Some loud thinking on Google Ad placements

1. 58

   C.V.Rajanposted 14 years ago

   People at one end say that good content is a must for a Hub or for any web article where Google adsense is the revenue source. I believe if the content is really good, the visitor will read through and reach the end of the article.
   
   But people at another end in Hubpages advice you not to place any picture at top of the article. They say the Google Ad at top and also at top right are the ones most important for earnings. Does it mean that if someone comes to read your article, he will see the ads, click at it and go elsewhere rather than read your article?!
   
   But I firmly believe that if my article is written well and has really got good and useful content, it should contain a sizable Google ad at bottom-right (or bottom left) somewhere adjacent to the last paragraph of an article.
   
   It should attract the reader to click at it to look for more relevant context-sensitive information.
   
   I think the site suite101 now places a large box of of text-based, context sensitive ads at the bottom of the article (above readers' comments). (In addition to top and middle). In fact, when I was writing earlier at that site, they too did not place ads at the bottom. The ads were somewhere below the reader's comments which nobody sees. They have made this change recently and I am getting much better earnings from there nowadays.
   
   I also have a feeling that at Hubpages, the ad that appears at the right extreme of the screen is likely to get ignored.
   
   I am also against the general recommendation that the top of the article should not contain any photograph. It is my personal opinion that a good, attractive and meaningful picture at the top enthuses a reader to read the article.
   
   Infact I tried articles with and without photos at top and I don't find any significant difference in my already abysmal earnings from Hubpages.
   
   Another feeling I have is that context sensitive ads are much less in my articles (I am not sure whether it is so with many others). This is another reason, I feel, that contributes to my poor earnings.
   
   Any feedback? Any official response to my opinion?

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   1. 59

      Elijah Sposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      You bring important and interesting points. In my opinion optimal ad placement is eventually a statistical matter that doesn't necessarily depend on the quality of the content. As writers, we assign much importance to reading, but ads belong to the domain of marketing. Once you start concerning yourself with the advertisements, you become a marketer, and different rules apply.
      
      There are too many unknowns in this thing. For instance, some visitors don't pay much attention to text (though Google algorithm might), and respond to visual cues. Many use search tentatively, don't really plan on reading a well-researched 1000 word article, and will navigate away the moment they see it.
      
      All that is not to imply that we should write low-quality regurgitated stuff. On the contrary, we should continue doing our best, only if because it's one of the few "knowns" that we can influence. Hubpages do their part with the YieldBuild software.
      
      I think it's not accidental that ads near the top of the article are considered the most effective.
      From my experience, once I enlarged the first text capsule to make it big enough to accommodate a Google ad, my earnings increased.
      Also, I think Hubpages do put an ad block at the bottom, though that might depend on the hub ad settings.

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   2. 86

      Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Actually, yes it does CV. I know we'd all like people to read our articles, but often it's the impatient person whom we make the most money from! They're the people who search for something on Google, then merely glance at each site looking for an instant solution.  That's why internet marketers place so much emphasis on having your advertising "above the fold" - so it's visible to people who are in too much of a hurry to scroll down.
      
      The rich content is as much for Google's benefit as for your readers.
      
      
      
      That sounds reasonable to me, CV - I've never been able to understand the point of the Adsense ad right at the very bottom of the Hub, where I'd have thought few people would venture. But as others have said, I trust Yieldbuild to deliver the best result.
      
      
      Yes, but if I arrive at a site and all I can see (without scrolling down) is a big photo - what does that tell me about the article?  In my view, a good first paragraph has far more potential to hook the reader.  Also see my comments about ads above the fold.
      
      
      
      Your comment about context sensitive ads is significant, IMO.  If you're not getting context sensitive ads, it may be there are very few Adsense advertisers related to those subjects. If that's the case, then no amount of optimising will improve your income.
      
      Alternatively, you may not be using your keywords enough in your Hubs, so Google can't work out what they're about.  Take a look at your suggested tags - they get picked up from the context of your Hub too, so they give you some idea.

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2. 63

   Mishaposted 14 years ago

   Ever heard of YieldBuild? Search the forums

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   1. 63

      Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I repeat: 
      
      In short, it takes the guess work out of ad configuration and placement and replaces it with constant testing and adjusting according to the test results. It does not get any better than that

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      1. 58

         C.V.Rajanposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks. I just read the other post and returned here.
         
         I have a question. Can I block certain ads from appearing in my hubs from my Google account using "Ad review Center" when Yieldbuild is active? (I think it may not allow).
         
         But in my personal experience, Yieldbuild or no Yieldbuild, my ad clicks are horribly low!

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         1. 63

            Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            What exactly ads are shown does not depend on YB at all. You can deny particular sites in your adsense , but they still will be shown in HP share.
            
            As for the click value - learn and use keyword research.

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3. 66

   Flightkeeperposted 14 years ago

   I agree with Elijah.  I have a large first paragraph so that a google ad is placed there.  My pictures, videos or polls don't get placed until after the 1st paragraph. And I do break up the hub at a natural occurrence so that another block of google ads get placed.

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4. 58

   C.V.Rajanposted 14 years ago

   I should really agree with Elijah that what people look for may not be what we have painstakingly written!
   
   But my thinking is that  whomsoever coming to the bottom of the article should be offered something more in the form of ads.
   
   Another thing that irks me at  times (I have posted it in another thread about scientology.org ad) that the top, top right and extreme right -- all the three boxes display simultaneously the same ad! This is definitely a overkill and this approach is effectively thwarting 3 different ads appearing at 3 different places, thereby limiting the ad potential. People instead of getting attracted may rather feel repulsive of the "overshouting" of the same ad everywhere.
   
