1. Advertising
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    Advertising (learn more)

    Advertise virtually anything here, with CPM banner ads, CPM email ads and CPC contextual links. You can target relevant areas of the site and show ads based on geographical location of the user if you wish.

    Starts at just $1 per CPM or $0.10 per CPC.

Quadrupled my CTR thanks to DP members.

Discussion in 'AdSense' started by Critters, May 26, 2005.

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  1. exaro

    exaro Peon

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    #441

    Hey and nice Coheed site! I'm a huge fan.
     
    exaro, Jul 25, 2005 IP
  2. Critters

    Critters Guest

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    #442
    MAJOR UPDATE PLS READ

    Google are now advising publishers to be very careful not to place images that could deceive users directly above the ads. It is still OK to do, but do not use images that could be deceptive to the visitor. Let me explain with some examples.

    Bob has a site about iPods, he has ads for iPod related sites. After reading this thread he puts some generic iPod images above his ads, the 4 images are:
    iPod photo, a case for the new iPod shuffle, an iPod mini, and a dock station for iPods

    Google will take issue with Bob because the images are suggesting a specific offering at the advertisers site. as the ads are random, a user clicking the ad under the iPod shuffle case could get a site that does not sell that iPod shuffle case. They have been mislead.

    highly general images are less likely to be deceptive than very specific images that suggest a specific offering at the advertiser's site

    Bob can do a few things to keep google and his users happy:
    1) put a visible border around the ad units
    2) move the images away from the ad units so there is a clear gap
    3) pick very generic iPod images, to minimize the risk of people clicking looking for cases



    This will take your CTR down, but lets turn a frown upside down:

    1) users are less likely to leave your site ;)
    2) users are not been mislead
    3) advertisers are not having their costs driven up (they are people just like us)
    4) your CPM should go up as the users are more likely to use/buy from the advertisers site if they are there and find what they expected.

    To confirm, it is still OK to have images above ads. But be very careful not to place images that could deceive users.

    AND AS ALWAYS, when doing this, make a copy of a page, give it a secret name, add the images and email it to google to check it out and give it the OK. Stick to the TOS, brush your teeth and always wear sunscreen.

    I have taken the images above my ads off my sites for the next few weeks, to see what changes it makes to CTR + CPM, I may very well add them back on with some of the changes I have talked about here next month. This is not because I have been told to remove them, I am trying to see what changes it makes and then what I can put back that makes everyone (me, google, users, advertisers) happy.
     
    Critters, Jul 25, 2005 IP
  3. hulkster

    hulkster Peon

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    #443
    BTW, I recently asked and got a similar type of warning/concern from the Big "G" - still waiting to hear back from them after I added some borders around the images and spacing on my BBQ Grill FAQ page - I was kinda surprised by the response since everyone else seems to have done fine

    Yea, I like the extra CTR, but I'm adament about following their rules, so curious to hear what they'll see - hopefully I won't get the big heave-ho all of a sudden.
     
    hulkster, Jul 25, 2005 IP
  4. Critters

    Critters Guest

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    #444
    Yes, seems like there has been a recent change in policy on this matter.. and I fully understand why and agree with what google are now telling us.. this new stance is way better then "no images near ads" which is something they could have decided.
     
    Critters, Jul 25, 2005 IP
  5. crazyhorse

    crazyhorse Peon

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    #445
    Did you send Google a email or did you get one from them?
     
    crazyhorse, Jul 25, 2005 IP
  6. lorien1973

    lorien1973 Notable Member

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    #446
    I'm not surprised google has changed their policy here. Some images I've seen on sites are very deceptive, making you think you are clicking a product link to purchase something instead of an advertisement, or making it look a little too similar to the overall site navigation. Its trying to stretch the boundaries of what is "TOS" and not TOS that will eventually make adsense far less profitable than it is right now.
     
    lorien1973, Jul 25, 2005 IP
  7. willmullis

    willmullis Peon

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    #447
    I posted about this very same thing last week in this thread, I guess nobody took the time to read it.
     
    willmullis, Jul 25, 2005 IP
  8. Critters

    Critters Guest

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    #448
    I am always talking to my main man in Google, and that post is my take on what he has pointed out to me as friendly advice, which I am doing to you in the same spirit.
     
