Blocking Google certified ad networks has increase my earnings!

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   2besureposted 11 years ago

   I was kind of frustrated with my earning for a while.  Since last Feb as a matter of fact.  Last month I decided to block Google certified ads and my earnings a up 100 last month.  I would be really interested to know how this works for other as well.  I also blocked Interest-based Ads and kept third party preference.  If you decode to try it please post your results!

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      HowardBThinameposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      This sounds interesting - but being a kind of low-tech guy - I don't know how to go about it.
      
      Is it something relatively simple to do?

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         2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         On you Google Adsense page, click on Allow and Blocks Ads- click on blocking options - Click on Ad Networks - Click on Block preferences and if it doesn't block the list of certified ads, go to the bottom of the page and click, block all.  Good Luck!

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            formosangirlposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Thank you. I will try this.

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            viryaboposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Thank you so much for this 2besure. I tried it yesterday and want to see how it goes. But my question is can it work for our hubpages subs?, or just on our personal websites only?

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               WryLiltposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               It will work for your 60% share of Hubpages impressions.

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                  viryaboposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  Thanks wryLilt

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               2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Viryabo, it work on any site you are using with Google Adsense. Earning have gone up on HP and my blog..

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            HowardBThinameposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Thank you for the info!

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            TIMETRAVELER2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Hi:  Have turned off the ads as advised and will wait to see what happens.  It's a good thing I did this because I discovered my account was lacking tax info, etc. and was blocked from giving payments...not that I have enough to get paid LOL!
            
            I hope this new plan works for me, we'll see.

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            sholland10posted 11 years agoin reply to this

            There were 716 ads... Does that sound right?  I am not sure if I know what I am doing?  LOL  Help, please...

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               melbelposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Yeah, that's how many were there for me.

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                  sholland10posted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  Thanks, Mel!  I am not sure about 3rd party ads.  I don't see that anywhere.  Should I block those, too?

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            SallyTXposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            I don't get "blocking options" anywhere when I go to Google AdSense. Where is that?

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            sharonvanbiljonposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Hello,
            
            I am trying this option but cannot locate interest based ads or 3rd party preference. Please give directions.  Thamks

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               HikeGuyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Here's a Google article for those of you who need more information.
               http://support.google.com/adsense/bin/a … 9&rd=1

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      SmartAndFunposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      OK, my adsense earnings are so low, I figured what the heck and I just blocked all the certified networks, if I am using the correct terminology. Even if they go down to zero I won;t be missing out on much. I don't know anything about this stuff and only knew to try this because you were nice enough to share, so thanks.
      
      What does everyone think? Should I go ahead and block interest-based ads also? Just curious, any rationale behind this or were you in a 'what the heck mood,' also? Like I say, I don't know anything about this stuff and if there is any obvious rationale I am unaware of it, LOL.

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      ngurecoposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you, 2besure, for sharing this information, but I would be interested to know the logic behind it. My assumption is that the higher the number of bidders the higher the competition and the higher the price of the ads shown on your page.

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      kthix10posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      okay I don't know if it is correlated but I did this last night and my traffic has skyrocketed since then

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      Casimiroposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      OK, giving it a go! Thanks for the tip. If there is significant change I will report back.  Pura vida,  Casey

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         Casimiroposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Didn't work for me. The bottom fell out immediately in my Adsense earnings. Turned all but a few of them back on and earnings came back to normal.

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      hazelwood4posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      2besecure, What do you have your ads set on in your Hubs?  Do you have the  setting on high, medium, or low? Thanks Mike

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      noenhulkposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I am trying this one too. Let's see if this will increase my earnings and traffic. Thanks for sharing this valuable information. You are very kind. I hope it can have positive result too.

