Friday, September 26, 2008

Continuing to improve our ads

Readers with sharp eyes will notice that on some rare occasions, your ads may appear or act slightly differently than what you're accustomed to. Rest assured that this is normal behavior that results from our efforts to improve the experience for all members of the advertising ecosystem. (You may have noticed a similar post about our search results on the official Google blog.)

One way in which we achieve this is by making continued tweaks and innovations to the user behavior and appearance of our ads. In the past, these experiments have included changes to the font styling, coloring, spacing, and other aesthetic components. More specifically, changes such as redesigned ad units and arrows to show additional ads have stemmed from these tests. The purpose of these tests is to identify changes to our product that can bring long-term benefits to our publishers, your site's visitors, and advertisers.

Before rolling out a change to our ads, we test performance for a limited number of ad impressions, which may not apply to all publishers. Although we don't notify publishers of these specific changes in order to prevent bias, we closely monitor the performance of these tests. We also welcome feedback from publishers, users, and advertisers, so feel free to drop us an email.

Posted by Keith Mander - AdSense Product Specialist

-searchspiderz

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Quality, not quantity

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, you can use your AdSense account to display ads on any policy-compliant sites you own. This has often sparked the question among new publishers of 'How many sites do I need to earn money with AdSense?'

We'd like to stress that it's not the number of sites you have, but the quality of those sites that will help you increase your earnings with AdSense. If you're just getting started with your first website and the AdSense program, we recommend taking the time to build up your site with plenty of original, quality content -- write about topics you're passionate about, or which you have expertise in. When designing your website, keep our Webmaster Guidelines and, most importantly, your users in mind. 

Then, take advantage of our Webmaster Tools to help increase your site's visibility in the Google search index, and try out the tips our Search Quality Evaluators have provided. Once you've built up organic traffic to your site, use Website Optimizer to understand how users interact with your pages and make improvements to your layout. And of course, during all of this, experiment withAdSense optimization tips to learn which colors, formats, and placements monetize best on your site.

Finally, as we blogged about during this Newbie Fridays series, your earnings potential can go up as advertisers find that you're sending high-quality leads to their sites. This won't happen overnight, but with patience and hard work you can watch your efforts convert into a high-quality site and higher AdSense earnings. And you won't even need a hundred sites to do it :)

Friday, September 12, 2008

Chasing the perfect layout with AdSense for search



AdSense publisher Next Small Things has long understood that search is the entry point for users to find what they're looking for on the web. In fact, the idea for CoolChaser.com, a MySpace layout creation and customization site (and Next Small Things's largest business to date), came from the observation that many web surfers were using the company's search engine to find instructions to change their MySpace backgrounds. The observation and ensuing business idea has paid off, and in just one year CoolChaser.com has gained a loyal user base: over 200,000 users are now finding or creating layouts on the site every day. "CoolChaser has become a one-stop-shop for layouts because of the ease of use and the choice and ability for users to express what they feel at the time," says founder Chao Lam. 

With over 20 million user-submitted layouts (and 3,000 created every hour), it was becoming increasingly difficult for users to find the layouts they were looking for. "We were getting a lot of requests from users to provide some sort of search mechanism so that they could easily find what they were looking for," developer Sachiko Kwan says. As an existing AdSense publisher, Kwan decided to try AdSense for search and was immediately impressed by the quick setup process and the accuracy of the results. With the new SiteSearch feature, Kwan was able to restrict the searches so users didn't have to leave the site to find what they were looking for. In addition, the new watermark feature allowed Kwan to add the search box without any rearrangement in the navigation bar.

Most recently, Lam and Kwan began optimizing their search for better performance and user experience. If a user wasn't creating a layout, they were looking for one. So Kwan moved the search box from the upper right corner of each page to the center of the header and also added a second search box to the bottom of every page, in case users who were done browsing needed to search again. On the search results page, she changed the ad borders to a lighter color to better blend in with the site's pages.


Within a week of making these changes, Lam and Kwan saw their daily search queries on CoolChaser increase by 40% and earnings more than double. Since implementing AdSense for search on CoolChaser, search has become the second most popular functionality behind creating layouts. Lam and Kwan continue to focus on user experience, and they are now working to refine search results using keywords and labels. "There's such an enormous variety of things people search for," Lam says. "AdSense for search is really working for us."

Have you had success with AdSense for search, or our new optimization tips? If so, we'd love tohear from you.

