New improved technique or a sign of decline

Discussion in 'Reporting & Stats' started by 4FYB2R, Aug 14, 2005.

  1. #1
    My 3 cents with a twist...

    Well, I know there were threads about this and different opinions written, but I decided to post here all in one place what has been my experience since Google did recently some changes (improvements) to their service:

    Since this improvements took place, my CTR is about 30% down and so are my earnings. No wonder... people used to have 4-5 ads to choose from in one unit, now they have only one at times. Fantastic ! LOL As Google says this technique of showing 'most relevant ads', even if it is only one, is more effective than showing a bunch of less relevant ads. Geeez... what if someone finds that one special ad irrelevant ? Any other choice available, please ???

    So I am thinking... is this new technique of showing less ads in a unit a shot at improving the service, or a smoke screen to cover up the decline of Adwords subscribers and .... less ads available to show ? Perhaps people do migrate to alternative services in greater numbers than we think... Anyone invested in Google stock ? :eek:
     
    4FYB2R, Aug 14, 2005 IP
  2. exaro

    exaro Peon

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    #2
    I think it's because alot of people are creating shitty sites with poor content that can't have any directly relative ads showing. So in order to appease those customers they are showing one or two totally relevant ads instead of 4-5 close but not so close ads.

    That's what I'm thinking, but I could be wrong.
     
    exaro, Aug 14, 2005 IP
  3. fryman

    fryman Kiss my rep

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    #3
    ANd since most people are using images and trying to drive attention to the ads, this is Google's answer to them.
     
    fryman, Aug 14, 2005 IP
  4. danimal

    danimal Active Member

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    #4
    both ctr and page ecpm are up slightly for me this month over last(knock on wood, lol).
     
    danimal, Aug 14, 2005 IP
  5. TommyD

    TommyD Peon

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    #5
    Great Observation! My CTR's are down, and it appears the hardest hit are pages which I use to have the ads lined up with images.

    hmmmmm...... wasn't like we were doing anything wrong, just overcoming banner blindness.

    tom
     
    TommyD, Aug 14, 2005 IP
  6. Key

    Key Peon

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    #6
    Well, I'm guess Google did some research and figured out that imagized ads have lower conversion rates; this is a way to keep conversion rates higher for the people who are paying them money, which helps the G's bottom line.
     
    Key, Aug 14, 2005 IP
  7. david_sakh

    david_sakh Peon

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    #7
    damn you Critters!

    *shakes fist*

    I always knew DP had some swing over at G, even if our wacko SEO theories are just something for the Google guys to piss themselves over. ;)
     
    david_sakh, Aug 14, 2005 IP
  8. mnemtsas

    mnemtsas Super Dud

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    #8
    Did you ever think that one or two of the big companies advertising in your segment have just stopped their campaigns or are bidding a lower amount per term? For example, I have two niche terms I rank no1->3 on Google for. The number of impressions is pretty much the same every day. However some days I get $1.50-$2.50 per click. Other days I get $0.05 per click. CTR goes up and down wildly due to the low number of impressions. I can guarantee you this is because advertisers have simply stopped their campaigns or run out of budget for the month. So don't worry its not directly attributable to the 'images over ads' technique any more than it could be due to other adsense optimization techniques.

    Any optimization technique could have the effect of decreasing eCPM. This could be the case because the % of people clicking on ads has increased and the conversion count (not the conversion %) has stayed the same. This would deplete an adwords advertising budget more quickly and could result in lower eCPM. Of course other reasons for the decrease could be the advertisers using up their budget for the month, advertisers lowering their bids on terms, or even a surge of other adsense pages in the same market as you chewing up the advertisers budget more quickly.

    Anyone who says your eCPM is down because of Reason X is purely speculating. Just wait and see what happens.
     
    mnemtsas, Aug 15, 2005 IP
  9. mnemtsas

    mnemtsas Super Dud

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    #9
    And how, pray tell, would Google know which ads are 'imagized'? Its simply supply and demand, not big brother watching what you are doing. If a technique results in a higher CTR without increasing conversions for the advertiser accordingly then the advertiser's budget will be depleted more swiftly and the bids for the terms will decrease. At the moment putting images over ads is not against the TOS (based on an approval email form Google of course). So the (possible) effect it has of eCPM will be NO different to other optimization techniques like blending, putting ads in the 'hot zones' or other things suggested on Google's very own site.
     
    mnemtsas, Aug 15, 2005 IP
  10. blackpudding

    blackpudding Peon

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    #10
    FWIW I've just had a fantastic couple of weeks. In fact I've been experimenting with ad rotation (1,2 or 4 ads) myself to reduce 'ad blindness' in my forum and it seems to work. Google seem to be doing a similar thing, presumably feeding the ads with good CTR for that page too? My forum CTR is up a small but noticeable amount. For those who spent more time blending the banner ads into their page layout its probably not such a good move :(

    Cheers
    BP
     
    blackpudding, Aug 15, 2005 IP
  11. kawebspy

    kawebspy Peon

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    #11
    On my Cellphones and Gadgets Trendsetter blog, I maximized the use of the Adsense Ads. The first one is a Large Rectangle with image, the second one is a banner with random color and the third one is a banner blended with the content. Just to emphasize, I am maximazing here the Adsense Ads but those ads are working good.

    May be the best way to say is that, the level of payouts of the ads published on a page depends on the content of the page. So, if your site is featuring the content that would generate low paying ads for your site, then that's what will happen.
     
    kawebspy, Aug 15, 2005 IP
  12. aeiouy

    aeiouy Peon

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    #12
    I have considered that,but if that were true it is likely they would just prohibit that in the TOS instead of changing how ads display.
     
    aeiouy, Aug 15, 2005 IP