AdSense and Responsive Design

Should I be looking elsewhere?

[dataguy]

So I've spent the last month deep into learning responsive design concepts. After making a small fortune with my own websites that aren't responsive, I feel like I finally can build websites that I'm proud of.

The problem comes in when I try to monetize the new sites that I'm building. Google's mobile ads are being discontinued, but they wouldn't have worked, anyway. The only AdSense ads that fit into a responsive design site are less than 400 pixels wide, but if the ads don't change size, they are usually too big for mobile and always too small for desktop. And Google shows no signs of working on a solution.

I'm wondering what the alternatives are. Is pay-per-click dead? (Please don't tell me that!) Is the economy so bad that no one wants to get into the responsive ad business? (I can't believe that, either.)

What's the solution? How do you monetize your responsive design website?

[levo]

Wow, there is a responsive code recommendation at German Adsense blog.

[adsense-de.blogspot.de...]

[netmeg]

Yea, strange disconnect there between US and Germany. I don't get it.

[levo]

Also, DFP has announced "multiple sized ad unit and tags."

[productforums.google.com...]

Something brewing at G

[netmeg]

Ugh, if they make responsive ads ONLY available in DFP, I'm gonna be mega-pissed.

(that link doesn't work, Levo - it just takes me to the home page for all Google forums, and I couldn't find the post)

[swa66]

Actually the red text on the German adsense blog is a blanket permission to change their javascript in this way (only in this way).

[Leosghost]

(that link doesn't work, Levo - it just takes me to the home page for all Google forums, and I couldn't find the post)

Strip the WebmasterWorld redirect from links to G forums..so on that link you just get ..

http*://productforums.google.com/forum/#!msg/dfp/gBmx8VWWWdg/zCSImDugNEYJ

Paste it directly into your address bar..and hit "go"..( you'll have to take out the * I added to prevent it auto linking again here at WebmasterWorld)

Wonder why they are only announcing approved script changes on .de ? attempting to imPRove their image there ?..

Still ..useful..

[Leonard0]

The German code is faulty: window.innerWidth does not work in IE8 and older brousers, as I mentioned in this forum back in September [webmasterworld.com...]

Also there is a space in the third line:
"window. innerWidth" should be "window.innerWidth"

[swa66]

@Leonard0:
Your responsive design most likely is just going to default to a traditional size for obsolete IE versions anyway - or tell them to get lost and upgrade their poor excuse for a browser.

Apple's iP* and Google's android devices do not run IE ... (a good thing).

I don't think it's a huge deal as it can be overcome with some conditional comments for those that do care about ancient versions of IE.

[Broadway]

I'm in the process of switching to a responsive design. There are some great points brought up here.

I have to assume that this has been discussed before (I don't get to WW all that much to read) but in my opinion Adsense has already developed the answer to the problem of serving ads to smaller-format screens. It's the large arrows that are placed in ads.

On smaller devices they simply look like navigation. You can't read the advertising text so, as a visitor, you don't really know, you just click.

This behavior is especially appalling with leaderboards and skyscrapers where the amount of advertising text is left small (top or left side of add) and the arrow is positioned as far away as possible, once again making just look like website navigation, not part of an ad.

My absolute first foray into responsive design (used with my fixed-width site) was to detect browser size so the size of my own page's navigation could enlarged compete with the adsense arrows.

Just yet another example of Google/Adsense hypocrisy.

[netmeg]

I don't think it's hypocrisy as much as them just not being able to act fast enough to catch up. And the left hand not knowing what the right hand is advocating.

[Broadway]

I don't agree for two reasons.

1)I can't draw attention to adsense ads on my site, yet this is exactly what they are doing. Encouraging mistaken clicks.

2)Smart Pricing (or whatever it's called now). Mistaken clicks end up costing the publisher money. If your clicks generate few sales (which is likely for a mistaken click) your eCPM (or whatever the right metric is) is lowered. Money is supposedly returned to the advertiser.

The burden of Google's and the advertiser's deception (I don't really know who is responsible for the "arrow button" format because I don't do the Adwords side) is placed on the back of the publisher.

[Broadway]

This thread states that it's against Adsense TOS (USA) to use "css tricks." Would this be considered to be a "trick."

Imagine a responsive layout that on large screens has a Adsense Search Box positioned at the top left of the page. (Positioned from a div containing the code that's located below the page's content - position:absolute;top:0;left:0;)

On small screens (detected by a media query), the css is changed not to reposition the Search Box, it is simply shown below the page's content where it's code is actually found.

Is it a trick if there's no malice involved and Adsense coding and stats aren't affected?

1)In both formats the box is still shown and available for use (there's no display:none; or repositioning the box way off page so it's out of the way).

2)For large formats, where page-top space is no problem, the search box is a convenience for visitors.

3)For small screens, where every inch of screen space is valuable, it's better for the visitor because they get to the page content sooner.