Arcade Site Placement Help

Hi guys,

I own ArcadeVids and have attempted to optimise my ads. For the past few weeks I've had them blend in, but have seen very low CTR (between 1-1.5%) - so I've decided to change things a bit...

I'm looking for any opinion on the ads that are on the games' pages. Here's an example. Do you think this would attract attention to the ads or should I go back to blending them in?

Cheers,
Ponynugget

 

Look very nice, 1-1.5% is very good for this type of site already, what script are you using?

 

Thanks - I'm using GameScript.

 

The pic next to the ads under "Latest Games" isn't aligned with the other pics, and there is no border on it so you might have issues if Google finds out...

 

How? I've seen countless sites using images next to ads. Google is actually trialling with a new ad format that includes an image next to an ad.

 

Do some searches here for "images next to ads" and you'll see what I'm talking about. Or just email Google to see if they approve of it.

 

Thanks for that.

I've added a faint border around the ad - do you think this is ok?

 

I meant around the picture next to the ads, not the ads themselves. Google says you cannot mislead people into thinking the picture is part of the ad. I think you need a border around the pics, and some people even have to put a line between the pic and the ad.

 

I would consider making the page wider, change all text ads to the color of text links, and bg/border to the background of where it is. If your page is wider you can be more creative with images you have next to ad units

 

Must say its a very nice looking arcade site.

 

good arcade site the main page blending looks good.

 

Hi guys,

Thanks for the tips. I received an email from Google today, apparently ArcadeVids was in violations of some things. Here's a bit of the email...

I had an ad unit in the Latest Games category so I figured that was it. I've removed the ads entirely until I can figure out a more suitable and guideline-compliant way of ad placement.

Cheers,
Ponynugget

 

No it must mean that you said somewhere on your site saying something like "Please click the ads" or something along those lines, even though you also arent able to label ads as anything else then "Sponsored Links" and "Ads/Advertisments"

So maybe that Latest Games thing was what they meant, just change it to 1 of the 2 appropriate things and you should be fine.

 

Thanks.

Should this be ok now?

 

Well I've been banned for invalid clicks and/or impressions. Don't know which site it was for but I've already sent an appeal.

Feeling pretty gutted at the moment.