Minggu, 09 September 2007
Kamis, 06 September 2007
Getting your forum site to perform well with AdSense
When Amit Kumar co-founded MegaGames Forum in 1998, Google Inc. was being run from a Menlo Park garage and AdSense didn’t even exist yet. Fast-forward 9 years to 2007: Amit still runs MegaGames Forum just as a hobby, but he earns enough revenue through the AdSense program to run a dedicated server and continue growing his site.
Amit wasn't so successful with AdSense right from the start. When he first started using the program in 2005, his earnings were nothing to write home about, and it was largely because he chose his ad placement, formats, and colors at random. After recently optimizing his ads, however, Amit was able to more than double his AdSense revenue and even improve the user experience on his site. Results may vary since every site is unique, but here are some tips that any forum site, large or small, can also try out to increase revenue.
1. The welcome box ad
Many forums have a message above the fold on their pages welcoming users to the site and encouraging them to register. Placing a large (336x280) or medium (300x250) rectangle next to this message catches users’ attention right when they walk through the door (so to speak). By the way, these are our best performing ad units, and may also increase the number of site-targeted ads on your pages.
2. The forum post ad
Based on previous testing, integrating ad units into your page content can improve clickthrough rate (CTR). It also provides a better online experience, since your users see relevant ads side by side with normal content. In forums, the highest visibility content is often the first post, so it makes sense to place the ads here. Again, large and medium rectangles are your best bet!
3. Blending colors and breaking down borders
Colors are important for making an ad visible to the user, but they should still blend with the design of the site. Removing the borders on your ads helps even more with this concept of blending. Don’t worry -- even with a well-blended implementation, the 'Ads by Google' label keeps your users from confusing ads with content.
Bonus tip: Improve ad relevance with section targeting
With forums, the first post often contains the most relevant content on the page. By using the section targeting feature to emphasize this content, you can potentially increase CTR with better targeted ads. Visit this 'section targeting' link we mention for instructions.
If you decide to try out these tips, we’d love to hear about your success.
Posted by Magnus Yang - AdSense Optimization Team
Amit wasn't so successful with AdSense right from the start. When he first started using the program in 2005, his earnings were nothing to write home about, and it was largely because he chose his ad placement, formats, and colors at random. After recently optimizing his ads, however, Amit was able to more than double his AdSense revenue and even improve the user experience on his site. Results may vary since every site is unique, but here are some tips that any forum site, large or small, can also try out to increase revenue.
1. The welcome box ad
Many forums have a message above the fold on their pages welcoming users to the site and encouraging them to register. Placing a large (336x280) or medium (300x250) rectangle next to this message catches users’ attention right when they walk through the door (so to speak). By the way, these are our best performing ad units, and may also increase the number of site-targeted ads on your pages.
2. The forum post ad
Based on previous testing, integrating ad units into your page content can improve clickthrough rate (CTR). It also provides a better online experience, since your users see relevant ads side by side with normal content. In forums, the highest visibility content is often the first post, so it makes sense to place the ads here. Again, large and medium rectangles are your best bet!
3. Blending colors and breaking down borders
Colors are important for making an ad visible to the user, but they should still blend with the design of the site. Removing the borders on your ads helps even more with this concept of blending. Don’t worry -- even with a well-blended implementation, the 'Ads by Google' label keeps your users from confusing ads with content.
Bonus tip: Improve ad relevance with section targeting
With forums, the first post often contains the most relevant content on the page. By using the section targeting feature to emphasize this content, you can potentially increase CTR with better targeted ads. Visit this 'section targeting' link we mention for instructions.
If you decide to try out these tips, we’d love to hear about your success.
Posted by Magnus Yang - AdSense Optimization Team
Kamis, 26 Juli 2007
Can't log in using Firefox?
We've recently noticed that many publishers are having trouble logging into their accounts after the latest Mozilla Firefox update. A number of publishers have reported that they're only seeing a sign-up page rather than a login form.
After a little digging and some testing, we've found that Adblock Plus, an add-on that sometimes gets installed with Firefox, can prevent you from accessing your account on the AdSense homepage. Our recommendation is to clear your cache and cookies and turn off the Adblock software before trying to log in at www.google.com/adsense. You may also wish to review our troubleshooting tips for login issues in our Help Center.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention!
Posted by Rajiv Sud - AdSense Publisher Support
Monday, July 23, 2007 at 11:31:00 AM
After a little digging and some testing, we've found that Adblock Plus, an add-on that sometimes gets installed with Firefox, can prevent you from accessing your account on the AdSense homepage. Our recommendation is to clear your cache and cookies and turn off the Adblock software before trying to log in at www.google.com/adsense. You may also wish to review our troubleshooting tips for login issues in our Help Center.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention!
Posted by Rajiv Sud - AdSense Publisher Support
Monday, July 23, 2007 at 11:31:00 AM
Rabu, 25 Juli 2007
An excuse to enjoy the outdoors
It's summer. It's gorgeous outside. You shouldn't be inside, tethered to your computer, checking your AdSense reports on a sunny Saturday morning. Life is too short!
To help you achieve better AdSense-life balance (and, okay, technically to perform routine system maintenance), your AdSense account will be inaccessible starting at 10am PDT on Saturday, July 14th. As usual, your ads will keep running and your reports will keep tracking during this time.
While the maintenance will be over at 2pm PDT, feel free to spend the rest of the day – nay, the whole weekend! – enjoying yourself in whatever fashion you choose. And, hey, if you choose to spend it optimizing your account, who are we to argue?
Also, to give our international publishers a better idea of how the maintenance might affect your weekend activities:
New York -- Go for a walk in the park at 1:00pm Saturday
Sao Paolo -- Challenge your neighbor to a game of futebol at 2:00pm Saturday
Dublin -- Head out for a pint at 6:00pm Saturday
New Delhi – Dance the night away at 10:30pm Saturday
Tokyo -- Sleep right through it at 2:00am Sunday
Posted by Julie Beckmann - AdSense Publisher Support
Friday, July 13, 2007 at 5:51:00 PM
To help you achieve better AdSense-life balance (and, okay, technically to perform routine system maintenance), your AdSense account will be inaccessible starting at 10am PDT on Saturday, July 14th. As usual, your ads will keep running and your reports will keep tracking during this time.
While the maintenance will be over at 2pm PDT, feel free to spend the rest of the day – nay, the whole weekend! – enjoying yourself in whatever fashion you choose. And, hey, if you choose to spend it optimizing your account, who are we to argue?
Also, to give our international publishers a better idea of how the maintenance might affect your weekend activities:
New York -- Go for a walk in the park at 1:00pm Saturday
Sao Paolo -- Challenge your neighbor to a game of futebol at 2:00pm Saturday
Dublin -- Head out for a pint at 6:00pm Saturday
New Delhi – Dance the night away at 10:30pm Saturday
Tokyo -- Sleep right through it at 2:00am Sunday
Posted by Julie Beckmann - AdSense Publisher Support
Friday, July 13, 2007 at 5:51:00 PM
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