Mixing Affiliate Ads in with AdSense . . .

[dinrock]

Found this new company (at least new to me) [cj.com...] and am inquiring if it is acceptable with AdSense TOS to include this kind of affiliate advertising in with your ads? Btw, is this company looking like it is worth a shot?

[europeforvisitors]

As long as your affiliate links don't "mimic" AdSense ads, you're fine using both.

(BTW, Commission Junction has been around for years--a lot longer than AdSense has!)

[ashii]

You need lot of cool and testing when you work with CJ.

[loudspeaker]

CJ has been around much longer than AdSense. Personally, I find that programs they offer work only in a very narrow subset of industries/topics. Most of them are inferior to AdSense in terms of CPM (by far).

[YesMom]

I have never had good response to ANYTHING I've attempted through CJ! I find their interface difficult to work with, also. I have this gnawing distrust of their system... not sure why... I just don't know.

However, I've done *fabulously* with certain download products from ClickBank and also simply finding websites/products I know are a good fit and looking to see if they have an affiliate program set up already.

As far as fitting with AdSense -- it is a good mix. No conflicts with doing both. When I get discouraged with AdSense, I go off looking for some new affiliate program to add in. When my affiliate stuff is dwindling, I go tweak AdSense a bit. :-)

YM

[dinrock]

I have been with AdSense about 1.5 years so never tried mixing in other affiliate ads. I think I'll stay away from it for now and possibly "tweak" existing ad layouts. YesMom sounds like you have been fooling around with other ways to use AdSense so it (your thoughts) are appreciated. Btw, how many web sites do you operate with AdSense on them?

[MikeNoLastName]

We used to work with CJ years ago, before Adsense. It takes some manual playing around with the various affiliates, and checking daily stats at first, but if you find a good one, GREAT! When we were switching over we wrote a script to display CJ vs Adsene 50-50%. Interestingly, we received a pretty substantial, unexpected check from these rather honest folks just a few months ago. Apparently, unbeknownst to us, they had a legal conflict with one of the advertisers who didn't want to pay, and whom we had displayed their ads a few years ago, and which CJ eventually won, and we were the happy beneficiaries of some of the profits thereof.
YMMV, but I'd give them try and compare them closely against Adsense.

[sem4u]

Mixing affiliate offerings with AdSense is allowed. AdSense is much easier to get started with...just upload the code to your pages and off you go. With affiliate ads you need to test and test, and create enough traffic to drive visitors to merchants to buy goods.

[dinrock]

After looking at various affiliate schemes, I think I will just stick with AdSense . . .it seems to bee the best and I want to be all AdSense inclusive.

[europeforvisitors]

After looking at various affiliate schemes, I think I will just stick with AdSense . . .it seems to bee the best and I want to be all AdSense inclusive.

Why put all your virtual eggs in one basket? Multiple revenue streams offer more security, and--depending on your topic--you may discover that another revenue source (such as affiliate programs or display ads) pays better than AdSense does. There's no way to know without trying.

On my own site, affiliate earnings are much higher than AdSense earnings, but AdSense brings in cash during the slow season when affiliate bookings are down. AdSense also generates revenue from topics that don't produce affiliate revenue, and it usually pays faster than affiliate programs do since the ads are prepaid and earnings take place instantly when the user clicks on an ad. For the most part, AdSense doesn't compete with my affiliate links, or vice versa; the two revenue streams complement each other.

[YesMom]

Dinrock, I operate over a dozen websites with AdSense and affiliate ads integrated. I use both. I use AdSense in the "sweet spots" and affiliate ads in the non-producing areas such as the righthand column where I can talk about the products and say "click here" as desired. It is a happy marriage. :-)

AdSense earnings (after the first few months of building) have ranged from a low of $600 a month to a high of $3500 a month. I've been with the program almost 3 years now.

I agree with EFV -- don't put all your eggs in one basket!

YM

[MetalType]

I've had some success with eBay ads through CJ. It can be possible to get RSS feeds or custom-built ads specific to your niche

[IanCP]

I've been with CJ since day one. Far superior idea than being with a multitude of programmes where you have to meet minimum earnings for a payout.

Having said that, it's quite difficult to find CJ advertisers relevant to my niche. At present there is only one now. Pays well.

[europeforvisitors]

I've had the best luck with independent programs that fit my topic. Most CJ merchants (even ones that looked relevant) haven't performed very well on my site.

[farmboy]

have never had good response to ANYTHING I've attempted through CJ! I find their interface difficult to work with, also. I have this gnawing distrust of their system... not sure why... I just don't know.

However, I've done *fabulously* with certain download products from ClickBank...

With CJ you can end up giving advertisers a lot of free branding on your sites. With ClickBank, for example, someone who clicks on your ad is usually taken to a very targeted sales presentation.

And I think the comparison between those two is a good example of why Google Referrals has had such a hard time getting traction. The advertisers are trying to copy the CJ model instead of the ClickBank model.

FarmBoy