                                                                                                                                               -searchspiderz

Monday, September 8, 2008

try this it si free... :D

Hi everyone, 

I found a little tidbit, ok, a juicy morsel of a PPC tool that shows every tool we use in ONE place.. type a keyword, out pops a box with google search results for rank, google max bids, overtures view bids tool right there on the same page in a tidy little box, this thing rocks from what I can tell. I had to come tell you all about it then I am back to playing with this gizmo, so far, I am amazed, I usually have all these programs open in sepatate windows when I'm working a campaign and now its all in one page. Whoever designed this deserved a big fat hug!

The link=> http://search.rightnow4you.com

It's a dumb URL name lol but forget that and go play with this little toy and tell me what you guys think. I honestly can't believe it's free and I wouldn't tell too many folks so it will stay free

                                                                                                                                                       -searchspiderz

Free Top Paying Keyword list from Adsense Guide



Just doing a recap of the requirements to recieve the free list.

Top paying adsense keywords
I have spend many hours creating this list (hand made top paying keywords). You can use this list to target higher paying keywords, without damaging the understanding of the content on your site.

A few more ways you can use the high paying adsense keywords list:

If you are planning on adding more content to your website, you should rather focus the content on a $1+ keyword then on a $0.05 keyword. 

Looking to do a new website ? Get ideas from the list on subjects, that matches your interest, and has the possibility of paying as well. 

Get an idea of high paying niches, and use the available adsense tools to search for uncharted keywords and sentences that pays. 

Restrictions on using the list:

You can not make the list into a commercial product, i.e. charge money for it. 

You may not use the list, in whole or partial, as a part of any new lists, or updated lists, without prior approval and with reference to adsenseguide.info 

Use at your own risk. 

So what is in this top paying adsense keywords list ?
The list contains several thousand top paying keywords, all indexed in categories. 

You will find top paying adsense keywords to many subjects, and also discover quite a few niche areas that you can further develop.

Why am I giving away this top paying keyword list, if it is so power packed with money making keywords?

Basically I simply don't have the time to write enough content for all these top paying keywords. And in the spirit of Adsenseguide.info, I never charge money for anything that should be available to everyone.

"How do I get this top paying adsense keyword list?" I hear you thinking...

All I ask in return for providing you with this list, is that you:

Register at the forum here at adsenseguide and introduce yourself. 

Then make a few more posts, so that you can "purchase" the list from the shop , with the AG $$ you earn for posting.

Please, don't attempt to do spam posts or similar.

Do some promotion for this list and Adsenseguide, on forums, blogs etc.

That's it - enjoy the list, it has been my pleasure creating it

                                                                                                 -searchspiderz

Ads Shapes of Adsense...

As you'll recall, we recently introduced new formats for AdSense ads. This week, we've added a new dimension for publishers in customizing these ad formats. You've long been able to customize the size and colors of your ad units; now, you can also customize the shape by selecting between square, slightly rounded, or very rounded corners.


To get started with these new ad shapes, visit the 'AdSense Setup' tab in your account. As with all format options like sizes and colors, different corner styles will perform better for different publishers. We recommend that you choose the corner style that best matches the look and feel of your sites. Please keep in mind that if your page background color, ad background color, and ad border color are all the same, these new corners won't be visible.

This new option is part of our ongoing effort to improve the look and feel of our ads. We're also working to give you even more choices to customize your ad formats while maximizing revenue and user satisfaction. We hope you enjoy the new corner options, whether you choose to go edgy or bubbly.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   -searchspiderz

Sunday, September 7, 2008

What is Google Adsense..? Ha Ha :P

Google Adsense is one of the most successful online advertising programs today. This website is a guide to the Adsense program, that describes all major aspects, tips and optimizations of the program to help you have the best experience with Google Adsense.
As a webmaster, Google's Adsense program can be a possible income stream from your website, an income that can range from a few dollars to several hundred dollars a month....




Google Adsense is one of the most successful online advertising programs today. This website is a guide to the Adsense program, that describes all major aspects, tips and optimizations of the program to help you have the best experience with Google Adsense.
As a webmaster, Google's Adsense program can be a possible income stream from your website, an income that can range from a few dollars to several hundred dollars a month....

Many hours have gone into researching the content for this website, and it will be constantly updated with the latest content related to Google Adsense.

The Google Adsense program is a great alternative, or even replacement, for the outdated banner programs. Today more and more internet users have gone "blind" to banner advertising, and thereby threatening your advertisement income as a webmaster.

Here is what Google writes about it's adsense program:
"Google Adsense is the programme that can generate advertising revenue from each page on your website—with a minimal investment in time and no additional resources.

Adsense delivers relevant ads that are precisely targeted on a page-by-page basisto the content people find on your site. And when you add a Google search box to your site, Adsense delivers relevant ads that are targeted to the Google search results pages generated by your visitors’ search request.

