Hey guys I run www.vsndaily.com and www.chicitysports.com/forum I was just wondering what kind of ads do you use on your pages? I have 1 image 728x90 in the header, and 2 in the bottom. Is that the most successful way to utilize adsense on forums?
The best places to put ads are just scattered because forum members get used to where the ads are really quickly. Change it every 6months or so too. It'll help.
I have found personally that putting the ads where they flow better works great. If they are too far off to one side or the other they are obvious ads and people tend to stray away. But if they are relevantly placed so they flow with the content and the reader's eyes then they will almost want to push on the ad to see what's next
In my experience it is best to place the ads where they will flow great with any and all content. If the ads are ridiculously placed then most people's eyes will simply skim over them and be done with it. However if they are relevantly placed you will almost force the reader to continue on to find out what is next. For large forums it's a bit harder to accomplish this however it is not impossible. I'd say keep the ads where they work best and don't overload your visitors with each new opportunity.
Since you run the same forum as here, you might be interested by some mods a german forum manager experienced with adsense has given on his new forum: http://www.adsenseexperts.com/adsense-placements/
In my opinion, the best ad placement and forum look I've seen is at gfy.com (caution - it is an adult webmaster board if that kind of material offends you). It has one simple banner at the top, a tiny banner placed above the 'new thread' button and three small banners at the bottom of the site. p.s. I've just checked the site and the sponsored skin they have at the moment looks crap...but usually it looks good. worth checking out further down the line.