Do different Ad Formats pay differently?

I've noticed during the last few weeks that the link unit and the 468 x 60 banner get quite a few click but paying very low.

On the contrary the Large Rectangle (336 x 280) is paying fairly good (4-5 times better than the 468 x 60 for the same amount of clicks).

Is this a mare coincidence or not?

Because I'm planning to replace the 468 x 60 banner and the link unit with one Large Rectangle (336 x 280).

 

I think it is a coincidence more than anything. The only definite trend is that image ads pay more per click than the corresponding link ads as a general rule.

 

No me too feel something like this. The half banner is paying only 25% of those from 336*280 block. They are in the same page & the half banner is on the top of the large rectangle in the html code.

 

If the 336x280 banner is on top of the 468x60 one in the HTML code, then it will receive "better" ads which most likely also pay more.

 

This is the order in the HTML:

1. Link unit
2. 468 x 60 banner
3. 336 x 280 banner
4. Wide Skyscraper (160x600)

1 & 2 get the most clicks and "best ads"? therefore should pay better, but actually they pay worse.

 

banner size very definitely makes huge difference
exaqmple of a recent test-study i made across high traffci blog
300x250ATF vs 336x280ATF
some 30-100% higher eCPM/CTR for 336x280ATF

placement of same formats ATF vs below the fold
similar increase when placed ATF+center of page

the most successful formats/placements are the ones i use in my blog - and i have turned almost all flat files toward same placements incl heavily twisted forum templates to achieve similar look -
result in the blog now is a 2-digit CTR with majority - i.e. about 75% of a page-CTR/-revenue coming from the 336x280ATF
another substantial factor was the move AWAY from blending colors toward RED ..
total sum of all changes made last 2 weeks resulted in a 100% increase in ctr7$ - with the starting ctr being a little above half-2-digits already to start with

my experience summary of the past 2-3 week near-fulltime adsense re-optimization:

be creative to twist templates, totally drop NON-successful formats ( 3 successful formats being the current ones published at G ) to strictly use the 3 formats published by G
change colors to a fresh and sunny colorstyle
use top of page placements only
most successful after intense testing/comparing across all sections of my site are

top-center 336x280ATF
top-left 160x600
top-center 399x250 below fold - just below H1 main page title

no ads below that at all

when talking about success or improvements - it might be improtant to state what your starting point is/was
it is very easy to make a 100-300% increase in CTR/$ if you start with a highly de-optimized page, outdated or small formats and a ctr of below 2-3%
a 100% improve as i achieved in past 2 weeks fulltime restructuring started with a slightly above half of 2-digits-ctr ... which in many cases seems to be above average for most site-owners

for those having a small banner in upper right "trash-bin" corner of page to move UP in ctr/$ might be easy by simply replacing that one ad-unit with a single 336x280ATF - center ( NO left nor right )

disbelief or doubts?
give it a try - ONE single day - even a few hours on a high traffic site ( a few thousand unique visitors / day or more ) will instantly show the increase in your G stats

on a really high traffic site like 10k unique visitors or more per day a single hour or two should clearly show an UP move of your CTR/eCPM

 

Thanks for this information hans

However, not everyone is able to put a 336 banner in the middle of the page like this.

30 clicks = 1$ today
you do the math

 

are you webmaster or webslave ?
tell me a real rocksolid reason why an owner of a website who masters html/css would or should be unable to put a 336x280ATF on avery single page ???

even on DP forum such would be possible if double $ would be needed
ANY site i know, any CMS would allow to put the top paying rectangle at the absolute prime location ATF top-center

i have many different sections - most handmade, some CMS like blog, photo gallery or forums
but i was easily able to tweak every single layout to match the needs to get highest possible revenue
the difference in my case was belo 1k$ o ra MULTIple k$/m
yoiu figure out why you have 30 clicks=1$ today
30 clicks=300 pageviews if you do your job well
and if you have HIGH competition formats then you should have 4 or more$ for same pageviews on an averasge site with nothing spectacular - nothing mfa - just real generic useful content

in addition
if that traffic is all you have - then you need to work a few months, each day 3-5 useful unique content, self created to get more and more traffic until you have a few k visitors /d

 

hans, I mean in some cases it will be very difficult to implement 336 in the center with fancy colors without compromising the design etc.

 

Also, 336x280 is quite a big square, and not everyone wants to spare so much space for ads on his site, after all, we all would agree that too much ads makes the site look cheap...