You can customise the appearance of ads, choosing from a wide range of colours and templates. You can do the same with your search results page. Your reports are customisable, too. Flexible reporting tools let you group your pages in any way you want so you can view your results by URL, domain, ad type, category and more to learn where your earnings are coming from.

"Google Adsense ads, are highly content relevant ads, that are served directly on your pages - without your intervention. For you as a webmaster, this means that you simply paste the Google Adsense code on your pages, and thereafter have a constantly updated and relevant advertising income.

You can see an example of Google's Adsense on the top of this page.
The Google Adsense program serves ads generated by AdWords users on Adsense publishers webpage's. The Adsense ad layout can be fully customised to fit your excisting website design, in regards to both size, placement, colours and much more.

                                                                                                                                                                                           -SearchSpiderz

Simple Trick that can double your Adsense revenue

I've been working with Google's Adsense program for a while now. If you're not already in the program, why not take a look at it now at https://www.google.com/adsense. I really like Adsense. It makes me money and it's easy to work with. Just some simple copy & paste into your webpage and you're done. Right?

Wrong! You can do it that way if you want. Who knows? Maybe you'll get lucky and get a lot of clicks. But if you're really serious about making a lot of money with the program, you're going to have to tweak it a little.

I've invested quite a bit of time experimenting with the program. When I first signed up, I got some clicks and made a tiny bit of money. That wasn't good enough. I knew there must be a way to get more of my visitors to click on the ads.

Google has a strict policy about not pointing to the ads in any way or asking people to click on them, so there were two things I couldn't do. What else was there?

Then I remembered reading an article once that discussed the psychological impact of colours on the human mind. I started researching everything I could find on the subject.

After a lot of reading, many tests and periods of watching my clicks go up and down, I found the one colour combination that seemed to work the best.

Testing previously done at supermarkets had revealed that the same product could pull more sales from just changing the colours of the label. What were these colours? Red and yellow! The combination of these two colours has an immediate impact on the person who sees them. They make your eyes stop and focus. They pull your eyes right to that part of the page. They grab your attention! I'm not sure exactly why the combination of red and yellow does this, but it does. On one of my sites, I changed my Adsense ads to a bright red border and a yellow background with black text and URL.

My click through rate more than doubled with just that one simple change. That's what worked on my site. Your site's colour scheme may work better with a slightly different colour combination. Try lots of different colour variations. Make a change in the morning and let it ride for the whole day. The next morning, try a different set of colours. Change the border, background, text. Change everything you can. Most importantly, keep detailed records of the colour scheme you used, click ratio and revenue generated.

After you've done all the experimenting you want to, go back to the most profitable one and let it run for a week or so and see how it does. I'm always trying different colours even after my run of good clicks with red and yellow. There are a lot of colour combinations to choose from. You never know when you'll find just the right one.


                                                                                                                                                -searchspiderz


Affiliate Alternatives:- Google Adsense

The Rise and Fall of Affiliate Programs Affiliate programs were once a great source of online revenue, a savvy webmaster with an eye for marketing could easily parley a site into a money making machine with a little luck and effort. However, the evolution and growth of the Internet has hampered the growth of fortune making affiliate programs. Constant search engine algorithm changes, along with the search engine's clear distaste for sites participating in affiliate programs; have made it a little more difficult to earn a healthy affiliate revenue. An influx in the use of software programs that terminate cookie tracking and privacy programs that prevent webmasters from tracking referrers, have also hindered the affiliate sales channel. While it is still possible to make money through affiliate marketing, other alternatives ought to be considered.

A Healthy Alternative or Supplement Google's Adsense program allows approved websites to dynamically serve Google's pay-per-click Adword results. This has become a popular alternative and an effective revenue sharing program for webmasters. Google's spider parses the ad serving website and serves ads that relate to the website's content. While the Google's Adsense program still has some issues, they are making efforts to improve it.

The website maintenance related to Adsense is very easy and requires very little effort. Webmasters need only to insert JavaScript into the webpage or website template. The JavaScript calls the ad from Google and will ensure that ads are served each time a visitor goes to the webpage. If the visitor clicks one of the Adsense ads served to the website, the website owner is credited for the referral.

The implementation, while simple, has its drawbacks. Google dictates the format of the ads. Webmasters can select from a handful of preformatted text boxes that lack creativity. A recent improvement allows webmasters to modify the ad boxes to resemble the website's colour scheme. Still, a far cry from some of the creative ads webmasters are accustom to.