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      djdaniel150posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Blocking Google certified ads doesn't matter! What really matters is creating quality content and quality web pages. Google returns ads based on many factors, among those and quality content and html, are just a few of those. The real revenue comes from advertisers who bid on certain keywords. The more people who bid on a given keyword, the more the ad is worth. I just launched my site in the last 2 weeks, and I make anywhere from 80 cents to a 1.25 a click. The less advertisers bid on a given set of keywords, then the less valuable the ads. Don't expect to make a dollar a click with a website about pomeranian puppies for instance. However if you had an IT related website, you can expect to make big bucks, as all IT related keywords seem to be in heavy competition among advertising competitors.

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         2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         djdaniel150, there are so many great writers with extremely well written hub that are not making much.  I read an account of a writer that had over 900 hubs that did not make payout.  It is also a matter of using good keywords.  I used the Google Keyword Tool to research keywords I want to use. 
         
         I do get clicks $1 or more.  Even a 50 or 65 cents click adds up!  Once in a blue moon, I even get a $11 click.  You are right about topic, which is very important.  It is also about writing what people are looking for.

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            Robin Thomas Eposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            900 hubs and not yet a payout? Sounds to good to be true!
            Would you mind telling who that is? Atleast we could have a look at what he is doing wrong.

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               2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               I don't remember who Robin, you know how you cruise through the forum and someone makes a statement you want to checkout so you go to their profile?  I believe they had a lot of recipes.  Recipes or poems don't make much.

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                  Robin Thomas Eposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  But recipes with properly optimized keyword can make a killing, as it does on Google. Recipes websites been sold are well over the $10K range, and some are even fetching $50K, so there is a lot of market for it.
                  
                  I had been reading about plenty of members here, members for more than a year, and still unable to reach the $50 barrier. Maybe SEO is indeed the answer that they should be looking.

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      2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Keep in mind, if you are just starting out or only have a few hub, I wouldn't block them.  Try it a week or two and see what you think.  When I first started blocking GCAs, I saw a change very quickly.  I do not know if it was a coincidence or the blocking of those ads.  Please remember this is my personal experience and by no means a certain remedy for low earnings.

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       Heather Trippposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Since this is an old post, I thought I'd ask... Do you still recommend trying this?

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          2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Heather, not if you only have a few hubs.  You are just getting started and don't know exactly how your hubs will perform as they become more seasoned.

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       TIMETRAVELER2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

       I turned off the ads as described a few hours ago and now the same ad, and only one ad, is appearing on every hub!  Help please!

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       Californialawposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       In my experience Google adwords  is one of the STINGIEST revenue share programs. So thats probably why. Can I ask what ad network you were using? Im trying to remonetize an old personal blog.
       
       Thanks and happy holidays !

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   Arlene V. Pomaposted 11 years ago

   Thanks for sharing your information.

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   soni2006posted 11 years ago

   I have also blocked all. Thanks for sharing this. My adsense earnings are too low.

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      2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Let me know what your experience has been.

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         DDEposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I have blocked all ads and will see  how it turns out thanks for this information DDE

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   ftclickposted 11 years ago

   Mine were already blocked.

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   Glenn Stokposted 11 years ago

   I've been blocking certain ads for over a year now. But not the ones you mentioned.  Thanks for sharing this.  I can understand the logic of your choice:  Interest-based ads and Google certified ads probably don't pay as much per click. Blocking these gives other ads a better chance to appear.
   
   I'll try blocking those too, to see how it affects my earnings. I have my own site where the blocking effects 100%. But on HubPages the block settings only apply to our 60% of the views.  Our block settings don't apply when the ads appear with HP's Google affiliate code the other 40% of the time. But it's still worthwhile doing for our views.

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      SmartAndFunposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Ahhh, now I'm starting to understand. Thanks to 2besure for pointing it out and to you, Glenn, for explaining it. I never even knew these options existed or what manipulating them could do. Thanks again to both of you!

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      2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      This is what I found when examining ad performance.  Many of the  Google certified ad networks were 1 and 2 cent clicks.  My highest paying click was 14 cents.  I felt why not try.  I have already made payout.

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   Anurag2008posted 11 years ago

   Is it for Google Adsense-only hubs or for those who have participated in the Hubpages ad program (i.e. CPM-based ads)?

