Possible Coming Changes to Adwords,

Any Implications for Adsense Publishers?

[ken_b]

Possibly Coming Changes to Adwords,
Any Implications for Adsense Publishers?

This 15 page thread [webmasterworld.com] has been going for over a month in the Adwords Forum.

Unless I've missed it, the subject hasn't come up here in the Adsense Forum. That surprizes me.

Anyone think that this rumored change might affect the income of Adsense publishers?

[Jenstar]

I have been waiting since US Thanksgiving for someone to bring it up ;)

I think the impact on publishers will be enormous, particularly for publishers whose sites tend to show affiliate ads. But it will be a wait and see on how exactly it is implemented on the Adwords side to then see how it will impact publishers.

[blueheaven123]

I think it will affect the high paying keyword market the most, as these sites generally seem to be hit the hardest by affiliate marketing.

[ken_b]

I have been waiting since US Thanksgiving for someone to bring it up ;)

Oh great, we've trying to out wait each other! Looks like I blinked first... :)

But yes, it does sound to me like this might have a serious impact, at least on some publishers.

[europeforvisitors]

In the long run, the change is likely to be good for publishers, because it will help to maintain the value of AdWords/AdSense ads for both users and advertisers. It may also improve clickthrough rates by minimizing the number of redundant ads.

[ownerrim]

...see how it will impact publishers

would anyone care to elaborate and be more specific as to the impact?

[varya]

Is there any substance to this at all?

There's one thread that says "there's a rumor" that's referred to by another thread that says "did you guys see this thread about a rumor?"

Now we have a third thread about refering to the second thread which referred to the first thread.

Looks to me like this is a discussion about what other people had to say about what other people had to say about a rumor that someone heard.

Is there any source or substance behind this? Otherwise, I have to say that I can't really see the point of discussing it.

[ogletree]

I think Shak started the whole thing.

[martinibuster]

That thread was started by Shak, so it's more than a rumor. Whether it is implemented is anybody's guess. The only possible change is less ads showing (assuming affiliates don't find loopholes).

I haven't had breakfast yet so I'm not 100% right now. But what other implications are there?

[AZEvil]

I think it will be a good thing for publishers for the following reasons:

1. There are times when I see ads for the same merchant (aff and non aff) displayed on every slot for different pages on my site. The ads almost seem to follow a template too, so they aren't even original compared to the others. Wouldn't you think that something like that would cause a visitor to NOT click on the ads?

2. From the advertiser's side, I have set up some sites (in vastly different topics) to get myself in a position where I don't have to even think about relying on this type of ad. That has allowed me to increase the amount I am paying per click and turn a better profit. Eventually advertisers are going to figure out a system that works better and will be able to pay more per click...which in turn pays us better per click.

[Macro]

>>Is there any source or substance behind this? Otherwise, I have to say that I can't really see the point of discussing it.

Bingo!

Someone's playing us. And we're moving about the chess board as directed (see messages 115 and 121 in that thread).

[itisgene]

I had a call with my Google Adwords rep last week. He confirmed there would be a Adwords policy change either in late january or February. He also said that it leaked out before the public announcement next year.

So, it is still a rumor but I would say it is 99% sure rumor. :)

They are working on the details yet but it will come in the first Q.

For the publishers, I don't see any huge changes because in most cases, the top 2-6 spots are original merchants/distributor with affiliate sites trailing at much lower CPCs. Since Adsense publishers only show 2 - 6 ads (unless you use multi ads), you won't see a lot of direct impact.

In the long run, I think it is good to have different dispay URLs from different sellers.

[Macro]

That Google is considering some change is evident from AdWordsAdvisor not denying it in #121. But, aren't they always considering changes? It's premature to predict the effect of changes that even Google hasn't decided an implementation on.