 

look at times or newsweek
expensive magazines with huge full page ads

if your content is of value then your visitors understand the need for ads

the difference between a totally outdated low price small banner or leaderboard and a single 336x280 may very easily be 5% MORE ctr on a single ad unit and far more increase in $ because formats in demand have more competition than outdated formats

example the difference between a 300x250 and 336x280 may easily be up to factor 3 MORE for the bigger rectangle

above all we are talking about adsense revenue OPTIMIZATION
if you want to get maximum out - and if you want to get QUALITY advertisers to appear on your site - then you have to offer quality
the best attracts the best!

zexy

you seem to be rich - then you can have fix layout and just add whatever fits into your page - myslef i can easily fit a 336x280 on any page i want

keep in mind that most surfers nowadays use high resolution monitors and only some 15% or less use the old fashioned 800x600 ... most of my site visitors use 768x1024 OR MUCH bigger - hence a 336x280 is always tiny compare to full monitor size

me
i am progressive and innovative - i have thousands of ideas and potential productivity possibilities - but i need an extra thousand $ now and then to easily and comfortable realize these projects
in addition - from the extra 1-2k$/m i get a substantial % goes into charity day by day - example school fees for poor ones etc

all has a purpose and all my site visitors are happy to get all - content for free and some really exciting value added advertisement

because

the key factor when deciding after some 7+ yrs of ad-free web-publishing 2 yrs ago was that most of the ads appearing are directly relevant to the content of my various pages hence i consider them value added services for my site visitors

for example in a large section of my site - "Philippine islands" a major national airline advertises regularly in addition to several local hotels/resorts

hence everyone coming to PH needs to get airline to travel the islands and needs to find hotels / resorts to stay

the air carrier advertising is the best here among several - the one i use myself - and hence i am happy they are on the pages relevant to PH islands ..

same in other topics/site sections
always contextual ads with value services/products that supplement/complement my own content

success requires progress
progress requires investments in better faster more efficient HW/SW

recently i switched to root server - fully paid one yr with last weeks one week adsense$

progress and success both require thousands or ten thousands of $ overall-investment each year in addition to very substantial efforts in work and work related expenses - thats what i have invested in the past nearly 10 yrs ( in april 07=10yrs )

hence it all depends on what you want to achieve or NOT achieve
a hobby site or make a professional quality living on the high end of the web publishing

look at shawn from DP forum - with many ten thosuands of $ HW to be invested NOW - there is little room but to either fully optimize OR to ask for donations

i did the donations calls years ago whenever i needed HW or charity funds
now adsense is doing that for me

 

I fully disagree with that statement

calculate how little you actually share for the full living income: you give 5% FREE page space to receive 100% living $
the page area I share - for me its free - i neve have to pay extra - i have one and the same server cost whether i share page space or keep all for me. hence it costs me nothing but goodwill

i have widescreen monitor - ALL my friends, visitors, professional colleagues around me as well
i.e. - my acer ferrari 4005 has 1050x1680px=1'764'000px

a 336x250px ad = 94'080px

that means the wide rectangle is a tiny 5+% of your total monitor area

giving some 5% of what you have as page survace to the top paying to have a good living - is that too much or are we simply too stingy to give a honest share for a solid $ revenue to afford professional, comfortable, pleasant and efficient lving and work ???

most of the other ads are further down - hence it is mainly about the ATF - and that one sums up to 70+ % of total $ per page

 

i used to have 2 336x280 in the middle of the first page of my website, with some text in the middle, the left one had 1% CTR and 1$ ecpm, and the right one 0.5% CTR and 0.5$ ecpm. The link unit from the left menu had 3% CTR and 3$ ecpm. I changed the layout today, i added a new link unit at the start of content area, and added 2 leaderboards around the text. I want to see how this layout works.

 

why don't you try to love your advertisers like all ad-pros (times, newsweek, etc ) do and offer them ATF

i have ONLY ATF and get a CTR near 10% on that alone and an eCPM near or around 2 digits on ATF

just exactly as described in the many posts we have HERE in DP forum

if stinginess reigns your heart - then low-tide reigns your bank ......
if however you give the truly BEST - then your bank always is !!!

 

Sometimes ugly is profitable, but I put my content first not ads. I might have a lot of ads on my site but I keep them out of the way of the content. Thats why my traffic and user loyalty goes up by 25% each month. If I put a ad block that big on my site with every article my readers were see more ads than content above the fold. No thanks.

 

if i were you, i would just try and try and try. you will find the best one for you.

 

I have also think, that the banner size can also do something.

 

thankz guyz for such useful information