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      viryaboposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I think its for the Google Adsense hubs only, and your websites with Adsense.

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      Glenn Stokposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Anything you change in your Google Adsense account settings will only apply to Google Adsense ads. It has no effect on the HubPages Ad Program ads.

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         Anurag2008posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks @viryabo and @glenn stok.

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      2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Anurag2008 only  Google certified ad networks.

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   brakel2posted 11 years ago

   It asks for URL from ad. What all needs to be entered to make changes?

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      WryLiltposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      You're in the "Advertiser URLs" section. On the left there are other options below that such as "General Categories", "Sensitive Categories" etc.

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   brakel2posted 11 years ago

   Somebody please answer my question.

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      2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Click on Ad Networks under allow and block ads.  Hope this is what you are asking.

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         2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I also blocked Interest-based Ads and kept third party preference.

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      brakel2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      @Glenn and bsur -Hope I figured it out. Blocking certified ads amounted to 163 types. Then I blocked 3rd party and I also blocked some sensitive ads -  prescription ads and adult ads. Please confirm that this is the correct procedure. Thanks.

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         2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I have 663 Google Certified Ads.   You are not blocking types you are blocking Google Certified Ads, in  Allow & Block Ads in the section Ad Networks on the left side...5 down under the heading OVERVIEW
         -------------------------------------------
         Google certified ad networks
         Product:
         
         Content
         Use this page to allow or block certain ad networks from advertising on your site.

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            brakel2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

            I blocked 663 ads, left 3rd party, and blocked general interest. I have trouble with the the ads site. Thank you for being patient with me, also Glenn and Wrylilt. You are kind to share this info, 2bsure.

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               2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               blakel2 it is tricky.  I am still finding my way around there.  Glad you found it!

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                  brakel2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  My ads are more colorful and interesting. May get more clicks. Thanks.

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      Sue Adamsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Just go to the bottom of the page Brakel2 and click on "block all". Nothing more to do.

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   wordscribe43posted 11 years ago

   I blocked mine this morning and saw higher than average earnings.  Not totally sold yet, will have to watch for a while.  BUT, it is encouraging.  Thanks for sharing the information, 2besure!

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      2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      You're welcome.  I am of the opinion...try it, if it doesn't work for you, go back to what you were doing!

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    EmpressFelicityposted 11 years ago

    I've given it a go as well - can't hurt! Thanks for the tip.

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       EmpressFelicityposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Well, eight hours into the experiment I've had a click that was worth considerably more than just the £0.01 clicks I've been getting for the last few months. Fingers crossed.

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    WriteAngledposted 11 years ago

    May I ask a dumb question, please?
    
    By blocking 685 networks, do I not risk ending up with no ads at all sometimes?

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    Sue Adamsposted 11 years ago

    I was wondering that too, maybe Glen can answer that one. Although knowing the Internet, there must be millions of networks. Blocking 685 of them might be OK.

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    WriteAngledposted 11 years ago

    685 was the full total of certified networks showing in Adsense for me.

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    HikeGuyposted 11 years ago

    Thanks for posting. I made those changes and I'll let you know if I see a difference. I had an revenue increase on my blog this month for no reason that I know of. I've been meaning to look into setting ad preferences but wasn't sure what the rationale was for some of the options.

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    SmartAndFunposted 11 years ago

    I'm thinking I accidentally blocked everything or did it wrong, or maybe it's too soon to tell. It's not like I'm losing out on much money but I went from making a few cents a day to making nothing. (?) Maybe it's a coincidence.

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       2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Is the few cents from HP Ads or Google?

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          SmartAndFunposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          My HP ads are turned on and doing as usual. It's the Google that went down to nothing. Or is turning off Google thought to make HP earnings go up? I have them both, although HP does far more, which I think is standard.

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             2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

             SmartAndFun, you are only turning off,  Google certified ad networks nothing else.

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                SmartAndFunposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                OK thanks, I guess those $0.00 days were just a coincidence. I did make 1 whole cent yesterday, LOL, so at least some ads must be turned on. Interesting experiment. I'm going to keep it this way and see what happens.