The example below reflects how the colour scheme can be modified to match the look of the website, but the ads physically don't fit well into the overall website design.

sample modified to match sites colour scheme: http://www.hospital-software.com (scroll to the bottom)

Google determines the content of the ads that are shown/ Sometimes the ads are poorly targeted, and of no interest to the website visitors.

sample of poorly targeted ads: http://www.real-estate-supply.com

AdWords can be a great addition to a website, and when well matched to the content the revenue stream from Google is consistent and effortless.

sample of effective Adsense program: http://www.police-supplies.com (scroll to the bottom) http://www.small-business-software.net (scroll to the bottom)

Not that the Google Adsense program is not without its problems.as the reporting provided by Google is lacking. Google has not implemented any way to track multiple sites that serve ads; they simply show the number of ads served, the percentage of clicks received, and the revenue earned each day. Google does not disclose the amount of the revenue they share, what percentage of the revenue they earn and what someone can expect to receive for each click. Webmasters with multiple sites will have difficulty determining which websites are producing the money in the Adsense program.

With affiliate programs many webmasters implement a new browser launch with each click off the site, Adsense removes the visitor from the website and there is not currently an option to launch the visitor into another browser.

Early on Google implemented a filtering system that allowed webmasters to prevent a specific domain's ads from being served on the website. Ad blocking meant that webmasters could prevent their competitors ads from being dynamically served on their website.

Overall, AdWords are great supplements to websites where affiliate programs are either not performing or when affiliate programs don't exist that target the sites content.

Give it a Try Implementing and maintain Google Adsense program on a content site requires very little effort and can often bring a steady stream of additional revenue for webmasters. Consider supplementing content and see what happens.

                                                                                                                                                  -searcgspiderz

Adsense makes sense

Q: Of the billions of sites on the web, what is the one thing just about every site has in common?

A: Almost every one is trying to make an extra buck off of advertising in some fashion.

I'm ashamed to admit it, but many years ago when affiliate programs seemed innovative, I too tried to cash in by linking to Amazon.com books and music. Did that actually work for anyone? Chances are most will say no. Didn't work for me either. Not only did I not make an extra buck, I didn't even make an extra penny. In fact, even my site mrcgiguy.com (shameless plug), which receives around 500 unique visitors a day does not produce particularly good results from affiliate programs. The bottom line is, most affiliate programs won't work for most web sites. Vague, I know. But from my experience, unless your audience is very general, you'll need to find affiliate programs that are very specific to your niche in order to produce even the slightest result. Though, these days, even well targeted affiliate programs don't seem to produce much.

Like myself, most modern day web developers have opted not to join affiliate programs and have instead turned to ad networks such as FastClick, TribalFusion, Burst, etc. I joined FastClick since it was said to have the highest CPM rates. And for a long while, I was pretty happy with the results. I was able to make a breath-taking 50 cents a day. Yes, I was happy with that. I wasn't expecting millions...reality sank in long ago...somewhere between the days of being an "Amazon affiliate" and having my job dissolved after the dotcom crash. So, 50 cents a day, or an approximate $15.00 a month was great. Every bit helps when you're self employed.

Now let me get to the point. Forget about affiliate programs! Forget about the ad networks (or at least reduce them to being a secondary form of ad revenue)! Google's Adsense is where it's at! What was once offered only to the largest of the web, is now available to those of us running smaller niche sites. And how could there be any form of advertising cooler than one that uses your own content to determine which ads to display? I mean, this is what we've all been waiting for. This is the answer. Highly targeted ads, non-intrusive, routinely shuffled to maintain freshness, and they pay well. And when I say pay well, I mean, the potential exists to make in one day what I had previously been making in an entire month via FastClick. While, I'm not allowed to discuss any particular figures (part of the agreement in using Adsense), I will say that it's not even been a month now, and I've already made more from Adsense then I made in the entire duration of running ads for FastClick. Needless to say, I've waived bye bye to ad networks and affiliate programs.

Don't get me wrong, Adsense is not perfect. There are some things that could definitely be done to improve the system. One of the biggest gripes I have, and I've noticed others with the same opinion, is the overall lack of tracking. It sure would be great to know which ads are being clicked and how much those ads are producing. But at the same time, I can understand why that information may be counter-productive for Google. The lack of control over the border colour and link colour is a bit undesirable too. All other factors aside, the purpose of the ads is to make some extra money. On this point, Google's Adsense are definitely successful and in my humble opinion should immediately replace any current 468x60 or skyscraper ads you are running via ad networks or affiliate programs.

The future for affiliate programs and ad networks has become very bleak. It's going to be very interesting to see how Adsense matures, as the initial product is already undeniably far better than said competition.

                                                                                                                                       -searchspiderz