I like the look of link units on google ads but it occurs to me that a visitor will need to click once on the google link ad and again on the links page before you get paid. This seems in my mind a much less chance of payment than if you go for a Text ad in the first place (this would give you a payment after the 1st click) Is my thinking right here or have i missed something?
I think you're right, you need your visitors to make two clicks to get payment. Although someone said in this forum a few weeks ago that once they click the first link they will nearly always click the second time.
I think publisher will only be paid after clicking the ads on the adpage not on the adlink published on your site. But ofcourse after clicking the adlink, users will also be tempted to click the ads on the adpage.
you only get paid for the second click (on the actual ad, not topic) https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/answer.py?answer=15817&topic=294
FWIW, I´ve tried the link units on my site for a couple of weeks now and do not find them very effective at all.
I thought I would get the same results you are getting, but they have been more responsive than I thought, so I've left them on my pages.
I found that when the ads are featured within the context of the page the reader is inclined to check them out more and I have seen a jump on one of my sites that has increased the CTR by nearly 200% just by moving within the text itself as opposed to sitting at the side etc. I think these link units will be good if used correctly, I am still experimenting tho. Mike