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                   2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                   Don't forget to ping you best hubs with pingoat or pingomatic!  I always help give me a boost!!  I noticed you have about food. Recipes don't always make a lot of money at first.

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                      2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                      How is everyone doing?

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                         Cacey Taylorposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                         Good and you?

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                      WryLiltposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                      Pinging only lets search engine crawlers know to look at your hub.

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                      JayeWisdomposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                      This is something of which I know nothing!  When 2besure mentioned pingoat and pingomatic, I had no idea what she meant. I'm so incredibly tech-challenged.

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                      sholland10posted 11 years agoin reply to this

                      I am challenged, too.  What is pingoat and pingomatic?

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                         2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                         Pinging your website is the online equivalent of waving a flag and yelling, “Hey! Over here – check this out!” to search engines and directories whenever you add or make major updates to the content on your site.

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                            sholland10posted 11 years agoin reply to this

                            How do you ping?  Sounds interesting.

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    HikeGuyposted 11 years ago

    I'm not seeing any increase in income for AdSense, so far. I use HP ads here, and Google on my blogs. I'm going to give the new ad settings a few more days.

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    Doodleheadposted 11 years ago

    2besure----I just went and blocked my Adsense.   Tell me- how did you figure this how?   What prompted the idea this may be the answer to the low revenue on Google?

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       2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       I did not keep a record of my settings when I was doing really well.  Sometime, the setting change automatically so I constantly check them.  I did some research on blocking not Google ads but Google certified ads.  Not one gave me an answer, and I could find no one to tried it.  So, I decided to block my Google certified ads and within the month I got a $20 day and things are going a lot better.   I just find it works for me.  I have flipped back and forward since this post also, and find I get great results.  with blocking Google Certified Ads. I also made payout the  middle of the second week.  This only other thing I do is ping,ing and  tweeting.  If it is not working for you, please go back to what you were doing.   PS Do not block your Google ads HikeGuy.

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       2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       It was quite by accident.  I am not an SEO expert by any means.! I did a little research on the topic.  All I found were people who wanted to know what would happen it those ads were block.  No one had tried it.  My earning were not too good at that time so I said, what the heck, and tried it. I would no do this, if you only have 40 or 50 hubs.   You will get a few cents from these ads.   Go into your Google Adsense, pick a day, then click on URL, and then Ad Networks.  You will see your earning for GCAs.  Here re the pinging sites I use.   pingomatic.com/ and pingoat.net.  Pinging your website is the online equivalent of waving a flag and yelling, “Hey! Over here – check this out!” to search engines and directories whenever you add or make major updates to the content on your site.

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    kathleenkatposted 11 years ago

    I went ahead and tried this; I figured, I don't have much to lose xD.
    
    Will let you all know in a couple of days, if I see a difference...

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       kathleenkatposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Well, I earned about 170% more than I usually do per day after doing this, yesterday.
       
       However, it has only been one day, so it's hard to tell (there were a few days where I earned this much on the old Ad setitngs, too).

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    gracenotesposted 11 years ago

    2besure,
    
    This is an interesting tactic.  I just tried blocking the certified Google ad network.  My Adsense ad clicks were getting better, but I figure, why not try this anyway?
    
    One thing I definitely don't want to block is ads based on user interest.  When we first started seeing this a few years ago, I was really annoyed by it myself, when I would visit various web sites.  Whatever I had been researching on Google just followed me around, and kept presenting me with the same ads, based on my research interests.  (Probably doesn't happen to me as much anymore, since I have been using Bing as my primary search engine for the last year at least.)
    
    However, over time, who is to say that this is a bad thing when users are viewing your hubs? Frankly, you can't know what your visitors are seeing, and they may have been researching cars or the newest electronic gadgets for weeks.  Maybe they finally click on an ad, and it's one that pays a lot.  Google wouldn't have those interest-based ads if they didn't generate attention and click-throughs.
    
