Observations on the new Google Changes

Display of CPM and changing no. of ads

[roycerus]

Earlier I used display a single ad unit [leader board]- which kind of was my best performing ad layout/position. I removed the second ad taking the advice that came from many on this forum.

With the recent changes I saw a sudden drop in my earnings and ECPM. The reason wasn't very clear the CTR had dropped due to the addition of CPM ads on my website although the page impressions had increased due to a recent press release.

Somehow I get a feeling that smart pricing, CPM, highest bid ads to display first, highest click through - all these factors have kind of made it difficult to optimize for highest performance - add to that the fact that you need to find the best ad layout and the best ad positions on your websites.

My Observations:

1. Less is not MORE anymore. One ad block is no longer sufficient. You should probably have two at least. So that if you have CPM ads then one block is still free to display the high CPC ads.

2. You need to use two prominent positions. I had to alter the design my of websites a bit [using the heat-map from google optimization tips]. This way CPM ads get shown and your CPC also get good visibility.

3. The revenue from adsense has become more stable. I see a very predictive increase in the revenue earned. Like by the time it's 12 hours - I've earned roughly 40-60% of the days earnings.

4. I had to move to the smaller ad layouts [half banners] to display at least two ad units without crowding the design with ads.

Now my ECPM has seemed to jump back to it's normal level and my CTR has also improved. BTW I did incorporate the Google's optimization tips - adding a half banner in the RED- zone.

[alika]

I totally agree with your #1 observation. In another thread, the possibility of showing both CPM and CPC ads was discussed. Assuming things are in good working condition, the assumption is only the best ads will be shown first.

If you have two ad units and some advertisers targeted your site for their CPM campaigns, then you can get the best of both worlds. If the CPM bid high enough, then it shows in the first ad unit, and your second ad unit shows CPC ads. If the CPM is beaten by the CPC bidders for the first ad unit, but is greater than the CPC bidders for the second ad unit, then the CPM ad will show. And sometimes, your ad units will show all CPM ads, the order of which is determined by the price!

My blog for example, which normally had less than stellar CTR rate (and thus lower income), has lately been showing all CPM ads for the two ad units I use: leaderboard and wide sky. Income has therefore increased as it is not dependent on people clicking on it: people can ignore the ads and still I earn. And because I show two ad units, so I have better revenue potential. Makes me a happy camper :o)