Swap 5 ads for 4?

change to smaller col.?

[foxtrot3]

Swap 5 ads for 4?

I have a 160 x 600 adsense column on the right hand side of my index page above the fold.
It does OK, but I'm thinking...(not always a good thing)...

It's my understanding that the highest paying ads are at the top of the column, followed by lower paying ads the further down you go.

If that's the case, would it make sense to replace the 160 x 600 layout (which shows 5 ads) with the 120 x 600 layout (which shows only 4 ads), thereby eliminating the lowest paying ad from the bottom of the column?

I know, I could just give it a shot and see what happens, and I probably will, but I thought I'd get some input first.

[mike schmitz]

Every site is different but remember that the top ad isn't just highest paying, it's the ad that has the highest yield RPM to Google. That may or not hold true on your site as it is an average based on a lot of factors out of your control. If you can, split the traffic 50/50 to the page with the 160 and 120 ad. I don't like doing test over different days as I see 10-20% change just from day to day.

[foxtrot3]

Mike - Thanks for your input. Split test sounds like a good idea, but I don't know how to do it.

[hunderdown]

Doing a split test would be beyond me too--I'd probably run each format for a week to control for weekend/weekday variations.

Will be interested to hear what you find. I have the narrower ad column because I like the look of it better, but wider might be more noticeable.