    Since I can't really write about topics like high finance or smart phones or laptop computer peripherals, this is my way of occasionally taking advantage of high-paying clicks outside of my areas of sales knowledge.
    
    Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but I do assume that "interest-based" generates ads based on the users' prior Google searches.

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       2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       gracenotes, that what  means.  I got tired of seeing things I clicked on before following me.  I did block those however, because I though people may feel like I did.   Also If someone come to one of my Hubs, I want the ad to be related to that particular Hub.   Once I have researched something, I don't usually go back to it.  I do use third-party ads.

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    Marseiposted 11 years ago

    I'm doing it.  Will let you know what happens.  My Adsense clicks were pitiful anyway so nothing to lose.

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    2besureposted 11 years ago

    Really push for 100 hubs as soon as possible and keep writing. Write what people are looking for.  When I started writing I wrote what I knew about and what I liked.  That didn't make me much money.  If you have one topic that seems to make the most money that may be a topic you should expand on with new Hubs.

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    SPomposelloposted 11 years ago

    Well I just jumped on the bandwagon, let's see how this goes.

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    gracenotesposted 11 years ago

    Removed Google Certified Ad Network for about 3 days.  Adsense income definitely went down, in spite of good traffic.  I switched back to "Adsense only" about 3 weeks ago, by the way.
    
    Yesterday, added the Google network back again to my profile, and my income is back up.  So, sorry, for me, this experiment did not work too well.  I'm leaving my Adsense settings alone.

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    Doodleheadposted 11 years ago

    Gracenotes---I did the same and have the same outcome as you.   I am giving it one more day.
    How is "Adsense only" compared with Adsense plus Hubpages?

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       gracenotesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       "Adsense only" was not very good in the late spring and summer.  It picked up considerably, and became better for me, starting in September, than running the HubPages Earnings Program + Adsense.

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    tamronposted 11 years ago

    Can anyone "Please"tell me how to shut off "interest-based" ads off?  I hate those ads chasing me all over the net.  I forgot where the setting is I looked under account setting but don't see the setting.

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    kathleenkatposted 11 years ago

    So I made a whopping $0.02 yesterday. Not sure if this is related, but if I only get two cents again I'm switching 'em back on.

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    Marseiposted 11 years ago

    It's under advanced settings.

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    lovebuglenaposted 11 years ago

    How does one block google certified ad networks?

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       lovebuglenaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Never mind... Figured it out. Now my google adsense earnings are very low so curious to see if this will help me increase my earnings from hubpages even by a little. I believe all my hubs are selected to show ads...

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    Greek Oneposted 11 years ago

    I saw a drop in revenue...
    but revenue goes up and down so much, it's hard to tell if it cause the impact

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    crissytsuposted 11 years ago

    Alright I'm definitely trying it...what can it hurt if the page doesn't get any Adsense rev anyway, right. I'll post my results too.

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    Xenonlitposted 11 years ago

    I blocked all of the sensitive, general and networks. Is that right? The advertiser URL category had "too big to block" on most of them.

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       2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Xenonlit, On your Google Adsense page, click on Allow and Blocks Ads- click on blocking options - Click on Ad Networks - Click on Block preferences and if it doesn't block the list of certified ads, go to the bottom of the page and click, block all.

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          Xenonlitposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          It worked on one page. The others did not have the "block all" option at all! I did block a lot of them, so I'll watch closely for any changes. Thanks.

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    david130posted 11 years ago

    I  was earning with google adsence  until I increased my  Hit Rate then Google shut me down informing me I had broken one of their many laws so I now place my own affiliate ads using Easy Ads Rotator this in turn now gives me 100% control of what is placed onto my sites and of course the commissions are a lot higher.

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       2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Sorry David!  What do you mean increased my 'Hit Rate'?  They will shut you down if you do something wrong, but they never tell you, what you actually did that is wrong.  I know you can not use automated link submitters, spam or use redirection methods.  It is a good idea to read Google Rules and regulations, to be safe:  https://www.google.com/adsense/v3/localized-terms

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    wordscribe43posted 11 years ago

    Thought I'd share my own personal results from this experiment.  It didn't pay off for me, in fact it decreased my earnings.  So, I turned them back on.  It is worth a try, though.  It seems to render different results for different people.

