What works … (for me)

[Dimitri]

Hi,

Just thought I could share what works "for me", in case it gives inspiration to others. Of-course all sites are different, and what works for one, will not work for another one.


What seems to work fine (for me):

- All Adsense's options activated (which is the default). I made tons of experimentation over the years, by disabling some options, but came to the conclusion that Adsense knows best.

- Async code.

- Set the Ad Balance slightly higher than the recommendation. The fill rate suggested, for a 100% earning, is around 45%, so I set it to 55%. I feel like it "gives a chance" to some ads to make it anyhow, and see if they can be profitable or not.

- On desktop, two ad slots only, one 728 x 90 on top middle, and one 300 x 600 on top right column (I tried on a left column, as suggested here, but I didn't see any impact, so, since the right column is better matching my page layout, I stayed with it).

- On desktop, I alternate Text-only and Display-only ads, in such a way that when the 728 x 90 is text-only, the 300 x 600 is display-only, and vice-versa. So I always have one text ad, and one display ad. I feel like it focus more the attention of visitors. Also, when it comes to have twice the same advertiser , it prevents from having twice the same image, or text.

- On mobile, two ad slots only, one Ad links on top, one 300 x 250 in the middle of the page.

- Use javascript to select which ad to display depending of the device' screen width.

- Get white listed with Ad block plus ( which means to serve text-only ads to ad block users, and "normal" ads to others).


What doesn't work (for me):

- Responsive code. I can't explain why, but during my experimentation responsive ads were always performing way less than fixed size ad slots.

- Bigger ad slots like 970 x 90, 300 x 1050.

- Smaller ad slots like 320 x 100 (on desktop) . I like the idea because it looked minimalist and simple, but it never worked.

- Two ad slots of 300 x 250 one above the other. I found it nice looking to have 2 x ad slots, instead of a 300 x 600, but it never gave good results.

- Having more than 2 ad slots. In the past, I had a third ad slot, but it earned very few, and as soon as I removed it, my earnings increased (more competition between advertisers?).

Hope it can help,

[robzilla]

Thanks for sharing. Do you have any data on how the text-only ads for ad-blocking users perform, relative to the ads served to other users?

[IanTurner]

Thanks for sharing this, I've been experimenting with the 2 ads option myself (and 1 ad) results have been mixed for me.

I've experimented with responsive code and find it works for mobile but not on desktop - the problem with these types of experiments is that you really need clean ad units to do the experiment - so that the new ad is not competing with an existing ad slot that already has history and may be being targetted by some advertisers. I do see improvements in conversion rate and bounce rate from using responsive ads.

The getting whitelisted with Ad Block Plus is interesting, but I can't see how you will deliver text only ads to Ad Block Plus users as you don't know if they are using the Ad Blocker when you receive the page request.

[robzilla]

but I can't see how you will deliver text only ads to Ad Block Plus users

We discussed this previously here: [webmasterworld.com...]

Basically you would have to use Javascript in the HEAD section to detect the ad blocker and, if detected, alter your page content (like the ad slot identification number) to serve different ads.

[denisl]

I like the idea of alternating text and image ads - hadn't thought of that one.

[Dimitri]

@robzilla, the performance of ads served to ad block plus users is 5 to 10 less than "normal" ads, as I was explaining in the topic you pointed. Now, it also depends of the days, some days it might produce good results. But it's still better than nothing. Also, I serve only one ad to ad block plus user. the 728x90 or the 300x600 , alternatively.

[robzilla]

Yeah I was hoping by now you would have more positive results ;-) Too bad.

Do you adhere to all "acceptable ads" criteria, including clearly labeling all your ads?

[Dimitri]

To be white listed, you have to strictly respect their acceptable ads criteria, yes. They are very picky, and they also check from time to time, to verify you didn't change anything since their review. And it makes me think, I made a mistake, when an ad block plus user is visiting my site, I do NOT display a 300x600 text ads, instead I display a 300x250 because, there is also a criteria about the size of the ad compare to the size of the window, and 300x600 is too big ! So , yes that is TON of work, and refining, and details, but I am operating only one site, (at the difference of others here who have tens or more), so I spend all my time on this kind of details.

[Evan Salamanca]

Co-sign the 300x600 in the right sidebar. Desktop and tablet are about 30% of my traffic and the sidebar only shows on the side on those big formats (moves to the bottom on mobile) but since implementing the 300x600 it has become my big income maker due to the hilariously high CPC on tablets. (NOTE: I'm using a 22/98 ad balancer split)

[Dimitri]

UPDATES

- I discovered I am achieving slightly higher performances by alternatively displaying 300x600 and 300x250 ad slots (still on top right).

- On mobile devices, alternating 300x100 ad with a 320x100 Ad links also seems a good idea (top of page).

Keyword is "variety"

[Matrixzer0]

@Dimitri When you say alternatively display 300x600 and 300x250.

1. What do you mean exactly? Both on top of each other? If so which one is first?

2. Are both display ads?

Thanks.

[Broadway]

Dimitri, I'm picking your brain rather than going to the trouble to analyze the traffic on my own site, but you determined that ...

1) A high enough percentage of your website visitors had AdBlock Plus installed ...
2) And the money you earned from being able to show them ads (by conforming to AdBlock standards) ...
3) Was worth all of the trouble you have gone through, and evidently continue to go through?

I always assumed (but have no factual data on this point) that AdBlock users probably weren't the type of people who would click on ads anyway. I guess I would do what you do if I though it would pay.

I heard a talk by an AdBlock rep last month at a conference. I get their side of the coin. Certainly even I hate a high percentage of the ads I see on my site (it got so bad with Media.net that I cut them off from showing any rich media ads on my site at all). But I guess I'm hoping the Chrome/ad blocking solution (where it only allows "acceptable" ads to be shown, which is a much less restrictive set of criteria than AdBlock's) will eventually become a workable solution rather than have to deal with AdBlock whitelisting.

Possibly that's just a pipe dream and I should pursue getting whitelisted.

[Broadway]

What works for me: Responsive Adlinks, 1/3 of the way down the page (1000+ word pages). Doing that has restored Page RPM to levels I haven't seen in years.

[LuckyD]

@Broadway, mobile or desktop?
Did you test Adlinks at the very top of the content?

[Sillysoft]

"Responsive code. I can't explain why, but during my experimentation responsive ads were always performing way less than fixed size ad slots."

I thought that is all you can use now with Adsense. I originally just stuck with the old Adsense code however recently I was flagged by Adsense stating I cannot have a 300x250 ad above the fold on mobile. After reading their requirements I thought the only way to fix this was to use responsive code, so I can display a 300x250 ad for desktop then via media queries I can use a smaller ad for mobile devices. I originally thought using media queries I can load a 300x250 ad for desktop then load a completely different adsense ad in a different side for mobile, but reading their requirements it said you couldnt do that. You couldnt change the code, unless it was a responsive ad. Unless I read it wrong?

How do you handle ads for desktop vs ads for mobile? Do you have a totally different layout or do you use a responsive layout with media queries?

This is the page that talks about modifying your ad code:

[support.google.com...]

The main part I read that affects how I can handle desktop and mobile versions is this:

Techniques to avoid

- Hiding ad units at anytime (e.g., display:none), unless you're implementing a responsive ad unit

Then I use this page on what I can modify with responsive ads:

[support.google.com...]