CSS iframe to enhance adsense visiblility

[numnum]

I'm thinking of trying the CSS div="iframe" tag for my longer pages to keep Adsense ads as well as site navigation links in front of the reader at all times -- i.e., just above, just below, and to the left of an iframe whose height is just a bit less than the average screen.

Have any of you tried this? I'm wondering why this technique is not more widely used. I wonder whether readers would be confused by the additional scrollbar?

[Leonard0]

I'm not sure about your users but maybe the Adsense crawler would not be able to find the content so wouldn't serve relevant ads.
I don't think it is necessary to use an iframe. If you specify the height of the div, a scroll bar will appear when the content needs more space.

[jetteroheller]

I'm not sure about your users but maybe the Adsense crawler would not be able to find the content so wouldn't serve relevant ads.
I don't think it is necessary to use an iframe. If you specify the height of the div, a scroll bar will appear when the content needs more space.

This does not work on Android and iPhone.

Just changed the layout of my sites. Improved useablity for mobile phones.

Google Analytics shows: 56% more page views per visit, 56% more time per visit with mobile devices since the change.

[Sally Stitts]

The reason "why this technique is not more widely used" is because it is prohibited.

"Placing ads in an IFRAME isn't permitted by our program policies, which prohibit any manipulation of AdSense code that may affect the standard behavior, targeting or delivery of ads that is not explicitly permitted by Google. In addition, our targeting technology isn't optimized to serve ads within a separate IFRAME. For these reasons, please make sure to implement our ad code directly into the source of your webpage. Once you make these changes, it may take up to 48 hours or more before relevant ads appear."

from -
[support.google.com...]

[numnum]

Clarification by OP:

I'm not using an iframe, just CSS scroll style. In my style sheet I labeled the style iframe, but I suppose for this forum I should have called it something else (such as "window" -- as below) in order to avoid confusion here. So the essential style is:

#window {height:600px; overflow: auto;}

So if I incorporate Adsense code into the content appearing in the window (frame), it is implemented directly into the source of the page (not a separate URL):

ADSENSE UNIT

<div id="window">
Content in scrollable window, which may or may not include an Adsense unit.
</div>

ADSENSE UNIT

The two ad units immediately above and below the window are always in view, as are the site navigation links and the footer.

My concern is mainly about user behavior. Overall, would this layout enhance the user experience? Or would the typical user find the additional scroll bar confusing and/or be turned off by seeing ads above, below and to the left of the content no matter how far they scroll up and down?

[Lame_Wolf]

It could be seen as bringing attention to the adverts, something which is against the TOS.

[levo]

[support.google.com...]

[numnum]

levo,

Beautiful! From the Help article you linked to:

Also, to allow scrolling, publishers may place ads in a static frame while the primary content of the site is in a secondary frame.

I just knew this approach would be allowed under Google's TOS. It would make no sense to penalize a site owner for trying to keep the top navigation features and the important footer information (e.g., copyright info, link to legal notices, etc.) on the screen as the user scrolls up and down through the content. I have a Copyscape notice in my footer that I would like all readers to see at all times, and this scrollable content window is ideal to achieve this end. An added benefit, of course, is that those above-the-fold ads are visible all the time as well.

Of course, floating ads up and down is an entirely different matter -- strictly forbidden, as the Help article points out.

Now, back to my question: how does the use of a scrollable content window affect user behavior? I guess I'll just try it for a day or two, and monitor the site's stickiness and Adsense CTR. Later.

[numnum]

I'm the OP. For the last two days I used a CSS scrollable window -- about 500px in height -- for my content. Above, below, and to the left of the window I placed Adsense ads, and the pages header and footer were visible above the fold on high-res screens as well.

My CTR didn't go up at all. My intuition is that the scrollable window and additional scroll bar confuses many users. And it does clutter up the screen. This sort of presentation is probably best used just for special situations. Indeed, I use an iframe (an actual iframe that displays a distinct URL) on certain pages to display tabular data from a database, and it works very well for that purpose.

Upshot: I'm back to a conventional layout, which looks cleaner and is probably more user-friendly for most site visitors.