ok, giving up on referrals for now

Discussion in 'AdSense' started by GeorgR., Aug 17, 2007.

  1. #1
    i already posted on adsense support group and read many postings by other users: The common notion is that referrals 2.0 is just not ready for prime-time.

    I mean: every non showing or messed up ad is also lost money...and i really gave up on referrals since its not reliable at all, it just doesnt work right.

    Ads dont show up...or wrong ads show up, or banner-pics dont show up and only text-links work. One one page referrals work...go to another page of my site and the same ads wont show up at all.

    I chose referral ads for one site of mine since i wanted to have control over what i have on my site...but after two weeks nerve-wrecking "fighting" i realize that the old competitors lik CJ or whatever we have are just way more reliable.

    I popped some CJ ads on on my page..and bingo! NO problems at all.

    I really would like google to see improve their referral ads because in the current state they're extremely beta and unuseable.
     
    GeorgR., Aug 17, 2007 IP
  2. jimkarter

    jimkarter Notable Member

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    #2
    Is Google finally failing with something?
     
    jimkarter, Aug 17, 2007 IP
  3. melbel

    melbel Notable Member

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    #3
    My problem with the referral ads is that they aren't customizable at all. On my blog they look really bad with the original Google colors and it looks like I'm digging for clicks... which really my content is what matters more for me.. Until customization comes through on the Referrals 2.0, I'm going to steer clear of it.
     
    melbel, Aug 17, 2007 IP
  4. Sem-Advance

    Sem-Advance Notable Member

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    #4
    As far as I can tell Advertising has worked for centuries.....:)

    Perhaps you need to hire a marketing firm.
     
    Sem-Advance, Aug 17, 2007 IP
  5. jajed

    jajed Peon

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    #5
    I just gave up on Referrals 2.0 also. Darn strangest adds keep showing up...
     
    jajed, Aug 17, 2007 IP
  6. venetsian

    venetsian Well-Known Member

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    #6
    Yeah me 2.

    I also clicked on one of my "referral 2.0" ads and bought the product. Google marked it as conversation but I never got paid for it .. WTF? I spent like $150 on the product and I was supposed to get $20 commission ??? WTF!!

    Cheers,

    Venetsian.
     
    venetsian, Aug 17, 2007 IP
  7. qwestcommunications

    qwestcommunications Notable Member

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    #7
    Don't worry dudes. Google will sort out referrals 2.0 as this is still pretty new and needs refining, which no doubt they will invest time in doing over the next fewmonths.
     
    qwestcommunications, Aug 17, 2007 IP
  8. Sem-Advance

    Sem-Advance Notable Member

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    #8
    Affiliates never earn commission for buying products through their own link.

    I doubt Google would be any different.

    Peace!
     
    Sem-Advance, Aug 17, 2007 IP
  9. venetsian

    venetsian Well-Known Member

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    #9
    It works with CJ. I bought a lot of stuff and I did get paid.

    Cheers,

    Venetsian.
     
    venetsian, Aug 17, 2007 IP
  10. tushardhoot1

    tushardhoot1 Active Member

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    #10
    I don't get what you mean.

    I used refferals 2.0 and they work fine on my site. They show up everytime. The fact that my visitors don't like them is another matter.
     
    tushardhoot1, Aug 17, 2007 IP
  11. Sem-Advance

    Sem-Advance Notable Member

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    #11
    I don't know about CJ....I've mixed results with them forever

    but let me put it to you another way to answer your question :)

    Does Google pay you if you keep clicking your Adsense Ads????

    NO :D

    lol
     
    Sem-Advance, Aug 17, 2007 IP
  12. vipmoney

    vipmoney Peon

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    #12
    I have starting some referall ads... if at the end of the month i dont have any lead, i will stop.
     
    vipmoney, Aug 17, 2007 IP
  13. Ratty

    Ratty Active Member

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    #13
    Referrals are working great for me. I started using them about a week ago and i'm now making about the same with referrals as I am with regular adsense content ads.

    The displaying of 'odd' ads actually worked in my favor. It seems like Google was actually testing other ads in the same spot and my stats started showing much better ctr and conversion rates for an ad I would never have guessed to test myself. Once I put in the code to serve that ad as the main ad in that spot my revenue from that ad spot more than doubled.

    No being able to customize the ads does suck a bit though, but it's not so bad on my sites that I can't live with it.
     
    Ratty, Aug 17, 2007 IP
  14. godmode

    godmode Well-Known Member

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    #14
    After referrals are made country specific, its so difficult for sites with international visitors to target ads.

    If you choose a ad in USa, they wont show up for other countries and vice versa. Does that mean, we change ads every now. Randomisation of ads is sometimes way off and secondly we dont get paid for clicks.

    I would be happy if google can make it more clear and open to publishers coz right now we dont know anything and we are just guessing that all this is going to work like this in future.
     
    godmode, Aug 18, 2007 IP
  15. mago

    mago Peon

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    #15
    Sorry to hear mate
     
    mago, Aug 18, 2007 IP
  16. GeorgR.

    GeorgR. Peon

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    #16
    its just not consistent. I had REF2.0 ads on my SEO site..one day they show, hte next they dont. Or sometimes banner/images didnt show and only text-links.

    Also..WHEN the banner-images worked (say: Googlepack banners)..the worked on one site, like my main page...but NOT on other pages, like my blog-entries.

    Sometimes i had dupes..the same ad showing on one page multiple sites etc..etc..

    It's just beyond any logic.

    I mean with the CJ ads i chose the product i wanted, put it in my blocks in drupal and NO PROB whatsoever.

    I mean i like google Adsense for content... But in this case i have a site offering a service and need to exactly chose what ads i want, no competitor's ads showing....so Adsense for C. was out of the game.
    I thought Ref2.0 would be good, especially the google-pack.

    If you have a simple one-page site they might work (kind of)...but the fact that they had a mind of their own and only showed randomly on pages just didnt make it useable IMHO.
     
    GeorgR., Aug 18, 2007 IP
  17. venetsian

    venetsian Well-Known Member

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    #17
    I suspect the Referral ads 2.0 work just the same way as the Content ads, just its commission based rather than ppc. I don't like that as well as you .. and I hope Google does something about it .. otherwise this project will fail...

    Cheers,

    Venetsian.
     
    venetsian, Aug 18, 2007 IP
  18. Tearabite

    Tearabite Prominent Member

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    #18
    i've had problems with them displaying, then stopping - but that seems to be worked out now.
     
    Tearabite, Aug 18, 2007 IP