    Critters, Jul 25, 2005 IP
  9. e10

    e10 Well-Known Member

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    #449
    I wondered about the lift of critter´s thread here in that other forum. I thought maybe, just maybe, Google would sort of sit up and have to be seen to take notice. So they have. Crit, would you say that dynamic is not the way to go? You can´t tell what ads are coming up - unless you are on the ball every minute so a general pic changed every so often, would that be seen as more acceptable?

    On my site I have pics with their own links underneath. I sort of know what kind of ads will appear and perhaps 8 times out of ten they are appropriate but the pics/links are pointing to pages of my own site.
     
    e10, Jul 25, 2005 IP
  10. Critters

    Critters Guest

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    #450
    I would, at this stage, not want to give you a yes or a no. Email Google

    I would suggest that it would be no bad thing to put a line break between the images and the ad unit and/or make the border of the ad unit visible. Make the images as generic as possible, and not showing things people might expect on the advertisers site.. so no iPod accessories for iPod ads. No specific brands of cameras above ads on a photography site, keep it generic, which is much harder to source, but then if this job was easy everyone would be doing it :)
     
    Critters, Jul 25, 2005 IP
  11. sean_le

    sean_le Peon

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    #451
    @Critters

    Is that information from Google? What about this "line" between ads and images - what about cliparts (www.domain-pop.com)?

    Regards

    sean
     
    sean_le, Jul 25, 2005 IP
  12. rman

    rman Well-Known Member

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    #452
    I think that the best is Google make new (largers) ad formats with images and text together. Everyone see that something like this will increace the CTR and the revenew for all, Google, Webmasters and Advertisers.
    In these new ad formats all images will be related to the ads and the CTR will go up.
    Banners and text only have small CTR but these new ad formats will change the game.

    In our site we have a lot of images (we are photo site)
    http://apn.gr http://photobase.apn.gr http://apn.gr/photozone
    but its difficult to play with the TOS of adsense or the clients.
    New ad formats with images and text ads will be nice
     
    rman, Jul 25, 2005 IP
  13. Help Desk

    Help Desk Well-Known Member

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    #453
    The key here is simple. People need to realize what words they are clicking on. If you have a product above a link, chances are the text will be ignored. If you have a generic logo or cartoon, then all that you are doing is bringing attention to the ad. (I personally like my christmas example).

    What we are trying to do is similar to tv shows using product placement. Using dynamic or misleading pictures is more like false-advertising. Leave your pictures static and EXTREMELY general.
     
    Help Desk, Jul 26, 2005 IP
    Critters and Juan G like this.
  14. Critters

    Critters Guest

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    #454
    The christmas example is spot on... I can not see google ever having a problem with those.
     
    Critters, Jul 26, 2005 IP
  15. MattL

    MattL Well-Known Member

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    #455
    I just caught up with this update. I think this only became an "issue" because so many people have been emailing them asking about it. So, if Google now has issues with images above ads it's a problem we have created ourselves (webmasters).

    I could see where advertisers would have concerns about misleading images. It's a fine line between enhancement and trickery.
     
    MattL, Jul 26, 2005 IP
  16. Critters

    Critters Guest

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    #456
    yes,
    but if I could do it over, I would still have posted it here, cos I an not a selfish person :)
     
    Critters, Jul 26, 2005 IP
  17. YoByte

    YoByte Guest

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    #457
    Great!. I tried that image above ads stuff. It does work. Thx for the idea.
     
    YoByte, Jul 26, 2005 IP
  18. MattL

    MattL Well-Known Member

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    #458
    Well, I wonder how long it's going to take for people to get "image above ads blind" now that EVERYONE is doing it ;-)
     
    MattL, Jul 26, 2005 IP
  19. www.AmCy.org

    www.AmCy.org American CyberSpace®

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    #459
    That's an interesting question. But in my opinion, the "blindness" won't happen because all these images that people are using are all very unique; their uniqueness should stave off ad blindness, IMO.

    AmCy
     
    www.AmCy.org, Jul 26, 2005 IP
  20. Critters

    Critters Guest

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    #460
    good point AmCy, I too think it will stand the test of time, as long as G are happy with it all and its not too much of a nightmare for them to keep a check on.
     
    Critters, Jul 26, 2005 IP
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