Forum Moderators: martinibuster
I am a little disapointed with AdLinks though. They look amazing but trying to get the visitor to click twice is poor!
Well yes, but you have a choice. Use regular ads when you opt for single-click income.
The point of the ad links - I guess - is to have something that looks like topics instead of ads, so it doesn't devaluate your pages as much.
This may be good or bad, depending on your site.
In either case, choice is good.
I don't see the point in the middle-man Google page!
I'm seeing Ad Links in my regular AdSense ad units. Why? [google.com]
we're currently running a small-scale test of combined Google ad / Ad Links ad units. This test is taking place on less than 2% of all page views on a random basis, so you may or may not see these units on your pages. During this test, combined units will be served to a small number of regular ad units on publisher pages.
/edited/
Our thinking is that Ad Links are useful for web publishers (who get a more flexible way to incorporate more advertising into their sites); advertisers (who get more inventory); and users (who get more relevant ads to choose from).
More flexibility, more inventory, more ads.
My guess is Google had too many competing ads for popular and commercially attractive topics ("hotel in Las Vegas"). Solution: create a separate ad page just for that topic and display them all.
It might work in some areas, where users are actively searching through all the ads... click click back click back click back click. Or is this wishful thinking?
In a day and age where most people are looking to actively avoid ads, with ad blockers or just ignoring them altogether, to have a link with want to see ads on x topic, seems rather strange.
Plus to be taken to a page with no content whatsoever, just ads.... not sure if I want my users to experience that.
But I praise G for giving us more options, and thinking of ideas that should be tried and tested.
In a day and age where most people are looking to actively avoid ads, with ad blockers or just ignoring them altogether, to have a link with want to see ads on x topic, seems rather strange.
I think the point is: relevant ads. Ads that increase the site's value to the user. I've actually received positive feedback on the ads on my site.
It seems to make sense to have one clean link "hotels in las vegas" instead of 5 ads screaming for attention. If the visitor is looking for a hotel in Las Vegas, he'll be happy with the page.
I guess you'll need to evaluate the ads on a page before you decide to use ad links. It may depend on the nature of the topics, the intent of your visitors, the quality of the ads and the number of ads.
Agree it is a different format, and again I praise G for that.
But I cannot understand taking someone to an empty page which only has on topic ads on it.
[edited by: darkmage at 11:29 am (utc) on Mar. 16, 2005]
The biggest change you can make Google is to remove that silly "you can't click on your own ads" rule! For those of us who have static IPs that is preposterous and shortsighted. Log our IPs, save another cookie if you have to, and enough with this childish petulance.
My second gripe is that under the new TOS my account can be terminated for the above criticism! Everybody conform and become Google huggers, NOW. The 'plex has become a borg collective: You will be assimilated...
A user turns up, the page was almost, but not just what he/she was looking for.
- Widgets, but mostly blue and I was looking for purple ones- Ah! There's a link saying Purple Widgets, now let's see...
I'm giving AdLinks a tryal period, closely tracked. On the sites where it actually works, I'll keep them.
Now the question is if people will click twice to get to an ad.
But I cannot understand taking someone to an empty page which only has on topic ads on it.
At one of my sites, I have a page for purple widgets.
Before, with ordinary ad blocks, ad spammers would outbid the on-topic advertisers, so the only displayed ads were for widgets in general, or wadgets, or wodgets, or other widget sort-ofs.
The ads were so pointless and underperforming--and repeated ad nauseum throughout my site--that I had to remove Adsense entirely from those pages.
Now, with AdLinks, I am seeing ad category links for purple widgets, light purple widgets, purple widget accessories, new and used purple widgets, purple widget rentals, purple widget publications, etc.
Big improvement! Now people coming to my purple widgets page have the potential to see ads relevant to their interest where before there was effectively no chance.
Now the question is if people will click twice to get to an ad.
I have to imagine that Google has tested this proposition with focus groups, test labs, and perhaps actual field studies. I don't think Google would go to the trouble of introducing this major new ad category without proving its efficacy first (at least in some or many if not all instances).
