Most people probably don't use it, or has never thought about using it, but you should give it a try, especially if you have a blog and are using embedded photo galleries within the blogs. It's the Half Banner (234x60). Very small, very unobtrusive. Just drop it into your blog posts between the first and second paragraph. Or, if you have only one paragraph and an embedded gallery afterward, drop it into the post after the first paragraph and before the gallery. I recommend using this in conjunction with Adsense-Deluxe if you're using WP, as it won't require manual insertion of the codes everytime, but rather a simple drag and drop in the WP CP. See below for how it would work on a regular blog entry: In a blog where I'm posting pictures in an embedded photo gallery (that is, the pictures are embedded into the gallery, and you don't need to click on them to go to another page to see them, etc -- I use the Qdig plug-in for this), this Half Banner is my highest earner. This, despite the fact that it wouldn't seem to be in a very optimized position. I think it's because the half banner is small enough, and right in the middle of the post, and there's only one ad per block that it doesn't look so much like an ad. And of course, as per Adsense rules, blend in your background and border colors to make them further blend into your page. Plus, if you plan on using this in your blog entries, you'll of course make it NOT show up in the front page, but only after someone has clicked on the link to "read the rest of the entry". I.e. You'll want to excerpt it. I've used this half banner in conjunction with a 336 at the bottom of the entry, and they've both worked quite well -- although, as mentioned, the half banner really performs excellently, despite having just one ad and being very small. Give it a try and post your results!
I use this already in many months...It's nice but for me it's not my most performing channel unfortunately...:/ I put it after the text and before the comments box
You shouldn't use it before the comment box. The 336 should go there. This should mostly be used between the first paragraph and the second paragraph in a blog post, or if you don't have two paragraphs, then the first paragraph and the pictures gallery. It won't work on a standard, non-gallery-heavy blog.
Not bad, hansi. Here's a suggestion that you might like to try out: Remove the 120x240 on the side and replace it with a 336 large rectangle at the bottom of your articles. I've found that a 336 at the end of a long article always yields higher CTR.
Could be that you right-align it. People read from left to right, so once they finish a line, they immediately return to the left to look for more reading material. That's why you should always left-align any ads embedded within the article.
Hmm.. I've never used the half banner before. Always the 336 with a narrow column layout. With my upcoming project, I might try this.
I found that half banner use the keywords from any link, bold text above the banner. not sure if this is true,, but I found for myself often. That mean you can boost the ads with some keywords you like.
If you sound the half banner with a paragraph on top and another one after it, you should get reasonably well-targeted ads.
hm, i just changed my ads to a 250x250 on the left of the articles. Will see how that performs, and then change it to this to see if it is an improvement.
I used to use 234x60 at the bottom of my blog posts though have recently changed to 468x60 at the bottom. I think I'll add an 234x60 adblock between first and second paragraphs and see how it performs. Thanks for the push.
Adsense will nail you for this (your example link). "Labeling Ads Publishers may not label the ads with text other than "sponsored links" or "advertisements." This includes any text directly above our ads that could be confused with, or attempt to be associated with Google ads." https://www.google.com/adsense/policies
Wow.. that's a very grey area indeed! Would love to know the response if anyone asks Google directly..
Yes it's true. If it's a link it's ok but that's a label. I suggest try putting a horizontal line between them.
I personally don't see any problems with it. Hansi, I recommend email Google Adsense support for the definitive answer. I'm willing to bet they'll give it the thumbs up.