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       2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks for sharing this.  I really want to know how it is working for others.

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          SPomposelloposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Hmm, not sure if this was such a good idea. I'm checking my adsense over the last week and it has dropped from $0.01 to zero for the past 4 days since I tried this experiment. Maybe I'm not giving it enough time?
          
          All the general categories are "Allowed". Some of the sensitive categories are "Blocked". All the certified ones are blocked as well (689 of them).

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    Xenonlitposted 11 years ago

    Whoa. My views just went from the 40s to the 50s. I'll check tomorrow.

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    david130posted 11 years ago

    Hits as driving traffic to your site I was using traffic ad bar and tabzi  plus various other email programs nothing that I thought was out of the ordinary as this is what you do when advertising your site the reason was given that I was asking people to click onto my site. I appealed and they refused to reinstate me and so now I can not open or run another Google adsence advertising campaign.

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       2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       It would be so helpful to tell people they block, why.  No one learns from the mistakes of others the way they do it.

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    SmartAndFunposted 11 years ago

    This experiment does not seem to have worked out for me. I went from making very little each day to making almost nothing, and a few days I actually made nothing. Only on days when I got the rare click did I make more than a penny or two. I guess I should go with what works better, even though it is only just slightly better. I just changed mine back to allow everything.
    
    Thanks to 2Bsure, though, because before she posted this I never knew it was an option. I may try it again sometime down the road. (There's also the real possibility that I somehow mde the changes incorrectly, LOL.)

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    2besureposted 11 years ago

    SmartAndFun, I totally get it!  I am not an SEO person, so I can not explain why it is working so well for me.  I encourage anyone to return to their previous Google practices, if it is not working!  At least you were brave enough to try it!

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       JayeWisdomposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Since this thread began before the recent HP internal changes as well as the  Google algorithim changes that occurred the last week of September, how has this affected the traffic rates of everyone who's been conversing on this forum?  The traffic for all my hubs (including my best one that formerly pulled in about half my views--up to 466 per day) have dropped off drastically (and that affects my earnings drastically--in a negative way).  Today my best hub is at 32% of its former traffic, and I've checked it thoroughly and made some minor edits. The strange thing is, that hub is still ranked high on the first Google page, but for some reason, it's not being viewed. 
       
       Other forums are counseling patience, but I'm very discouraged and disillusioned.  If my traffic doesn't begin recovering soon, I will be "rethinking" HP as a venue for my work.
       
       Can everyone tell me, especially if you blocked the AdSense ads and that helped six weeks ago, have you maintained your traffic after the HP and Google changes in late September?  How about you, 2besure?  Thanks!  Jaye
       
       Jaye

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          SmartAndFunposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Despite the changes on September 27/28 or whenever it was, my traffic has remained steady. I think it was up 1% one week and down 1% another. So for me, at least, I don't think traffic had an effect on my Adsense experiment.

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             JayeWisdomposted 11 years agoin reply to this

             Thanks for your quick response, SmartAndFun....That is so strange! Perhaps the Adsense experiment protected you from the fickleness of Google (though I have no idea how that could apply, non-techie that I am!) 
             
             Jaye

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                Pavlo Badovskyyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                I switched it of f around a week ago. The number of clicks did not change, but the average value of click grew up from 7 cents last month (6 cents last year) to 10 cents  per click within last 7 days. Thank you for an advice. It worked well for me.

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                   2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                   Great Pavlo,  I guess it is trial and error.  It works for some and not for others.  Not sure why!

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                SmartAndFunposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                I would be surprised if my traffic held steady because of the adsense experiment. I am no techie, either, and someone may want to jump in and correct me (please do) -- but -- I wonder if I remained unscathed because Google has apparently not crawled my domain since August 26, which (I think) was before the HP started idling hubs and banishing new hubs into pending status for 24 hours. I published a couple of new hubs since then, but Google never saw the pending/no-index tag because they didn't crawl my domain then. I had a few rarely-viewed recipes go into idle status, but I fixed them before Google saw those no-index tags also.
                