AdLinks has me psyched!
Big improvement! Now people coming to my purple widgets page have the potential to see ads relevant to their interest where before there was effectively no chance.
That's great, but a better solution would be to have Google deliver properly targeted ads in general (not just on AdLinks pages).
That's great, but a better solution would be to have Google deliver properly targeted ads in general (not just on AdLinks pages).
Without a much more extensive system of ad filters (on both the advertiser and publishers sides) and manual overrides, an algorithmically based high-bid system will always produce off-topic ads.
With AdLinks, the off-topic ads (and spam and other useless crap) will be segregated under separate link categories, if they appear at all (ad targeting seems to have improved with AdLinks). In my experience, for the first time my visitors have the chance to see on-topic ads, and in a variety of useful sub-categories.
AdLinks has unlocked the door to ad relevancy on many of my pages (where before I had to remove Adsense entirely, the relevancy was so poor).
The proof is in the pudding. It seems that many skeptics in this forum, seeing the recipe for pudding, are turning their noses up at it.
This new pudding of Google's--try it! You just might like it.
But it's an innovation and for that I give them credit.
Berto: Those are good points, and they're valid if users click on the AdLinks.
Even if the CTR for (my implementation of) AdLinks is only 0.1% or 0.2%, that's an order of magnitude greater than the effective 0.01% or 0.02% CTRs for some of the crap/spam ads I was seeing before.
And any CTR > 0 is better than zero CTR, on the pages where I had removed Adsense entirely. (0 impressions, 0 CTR, obviously.)
Even if the CTR is low for (my implementation of) Adlinks:
--The ad block is so small that it is easy to fit into my existing pages (there are any number of nooks and crannies where the small AdLinks block will fit).
--The ad block is so small that it shouldn't contribute too much or at all to visitor annoyance or ad blindness. (I wish the "AdLinks by Google" header didn't have to be bold and black, though.)
--I am *always* seeing AdLinks blocks. Before, I was seeing 2nd (and sometimes 3rd) ordinary ad blocks < 20% of the time. On my site for some reason, I was having a devil of a time increasing the number of advertisements on my pages to > 4 (in a single skyscraper or leaderboard). Now, with AdLinks, my visitors have the potential to see dozens of ads where before they were effectively limited to 4 and perhaps one or two more (in button ads, one or both of which might show, but usually not; I could never get 2nd or 3rd multi-ad blocks to show).
--The AdLinks blocks present useful, interesting subcategories.
--The crap and spam is segregated under separate categories (or is not appearing at all, for some reason).
Yes, I will be disappointed if the CTR for (my implementation of) Adlinks is low. But something is better than nothing.
Only clicks on the Google ads linked from the Ad Links topics will be tracked. However, impressions are reported for each instance of the Ad Link unit as well as for each pageview of the resulting page that displays ads
[edited by: jouwpagina at 4:20 pm (utc) on Mar. 16, 2005]
given the fact that users hate popups and other "overt" attempts to throw ads at people, I couldn't see myself ever sticking something like this on a site of mine.
I guess you should remove all Adsense ad blocks of any type, then.
How is posting an AdLinks ad block any more "overt[ly]" "throw[ing] ads at people" than posting one of the more traditional ad blocks? The user plainly sees the "AdLinks by Google" header. If the user encounters more ads by way of AdLinks, he/she chooses to do so. More ads by way of AdLinks don't automatically jump out at the user. AdLinks in no way compares to popups.
Congrats Google!
I'm even seeing ebay buy-a-dead-cat type ads.
Just to wander off slightly, as anyone seen an Ebay ad for "New and used Ebay - plenty in stock all diferent sizes" yet? What are they playing at taking these ads anyway?
(I wish the "AdLinks by Google" header didn't have to be bold and black, though.)
The black, bold text also draws the eye to it. I was intrigued enough to put the Ad Links on 3 sites and can't wait to see how those channels perform over the next few weeks. If my earnings take a hit maybe I'll remove them but I'll save the negative comments for then.
