Doubled CTR with No border

Easy to do, too.

[itisgene]

I kept the leaderboard format for two of my sites.
Just removed the border of adsense, the CTR for both sites doubled. I used white border which is same as our background.

[ChrisKud5]

I am very much a "traditionilist"

Does making the border the same color as the page abide by the TOS? I am sure the answer is no, and Google is just fine with this, but want to make sure before i change everything over and see if results are better.

[JuniorOptimizer]

Chris, Google sent out a booklet outlining how to do it. Without the border, CTR is MUCH higher.

[ChrisKud5]

Yeah i forgot to read that little booklet.

I guess i shall make the "conversion" this eve.

I did like my matching color border though, quite sexy............

[gomer]

Chris, Google sent out a booklet outlining how to do it. Without the border, CTR is MUCH higher.

I am thinking of going with invisible borders but I would like some more information on the above.

I keep my AdSense emails and did not come across Google outlining how to do it. I did not get any snail mail from Google either.

AdSense tips recommends:
The border of the ad a color that is prominent on your page.

Can someone please point me to something where Google okays this? If you could let me know when Google sent out these emails, that would also help.

Thanks.

[Freedom]

I've seen tons of websites without the border - so it must be okay. I'll probably take mine down, but like someone else said - the site looks sexier with it. In the same way a Victoria Secret catalog is better then a Penthouse.

[peterdaly]

People generally have developed "box blindness", relating them with ads. For better or worse, take away the box (border), and people's eyes don't glide right over them.

[gomer]

I agree and am excited to try to no borders. I noticed they really caught my eye when I first saw them.

I am just hoping someone can point me some verbage where Google okays this. If I can't find something on this, I will likely write and ask them.

[creepychris]

Hiding the border gave me a roughly 40% increase in CTR. And it wasn't just a temporary thing. The CTR has hovered at the new CTR for . . . hmmm . . . it's been so long that I can't remember when I made the change.

I think clearly delineated ads = banner blindness. There is something unethical about this, but it's certainly no worse then advertorials.

[itisgene]

I found this.
[google.com...]

This is the content of the little green booklet some of us received.

3. Customize ad color combinations.
Try using custom color combinations for your ad units. This allows you to ensure that the text, background, and border colors of your ads complement your website. You can choose from a wide variety of colors to create your own custom color palettes, or select from over 20 pre-defined combinations. When using color palettes, we recommend making:
The background color of the ad the same as or similar to the background color of your page.
The border of the ad a color that is prominent on your page.
The title of the ad a color that is similar to the text on your page.
The URL of the ad a color similar to other link colors on your page.

[europeforvisitors]

There is something unethical about this, but it's certainly no worse then advertorials.

Actually, there is, because advertorials aren't bought on a pay-per-click basis.

AdSense advertisers want traffic from prospective buyers, not traffic from confused users. When a user clicks on an ad because it looks like part of the site's navigation scheme, the advertiser pays--and the advertiser is being cheated.

Of course, "smart pricing" may compensate for such trickery over the long run by increasing advertiser discounts and lowering publishers' earnings per click on sites that deliver low-quality traffic.

[gomer]

Thanks itisgene.

The background color of the ad the same as or similar to the background color of your page.
The border of the ad a color that is prominent on your page.

This is also what AdSense tips says and if you read it closely, it does not give an okay to inivisible borders.

The above suggests the background color to be the same as the page and the border to be prominent (as opposed to invisible).

I realize that this does not say you can't use invisible borders but it is not a confirmation that you can.

[itisgene]

OK, I sent an inquiry to Google Adsense team asking about the borderless adsense. I will report it back here once I get the response.

[itisgene]

And to make things clear for me.
The two sites I mentioned have borders for the contents. So, even though adsense doesn't have borders, they are separated(prominent) from the contents. One of the sites also has different background color(white) from the site overall background(blue). Only the area that has Adsense is white background.

So I think the visitors can differentiate the adsense from the rest of the contents easily.

[hunderdown]

On my site, removing borders from the AdSense ads would give me a confusing and crappy-looking design. I don't care if that does increase CTR. I'll keep the better design....

[itisgene]

Ok, I got the response from Adsense tem. (It was super fast! hmm within 3 hours?)

Anyways, the answer was:

your description of changing the border color to match the background color is not a violation of our program policies...and then it also said...you are welcome to make those color changes...etc.etc.

it was from real person from The Google team.

So, I guess it clears some issues with the border colors.

[gomer]

Thanks itisgene, that clear it up.

[skunker]

Thanks itisgene, I was starting to get worried thinking I was the only person who swore that Google didn't care if the borders were invisible.

[croky]

Yup. I also asked google and they told me I was free to change any colours of no particular item.

[AdSenseAdvisor]

Does making the border the same color as the page abide by the TOS?

I see that several people have already beaten me to the punch, but for good measure I'll respond to this question anyway.

Yes, you are welcome to match the border color of your ads to your site's background color. Publishers aren't allowed to obscure any of the ad text with colors (for example, a black ad background color and black ad text), but ad border colors blending in with your site is perfectly fine.

ASA

[itisgene]

Thanks ASA for reconfirming it.

Some of you (who thought it might not be allowed) can sleep now. :)