Google AdSense Leaderboards vs. Skyscrapers

Discussion in 'AdSense' started by Will.Spencer, Jul 26, 2004.

  1. #1
    Most all of my sites use 160x600 (5 ad) skyscrapers in the right column.

    Leaderboards seem ugly and distracting -- but do they result in higher CTR?

    I am certain that I will end up testing this myself, but I wanted to ask and see if anyone else has tested and what their results were.
     
    Will.Spencer, Jul 26, 2004 IP
  2. disgust

    disgust Guest

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    #2
    most people report higher CTRs with vertical ads.

    I'm sure some of this just has to do with people being so blinded to horizontal ads (since they're more common).
     
    disgust, Jul 26, 2004 IP
  3. hdpt00

    hdpt00 Peon

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    #3
    I've seen that the verticals do better. Always test and see what works best for you though. What is true for one site might not work for the another.
     
    hdpt00, Jul 26, 2004 IP
  4. compar

    compar Peon

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    #4
    I have always used skyscrappers on the left of the page. I think that is more traditional menu spac, and where people look for things to click on.

    In any case I've never tried anything else, but from comparisons I've done with other people I think my CTR is higher than most.
     
    compar, Jul 26, 2004 IP
  5. alang

    alang Notable Member

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    #5
    I got the highest CTR from a large Rectangle ads, I blend it with my content and the CTR is triple compared to the Skycraper.
     
    alang, Jul 26, 2004 IP
  6. schlottke

    schlottke Peon

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    #6
    Im putting a verticle sky scraper in the middle of all of my pages now.. ;)
     
    schlottke, Jul 26, 2004 IP
  7. Will.Spencer

    Will.Spencer NetBuilder

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    #7
    I switched from skycrapers on the right to leaderboards on the top.

    CTR fell hard.

    I switched back.

    CTR stayed down.

    d'oh! :mad:
     
    Will.Spencer, Jul 29, 2004 IP
  8. Help Desk

    Help Desk Well-Known Member

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    #8
    disgust, do you even put adsense ads on your pages? I looked at the 3 links in your signature and non-popped out at me.
     
    Help Desk, Jul 29, 2004 IP
  9. a389951l

    a389951l Must Create More Content

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    #9
    Geez. I guess I need to do some more testing. I do like the idea of putting it on the left as Bob Wafker suggested. I will need to test that and putting a vertical skycraper right in the middle.

    My biggest improvement was making the ad blend in with the content.
     
    a389951l, Aug 3, 2004 IP
  10. Help Desk

    Help Desk Well-Known Member

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    #10
    I've had better results just by removing the border. People have trained themselves to ignore ads.
     
    Help Desk, Aug 3, 2004 IP
  11. Redleg

    Redleg Raider

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    #11
    I've also removed the borders on a couple of sites, and the CTR went up a bit..
    I've had best success doing this with vertical scyscrapers, so it looks like the ads are a part of the menu.

    This is a bit off-topic, but the biggest success I've had with adsense optimization was to remove all unrelated ads...
    Went through most of my pages, and "banned" the ads that didn't fit at all.
    Some of my channels did almost double the CTR after that..
     
    Redleg, Aug 3, 2004 IP
  12. mopacfan

    mopacfan Peon

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    #12
    The skyscraper works well for me. Due to the design of my site, I can't really do the rectangle in the middle of the content although I've considered it. Right now, I'm happy with what the skyscraper brings in.
     
    mopacfan, Aug 3, 2004 IP
  13. mopacfan

    mopacfan Peon

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    #13
    That's an excellent idea. I'll have to look into that one...
     
    mopacfan, Aug 3, 2004 IP
  14. a389951l

    a389951l Must Create More Content

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    #14
    Agreed. Another great idea of stripping out all ads that do not fit the site. Sounds kinda of obvious but sometimes K.I.S.S. is the way to go.
     
    a389951l, Aug 3, 2004 IP
  15. disgust

    disgust Guest

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    #15
    www.ffshrine.org/ffx/ffx.php

    they're only on the internal pages, not the main page.
     
    disgust, Aug 3, 2004 IP
  16. Will.Spencer

    Will.Spencer NetBuilder

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    #16
    Your CTR will go up, but your CPC will go down.

    This is true because you have just limited AdSense's capability of displaying (some of) the most expensive ads.

    You may win in the trade-off, or you may lose. I dunno.

    Some of my web site visitors have asked me to remove John Kerry ads. Hmmm... I guess that they are not going to click on John Kerry ads anyway. :D
     
    Will.Spencer, Aug 4, 2004 IP
  17. Redleg

    Redleg Raider

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    #17
    Your CPC will of course go down, but for me it was well compensated with the increase in CTR, so the CPM did go up (and that's the important part)...
    Most visitors did not click on the unrelated ads anyway, and there were enough of other related ads there to replace them.
    But it could of course go down as well, if you "ban" too many of them, so you end up with showing more public service ads.

    But my overall experience with doing this has only been positive...
     
    Redleg, Aug 4, 2004 IP
  18. Will.Spencer

    Will.Spencer NetBuilder

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    #18
    Mmmm... CPM...
     
    Will.Spencer, Aug 4, 2004 IP
  19. a389951l

    a389951l Must Create More Content

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    #19
    a389951l, Aug 5, 2004 IP
  20. Redleg

    Redleg Raider

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    #20
    I'm using both, but I can't see any difference from when I used text only..

    Very few image ads are displayed, but the few I've seen on my site lookes real nice, and fits the page theme perfectly..
     
    Redleg, Aug 5, 2004 IP