Are advertisers killing the Adsense program?

i didn't say 'lowering their prices'. i said lowering the bar in terms of site quality. watch what happens the first time Google misses their numbers big time. They are a public company now, and bottom line means everything. That means they will inevitably be accepting crappier sites as advertisers, probably shadier type ads, and they'll definitely start playing with serps as a way to maximize revenue as opposed to just displaying good results. google is full of bravado and confidence now, but they are now owned by wall street. that Silicon Valley 'fun' culture goes out the window when the numbers aren't met.

 

they don't have a choice now. if they had stayed private with private investors, they could stay focused on the quality of the advertisers and SERPs. but watch what happens if they miss their numbers. investors will sh*t their collective pants, and suddenly Google will have to find revenue by any means necessary.

 

I don't think the problem is with Adsense (AdWords) as such. The problem lies with webmasters (publishers) only creating sites to monotize on popular keywords and topics. This leads to a load of sites with pages containing one vague paragraph of text stuffed full of keywords, and other ads and pop-ups.

From the scammed revenue these sites generate it's easy for them to pay to advertise in Adsense via Adwords, thus creating more traffic for them and continueing the cycle.

The real change should happen with webmasters first. People should realize that it's not ALL about the money. That you actually need to create useful sites and then earn revenue from those sites.

Google has a responsibility to at least block the truly spammy and atrocious sites, but let's face it if someone is willing to pay for clicks, I doubt that they would be too picky in allowing them to advertise.

 

Outside of the obvious - gambling, prescription drugs, etc. when has Google not accepted every advertiser with a valid credit card that applies? They've pretty much accepted anyone and everyone who operates a site within their guidlines since the official launch of the program. That didn't change after they went public.

In my opinion your comment "they'll definitely start playing with serps as a way to maximize revenue as opposed to just displaying good results" is just flat out wrong. What's your basis for such a statement? Facts or just your opinion based on [fill in the blank].

Like I said, if anything they have been raising the bar.

 

Opinion. Based on my experience with rapid growth tech companies that go public at their peak and then are gradually faced with a market plagued with commoditization and too much influence from shareholders. It's merely my opinion, and you know how much that's worth. As an aside, I think Google is one of the most innovative and important companies in the last 100 years. I just think they are going to have some tough times ahead, as it becomes harder to make their revenue with pressure from shareholders.

 

I can respect that man - you're opinion is worth as much as mine or the next guys. No one knows for sure at this point how everything will shake out. I guess, for obvious self serving reasons, I tend to be optimistic about the future of Google and it's products/services. There's no doubt the future will present them with some challenges - I think they will be up for it.

Bookmark this thread and let's pick this conversation back up in 2 - 3 years

 

done. and don't mistake me for one of those 'Google Haters'. I love Google (although i hate their SERPs sometimes for selfish reasons). I live in the Valley, and it's nice to have a company once again innovating. Hell, they single-handedly got the second dot-com wave going again - and it is.

 

I think we all hate the big G from time to time

 

So far I've seen quality links on my google ads, and haven't had any complaints from associates who clicked them as a test or something. Perhaps it depends on what your industry is. I've had some quality ads for a while on a gaming forum I used to own (recently sold it) - Free PSP / Playstation prize raffles, game vendor ads etc.

Adi Friedman
TwoBelievers.com Web Holdings.

 

what happened to the site in your sig?