Forum Moderators: martinibuster
I have read many negative things about adsense and there support. I have had to change account status with them and several other dealings and all have been professional and timley.
Recently I ask them about running some other ads on the same page as adsense. They responded quickly, thanked me for wanting to stay within the TOS and asked for an example of the other ads. I sent it to them and they responded the same day. Thats service. Hurray, they said I could.
I have been looking at other programs and even started some of them and I can tell you that so far no-one else has come close to adsense. (not that there isnt any, I just havent found them yet.)
In a nutshell, you can never know from day to day, week to week, or month to month, what your earnings will be.
A lot of people will say this is simply the nature of the beast and to a great extent they are right: advertisers come and go, bids change, your placement in the serps may change, etc.
However, there have been a few things that have rankled publishers and somewhat justifiably.
One: Adsense allowed publishers to carry more than one adblock. Almost universally, additional adblocks had the effect of torpedoing earnings.
Adlinks may have had a similar effect, but I never tried them after the multiple adblock fiasco.
Two: Smart pricing gives you dramatic (and I mean dramatic swings) in earnings, sometimes from one day to the day. This wouldn't be so irritating if it weren't for the fact that it seems to happen even when your traffic is going up, your clicks are going up, your ctr is going up, and the same advertisers are consistently appearing on your site (no dropouts).
Three: adsense is constantly fidgeting with things at the cost of publishers. The last couple days are a good example. Off target ads and dramatic drops in epc. But almost never a word from them about what's going on or why.
I'll say it again. Fantastic program. But right now they're riding on the fact that there isn't a viable alternative out there...yet.
In a nutshell, you can never know from day to day, week to week, or month to month, what your earnings will be.
I've found it to be remarkably consistent in terms of eCPM, with a monthly variation no greater than--and often less than--seven or eight percentage points.
It's possible that some sectors (or even topics within sectors) are less volatile than others. Other factors may be at work, too. For example, if you have a site about baking that has subtopics on Christmas baking, Hanukkah baking, Easter baking, graduation-party baking, etc., you may be better off than a general-interest site (which will lack "theme" ads such as flour or cookware ads when targeted ads aren't available) or a site that focuses on only one subtopic such as Christmas baking.
But I would be really glad for you if I'm mistakening
One: Adsense allowed publishers to carry more than one adblock. Almost universally, additional adblocks had the effect of torpedoing earnings.
Ironically, not being allowed to have multiple adblocks was a big complaint until Google allowed it. Now we are complaining that Google did!
If you see 'negative remarks' - in many cases, these are grumblings of uncertainty as mentioned above, but also, these comments help to document areas in which improvements can be made and lessons can be learned and applied.
One: Adsense allowed publishers to carry more than one adblock. Almost universally, additional adblocks had the effect of torpedoing earnings.
It was in Google's interest to allow multiple ad blocks, because it needed more inventory to display lower-bidding ads. That didn't necessarily mean that multiple ad blocks were good for publishers, though--even though publishers clamored for them.
Similarly, optimization techniques that may drive up CTR without a corresponding increase in conversion rates may not hurt Google, since they're likely to have the effect of giving advertisers more clicks for their money (through "smart pricing" discounts). As long as an advertiser is spending its budget, Google is making out fine--and more publishers are getting a piece (however small) of the advertiser's budget.
That didn't necessarily mean that multiple ad blocks were good for publishers, though--even though publishers clamored for them.
My second ad block increased my revenue over 50% so I don't see the problem with them :)
Actually, the complaint would be more along the lines of "you give us options to increase revenue that often have the opposite effect".
And I'd say that is a wholly valid complaint as far as complaints go (not everyone did badly with multiple adblocks, but I remember the postings and I would say most saw a negative effect and removed them)
Blending works for some, doesn't for others.
Ads on top works for some, on bottom for others.
Skyscrapers do better on the left for some, on the right for others.
At least you have the option for single or multiple ad blocks.
If multiple ad blocks work you keep it, if it doesn't get rid of it.
AdSense isn't a one size fits all program and we've seen over and over that what one group complains about costing them money often is often reaping riches for others.
Go figure.
When Google makes multiple adblocks mandatory, THEN I'll complain.
I've got the max running on most of my pages. Leave it, reduce it, run screaming into the night from the angst?
Also, I find that multiple units work best when they are on a rather hefty page -- meaning that one block is visible at the top of the page and another comes into view as the reader scrolls down to devour more content.
As for the Ad Links, they've been profitable for us and, I would suggest, useful to our readers, at least much of the time.
