Ads After 1st, 2nd and 3rd Post in Forums

Banner after first 3 posts in forum fails to work

[seunosewa]

Hello,

I used to run leaderboard ads in separate blocks before and after the posts in my forum.

I changed it so that the leaderboard ads show just after the first and last post in each thread, with no noticeable improvement.

So after what I thought was a flash of insight, I decided to design the pages with one bordered banner after the first, second and third post in each thread on the forum. The result was:
- More pleasing to the eye, and
- Resulted in a very horrible CTR.

Can anybody offer me insight and perhaps share similar experiences with this issue?

Seun.

[miguelito]

you really think that having three different sets of ads on a forum page where people want to read info is pleasing to the eye?

have you considered that you are making the ads so "in yer face" that people are not clicking anything as a means of protest?

[strikerzebra]

ads after posts just annoys people, its to much in there face I reckon.. they go into a post to read about what someone is saying and they see an ad.

[robotsdobetter]

I think the best place to put the ads on a forum is in the right hand side of the web page. This way your visitors still see the ads, but it don't interfere with the content. But as with any web site you need to test it to get the best results.

[hyperkik]

My forum is more informational than conversational. Within that context, I use one block of ads at the bottom of the forum thread, displayed to readers who are not logged in, with what I find to be good results. I had poor results with a leaderboard above the thread, and (despite Google's indication that many forums get good CTR's by placing ads after the first post in a forum thread) I simply don't care for the appearance of forums where ads appear within the thread.

My reasons for not displaying the ads in the same way to users who are logged in may not apply universally - the ads come close to the reply and preview buttons, raising a possibility of accidental clicks, and for people who are participating in the discussion seem to interfere with the flow of the discussion.

An ad after each of the first three posts? Have you considered experimenting with the idea that "less is (or at least can be) more"?

[seunosewa]

I felt my third system was better than my second system, since the banner has a smaller size than the leaderboard, but after consulting with the Adsnese support team they gave me two important suggestions:
- Position your ads <b>close to navigational elements<b>.
- Have at least one major ad block <b>above the fold<.b>.
- Put the ads on <b>more pages<b> on your site.

So I have no more ads after posts, anymore. What i have is just like original system except that the ads are now closer to the buttons and links, on both discussion and thread index pages.

I guess I moved in a completely wrong direction, but it was based on the idea that ads right after the first post work well. I don't think Google is emphasizing that anymore.

[hyperkik]

Google's advice is correct in a general sense, but may be dead wrong with any specific site. For example, their advisor told me that one of my ad blocks was terribly placed - and most here would agree if they simply looked at the page - but she changed her mind when I described its performance. (And while she did suggest that an ad placed after the first response in a forum often gave good performance, she did not expand on that to suggest also placing ads after the second and third posts.)

What you really have to do is experiment based upon available information (including tips from Google's consultant and those on the AdSense site), but also based upon some trial and error, to find what works best on your own site.