthy-lamborghini-car-owners.com? Answer: You wouldn't. And with site-targeted contextual ads, you won't have to--which means working-class-car-fantasies.com will have to settle for clicks from advertisers who are more interested in low ad rates than high-quality leads.
They are like cockroaches and when Google turned on the light the little buggers seemed to scurry over to my site to hide. Spent over an hour for the first time in many months (years?) swatting them yesterday and ratting them out to Google, especially the bait and switch ads, it was real ugly.
So far everything looks good today with those vermin squashed, but I was NOT IMPRESSED with what I saw allowing to be advertised.
Coincidence?
I think not.
