Google Cracks Down On MFA Sites

Also, since Google now allows specifying different bids for content clicks vs their search network, do you think that his is somehow MFA related? Is this a reward or punishment step for AdSense publishers?

 

Somebody had left a well thought out comment in my blog about the potential of someone suing me, since I was labeling sites as MFA when they weren't obviously MFA. At first I thought the person had a point, so I specifically labeled only the real MFA sites as such. But now that I think about it, I don't know why I gave in. If "Made For AdSense" doesn't mean anything, then stop whining about being labeled it.

 

It doesn't mean anything, but I still would not want to be labeled as someone who makes "MFA" sites. Innocent until proven guilty. I haven't seen any evidence that indicates the quality of dzcap's websites. Individuals should be left out of discussions like this.

 

Well, the point of the thread was to figure out if Google punishes MFA sites or not by not paying them as much as non-MFA sites.

 

what do you think about wisegeek.com .
is it MFA ?

 

Back to the original post. Leaving aside whoever's site was discussed, I don't believe that smart pricing has anything at all to do with whether the site is/was/isn't/ MFA. From what I can gather, smart pricing is more to do with how well the traffic your sending to the advertizers convert. If the traffic converts at or above a given rate then you won't get smart priced. I don't think the type of site matters a fish, all that matters is 'is the traffic you are sending good traffic - ie does it convert'.
Following that, I believe that non MFA sites can get 'smart priced' just as easily as MFA sites.

 

As to the wisegeek site, no I don't believe that the site would class as a MFA. If you removed the ads, then the site would still stand up as useful - therefore not MFA.

 

What if the site is useful without ads, but the content is non-original, i.e. taken from other sites?

 

wisegeek.com does have original content. Infact they have even managed to get another site removed from google for copying their content. (Do a google search for a section of text from their site in quotes to see what I mean)

 

I've always said that the true test of a "Made for AdSense" site is to turn off the JavaScript (or otherwise block the ads) and see if the site still works or not. If the content lives on its own without the ads, then I don't consider it an MFA site. (Somebody just accused me of building one, see my blog, so I'm a bit touchy about this today...)

Ultimately, only Google decides what an MFA site is or isn't, and they sure don't spell it out in the terms and conditions, so your guess is as good as anyone's.

About the Smart Pricing: everyone sure cried out about it when it was first introduced. It will be interesting to see if Chitika and the other programs get flamed for doing similar things. (It's already starting, Chitika has just announced a redesign of its eMiniMalls units to combat "curiosity clicks", which is the politest term I've heard yet to describe click fraud.)

 

Eric thats a real good method to justify if the site is in fact a MFA site.

 

Eric: Curiosity clicking - not heard that term before, but with Chitika I've actually done it.
I clicked on a picture of something (before I realised what a chitika ad looked like) because I thought wtf is one of them. I had no idea at the time that it was an ad - it was literally just after Chitika lauched. I had absolutely no intention of buying one, I just thought what the hell is one of them

 

jlawrence, Chitika seems to be using that term as an euphemism for "clicking on your own ads". What you did was technically "out of curiosity", but not what they are really on about.

 

I wonder if MFA really is a bad thing for Google.

Some may say MFA means low conversions, so advertisers are affected, and if advertisers don't like it, they'll take their business elsewhere. And that same line of reasoning can then be applied to other people in the chain, such as non-MFA publishers.

That's great, but why does Google have their Domain Parking for unused domains.

So, like has been said in this thread, smart pricing could be invoked for any kind of site. It seems to me that MFA has a higher likelihood of converting for the advertiser, since the user didn't find anything useful at the publisher site.

That's why anytime I complain about Made For AdSense, I leave the bottom line out of the equation. I'm just trying to figure out whether I put any value in a site.

 

The beauty of it is the MFA puts money in as advertisers too. Win win for Google. Why would they cut off that income?

 

MFD is a stupid phrase. We all join Adsense for the money. Cmon you would be lying if you said otherwise. Naturally we are going to build sites that would profit most from adsense or atleast try to make as much money with adsense within the bounds of the TOS.

 

Absolutely. People deny the underlying commercial nature of the Web, but the reality is that companies and individuals build sites for monetary purposes.

 

MFU = Made for users.

That's the plain and simple easy solution. Develop your site (framework, UI, etc.) and content for your target market. Brand it. Shout it out to your target market. If your content is good, your target market (eyeballs) become sticky to your site.

Sticky = traffic... sticky by design and desire (voluntary on the part of your users) becomes natural food for spider traffic and SE positioning...

and CTR comes naturally once you deploy AS or YPN or Chitika or Adcenter....

Design for your target market, not the monetization engine you are thinking will give you the best eCPM.

Just our approach to the whole issue.

Cheers,

Rob

 

Aren't these entirely different? Redesign means that they want to make ads look different, so they are clicked less (by curious people). And smart pricing does not discourage clicking, it just pays less for clicks that come from certain sites.

 

Build a quality site with content in mind first... the ad revenue will come..