                Sorry to go off topic. If anyone who knows about this sort of thing wants to chime in, I would love to learn your thoughts. It's not like I have some great niche that is getting tons of views, but it does seem odd that my views have basically held steady while big G has not been to visit me since before the idle/pending thing started. It was also before the profile page change, if that might matter also.

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    kathleenkatposted 11 years ago

    I changed mine back because despite the change in earnings on day 1, I continued to earn $0.02 per day following. After a week or so, I was quick to change it back and see my earnings return to normal. Must not work for everyone...

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    Rain Defenceposted 11 years ago

    Interesting.. I'm trying it. I think the people that are only trying it for a day or two aren't giving it a chance. To see if there is any difference whenever you change something like this you need to give it a month, then compare your earnings before with after.
    If this blocks the low value ads in favour of higher value ads, then I'm all for it. However looking at my adsense account shows that only approx 4% of my clicks are from certified partners, the other 96% are from adsense anyway, so I can't see it making much difference to me, although it does show that the partner clicks are lower than adsense so you never know, maybe it will make a difference wiping out that 4%.
    Taking away the interest based ads is a good idea though. If you write a really good article about toilets that gets people all excited about them and wanting to change theirs and they see an ad about toilets while reading your article, they may click. If the ad is about something they were reading about a few articles or pages earlier, maybe they won't as it could be a holiday ad on a toilet article for example. You need to get them while they're hot about toilets. Just an example, but that's what I think makes sense.

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       2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Rain Defence, that is how I felt.  When I trace my 1 and 2 cent clicks...the highest being, I think 13 cents.  I though I had nothing to lose.  A lot of low click come from other countries as well.  I still go back and forward.  I just noticed that when I switched to blocking Google certified ads, my earning jumped $5   that same week.

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    Rain Defenceposted 11 years ago

    I have done some more research into my own statistics from my clicks over the last month. 80% of my clicks were contextual, the remaing 20% were interest based. So now I have banned interest based ads, then I'll see what happens.. Today hasn't been a good day for clicks, but I'm going to give it a month before coming to any conclusions.

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    Xenonlitposted 11 years ago

    I'm the same way. I just made the changes, but I also finished my book and have more time to revamp some older articles.
    
    It's hard to tell which project is improving my views, but they are going up.

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    DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years ago

    Ok, non-techie that I am, I don't really understand this 'certified' ads discussion.  But, I do have to say this:
    before the Hub Pages ad program was initiated, I never got more than a few cents a week from Google, anyway.
    
    Since the Hub Pages ad program came into being, I'm finally reaching payout thresholds; something I never thought I'd live long enough to see with Google Ad Sense alone.
    
    So---since you had to have Google Ad Sense in place first, before you could sign up for the HP ad program...how does this discussion play into that?  Would this make my HP earnings rise, or not?
    
    I don't understand the connection between G and HP, and why you had to have the one before being eligible for the other; and how it is now split--how much is still coming from G, and if I disable part of that, will it be a problem with my HP earnings?
    
    Thanks for any non-technical explanation anyone can provide.

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       2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       I forgot to  mention, I do not use HP ads at all.  I felt they competed with Google.  I found I do better with Google alone.  That's just me, I don't know about anyone else.

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    Xenonlitposted 11 years ago

    Google alone is terrible. They do not pay if their customers don't pay. But you are carrying their ads anyway. I maintain that Google should pay a minimum, or they are stealing from us.

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    2besureposted 11 years ago

    You have to do what works for you.  HP is great, especially for those who can't use Google.

