If you’ve been reading PPC Ian for a while, you know that my posts tend to be very long. In fact, I average about 800-1,000 words per post. As such, it’s become an intimidating challenge for me to post more than one or two times a week. However, it became very apparent to me at SES San Francisco that I absolutely must post at least two times per week to maximize the potential of PPC Ian. I have very big goals for this blog! As such, I’m going to start incorporating some more concise posts in my mix, such as this one. I hope you find the shorter format equally entertaining and helpful!
Google’s Awesome New AdSense Leaderboard
So, for my first shorter format post I wanted to highlight a fascinating change I’ve seen with Google AdSense recently. Basically, they are testing an awesome new format for their leaderboard where you see three horizontal ads rather than the four standard ads (image below).
My AdSense Earnings Started Spiking Recently
How did I notice this change? I actually pulled this ad from one of my personal sites from the financial services vertical. I own a portfolio of websites that drive passive income via affiliate earnings, IJL Productions LLC. AdSense is one of my favorite affiliate programs and it drives the lion share of my passive income. The other day, my earnings started spiking due to an improvement in CTR (my page impressions stayed consistent). After a quick audit of my sites, I realized that the new format could very well be the driving force behind this!
Higher AdSense CTR At The Expense of Advertiser Conversion Rate?
So I’m super happy right now (more money is good). However, I have two points. First and foremost, I don’t want to get too happy because this could go away. The jury is still out whether this test will turn into functionality that Google decides to keep.
Second, who knows what this higher CTR is doing to advertisers (I’m also on the advertiser side) on the Google display network. It’s always possible that the higher CTR is at the expense of conversion rate. I’m hopeful that it’s a true gain (CTR up while conversion rate flat to up). In fact, I think this is very possible because AdSense, in my opinion, is overdue for some format changes. It’s been the same too long and some users are getting immune to it. By shaking things up a bit, Google is doing the right thing, both for publishers and advertisers.
Image of Google AdSense © Google, Ads Within AdSense © Their Respective Advertisers
True. I’ve seen these on sites and I didn’t know they were adsense ads at first, I’m glad they’re trying new things. I might just put some on my blog.
D3so,
Thanks for the comment! That’s great to hear that you had the same reaction to the new AdSense formats as me, I hope the new format is a keeper. I’d be curious to hear how AdSense does on your blog should you choose to try it out.
All the best,
Ian
Really interesting and honestly haven’t noticed this until after I read this post. I usually only select image ads only as I find the text ads a bit boring and dull, but I definitely like that Google is doing something different with their ads…
Thanks Dino for the comment! It’s really funny: I almost always choose the text ads (and exclude image ads), mainly because it removes the possibility of an image ad not meshing well with my site’s design. It’s interesting how different strategies work for different people. With display getting more and more popular and Google renaming “content” as the Google “display network”, I do expect actual display ad delivery through AdSense to become rather impressive in coming years, meaning I think you’re onto something. Probably something for me to start testing!
Hey Ian, thanks for bringing this to our attention. I hadn’t noticed this new ad format yet, but I’ll be on the lookout for it. I think it’s great that Google is actually testing different formats (why does it seem like they’ve had the same formats for a long time?). It really seems like constantly changing ad formats is crucial to keep people from becoming blind to them. I wish Google experimented with this a bit more often.
Eric,
Thanks so much for the comment! I agree with you very much! I too wish Google would test the ad formats even more. I continue to see really high CTRs on my sites and can only attribute it to this point to the new leaderboard layout. I hope it lasts! 🙂
All the best,
Ian
I’ve found in my experience that banner ads that look like text ads (#1111cc link color, etc.) perform much better when CTR is considered. It irks me that ugly banners (arrows, bright borders, ugly typography) usually work better than “pretty” banners… But hey, if it works, why not.
Jeff,
You bring up some great points, thank you! Totally agree with you. It’s crazy: We once had a hot pink banner at one of my companies that did extremely well despite looking very cheap and elementary. It’s really wild what works and what doesn’t. Thanks again!
All the best,
Ian
My CPM went 50% since I’ve implemented Google’s new 728 AD, which is more than great.
Alex,
Thanks so much for sharing your success, that is awesome! Nice work! It is awesome to get another reference point. I also continue to see great success with the new 728 ad, very exciting stuff.
All the best,
Ian
Hi Ian,
What position do you usually place the 728 ad at?
Sidenote: I’m just getting started with EPN since we lost Amazon Associates in California. Wish me luck!
Hi Mike,
Thanks for the question! 🙂 I own over 100 sites and have experimented with a lot of different ad positions. The one that has worked the best for me is placing the 728×90 ad right within an article (between paragraphs). I tend to use the 728×90 sparingly (as I believe less is more). I have had a ton of luck with it using text only option and also (more recently) text and images. Hope this helps!
All the best,
Ian
thanks Ian. I just implemented the Large Rectangle unit below my titles instead of the Medium that I’ve been using and already see a huge jump.
Mike,
That is truly awesome to hear! 🙂 I’m really glad you are seeing an improvement. If you are not already trying text AND image ads, I also recommend trying that. I have found since adding image ads (on one of my sites at least) that the earnings are up quite a bit. I think it totally depends on the site. The site I picked, for example, has very few graphics so I think the image ads are really standing out and capturing clicks.
All the best,
Ian