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    Rain Defenceposted 11 years ago

    Here's a non techie explanation. If you have the HP ads program enabled, then HP will pay you a small amount for each impression, or page view. This is usually 0.3 to 0.5 cents a time. If you get 1000 views, then you'd get $3-5 dollars with this system. The google ads still run on your articles, but hubpages make the majority of the money from them as they 'own' the majority on your page, so most of the time an ad gets clicked, then it goes to HP. You will still get the occasional google click though on what they don't 'own'.
    If you turn off the HP ad program, then you get a far higher percentage of the money from the ad clicks. HP don't pay you for visits, but you can potentially make more money as it is possible to make multiple dollars from a single click, which would take 1000s of page views normally. The value varies of course, but you can make more.
    The best bet is, run with HP ad program enabled for a month, then run with it disabled for a month. When you disable it, adsense is enabled properly. Whichever makes you more money, stick with that. In my experience, HP ad program disabled works better.

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       DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks, Rain Defence,
         I initially had only GA, and made basically nothing--with their payout threshold set way up at $100, as I said, I did not expect to live long enough to see a payout.  I was lucky to get a few cents a week, over nearly a year and a half.
         Once the HP ad program kicked in, with the lower threshold, I've actually, at this point, gotten 3 payouts, and for more than the minimum level.  So, taking your advice of 'sticking with what works,' the HP program seems to be doing better for me...so I'm going with another old adage:  "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
       

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    Rain Defenceposted 11 years ago

    Glad to hear it's working for you! I hope you're spending the money on enjoyable pursuits and not on boring stuff like bills.

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    hazelwood4posted 11 years ago

    2besecure, I am trying the experiment.  I might go in and turn on the HP Earning Program for a week to see what happens.  Thanks so much for the advice.

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    Marcy Goodfleischposted 11 years ago

    I think I'm going to have to read this thread several times before I fully understand it.  Thanks for all the tips here, everyone.

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       hazelwood4posted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Just curious, what do you set your Adsense on when creating your pages?  What works the best for you?  High, medium, or Low?  Thanks Mike

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          2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          hazelwood4, I don't know what you mean, what do you set your Adsense to?  Do you mean ad size?

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             hazelwood4posted 11 years agoin reply to this

             2besure, There is a setting that you can use to control how many ads show up on your hubs. I always set mine on high, but I have noticed that more ads show above the fold when I do this. It is in the Hub creation module located on the right hand side.

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                Louisa Rogersposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                I am still trying to find where to find if my Adsense hubs are on high, medium, or low. Can you clarify please?

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    alexadryposted 11 years ago

    I am giving this a try. I did block Google certified ads and it says it takes about an hour for it to have effect. Not too sure if the sensitive and general categories should be blocked too? Also, can somebody tell me step by step how to block ads of things I have searched earlier from appearing? I agree with others that it is best to have ads about the topic of the hub and not things you searched earlier.
    For those who want to give blocking certified ads a try and have visual style of learning here is a page that explains how to:
    http://support.google.com/adsense/bin/a … ;ctx=topic

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       2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks, alexadry, a visual is helpful.  I block 2 or 4 ads that do not pertain to my topics.

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          devisreeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          I joined hub pages 5 months back.Up to this time i got  $0.36  this month.  As you said i have blocked all my adds.(743 blocked adds).Iam little afried Will it work?

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             Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

             If you block ALL ads, you won't make any money.  If you're not sure what to block, it's better not to do it.

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    Scribenetposted 11 years ago

    I tried the blocking for about a week and couldn't see any significant change, in views or earnings... so I allowed all the ads again except for a few categories and perhaps it was coincidence, but after the very next Google crawl...my views jumped.
    
    I have no idea if these views will affect earnings, but it is nice to see the upward blip. So for me blocking did not make a difference...but unblocking them again increased views!
    
    I was working on re-writing of some Hubs in the time-frame while the ads were blocked.

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       2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       I always suggest going back to your original settings if you are not seeing a change.  I am not an expert and experimenting as well!

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          dhannyyaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          If we block google certified ads we will be benefitted in our Hubpage Ad program?. I am running HP ad program..will I be benefitted by blocking google certified ads?

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             2besureposted 11 years agoin reply to this

             Don't block if you are only using HP ads

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