   And I have one more feeling too. A box of text ad containing several outward links may at times prove to be more advantageous, though they look outdated.

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5. 79

   skyfireposted 14 years ago

   Misha, i was in search of alternatives of Yieldbuild just for my personal info, any idea if there is any alternative ?

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   1. 63

      Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I run YB on a couple of my sites for a long time. I remember trying something else before it, and it did not work out that well for me. YB at least doubled my earnings for the same traffic after a short burn-in period.
      
      Try to search for adsense optimization, or ad placement optimization if you want alternatives - but frankly I doubt you find anything better. You gotta have traffic to use it. If you don't have enough traffic for YB to work properly, other programs likely to not work, too.

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         skyfireposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks, Only problem with YB i have is Colors of text ads, i mean for white background blogs it is showing very dark (blue shade) ads. I didn't find much configuring settings for it, so started to look for alternative.

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         1. 63

            Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            It optimizes colors, too.

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6. 0

   Nelle Hoxieposted 14 years ago

   I agree with Misha. YieldBuild is fantastic and I've no complaints about the optimization on HubPages. I love the fact that I really don't have to spend much time thinking about google ads.
   
   I make payout every month, and I really don't spend more than a minute or two thinking about adsense on each hub.

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7. 91

   Susana Sposted 14 years ago

   I agree C.V. Rajan, that an ad at the bottom of the article before the comments area could be good for those that do read the whole hub. Maybe HP already tested this area with YieldBuild though and found it no good? Since we have no control over or info about the ads that are clicked in our hubs, we shall never know.

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8. 80

   sabrebIadeposted 14 years ago

   With ad placement there is a fine line between good...and spammy.
   I prefer to let YieldBuild walk that line for me here.
   Although an ad block before the comments on the surface sounds good, tests may have shown it isn't that great of an idea.

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9. 71

   sunforgedposted 14 years ago

   C.V.,
   
   One of my very first posts here at Hubpages was the exact same request with the exact same request.
   
   I received an answer from hbAdmin pointing out the merits of yieldbuild (a hub company)
   
   I didnt agree and argued on.
   
   But, i was wrong, I was not experienced with adsense optimization, my experience at that time was in traditional aff marketing, explain a concept or problem=offer a solution at the end.
   
   Adsense clickers dont follow that rationale
   
   If your not getting adsense clicks
   
   Than either you are writing so well and answering your searchers query so that they dont feel the need for further answers or you are writing to topics that dont require answers
   
   Yieldbuild uses some sort of statistical algo but research into how computer users read and scan a page agrees with the pattern it seems to follow
   
   
   this is a heatmap image that shows how viewers scan a webpage ..almost the reverse of what you would have been taught by print journalism
   
   The Hub/YB system works very well for some/many of us, try figuring out what you can do from your end to fix your non-performance

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   1. 58

      C.V.Rajanposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      That picture was interesting and if I think deeply, perhaps I too read an article that way if the article does not contain what I look for.
      
      Perhaps the title and keywords bring a reader to our article but our article may not really contain what he wants! But if does contain, it makes lots of sense on what you said. The reader has no need to click anything more.
      
      CVR

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10. 77

    soni2006posted 14 years ago

    Everything works for me here because I keep on posting new hubs each day with new less competitive keywords. My earnings are growing and do you know why? because I don't think about these things. Just got ahead and searched online about hubpages and where it stands. I did it and trust it and just keep on learning how to find best keywords and write hubs on that and that has what worked for me, so keep on giving it a go with good keywords and your earnings will improve dramatically.

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11. 81

    Ben Zoltakposted 14 years ago

    Looks like I have to study Yield build next, how did I miss it?

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    1. 71

       sunforgedposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       No, you dont.
       
       Thats the beauty it thinks for oyou...and even if you didnt want to use it, you have no other choice here at hubpages
       
       whats there to study?

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       1. 81

          Ben Zoltakposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Oh guess this is a geewiz moment, thanks Sunforged. I get it, it is the name of the intelligent ad placement right? Ha! Well guess I can close the file on that one! (Big Lebowski quote)

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12. 58

    C.V.Rajanposted 14 years ago

    Sometimes questioning the established practices may kindle fresh thinking and changes may lead to betterment.
    
    I recently noticed a thing which I feel is still worse. In one of my articles about healthy living, I saw some unconnected advertisement SIMULTANEOUSLY APPEARING at all the ad-boxes in my article!
    
    I do strongly believe such approaches will not "build any yield" because it amounts to shouting and the reader is bound to get irritated; it is unconnected with the subject of the article; assuming that an off-topic ad is also desirable at least at one box, it has effectively blocked relevant ads in 3 boxes.
    
    Hope someone managing Yieldbuild will look into this.

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       Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Ads content has nothing to do with YB. Google controls it singlehandedly.

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       1. 58

          C.V.Rajanposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Misha,
          
          I think YB decides what sort of ad type box should appear at what place. (Where txt only ad, where ads with pics, where ads with graphics etc). If it is not done, then there is no optimization! This facility is offered by Google itself to all its account holders who have control over their webpage design.
          
          Perhaps what Marisa said is more appropriate. It was relatively a new article. (about 1 day old when I posted the above message).
          
          CVR

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          1. 63

             Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

             Yes, it does optimize the type of ad, too. In that sense it is responsible for you seeing several identical ads. Yet I won't question this either - it has the data and the algorithm to maximize your overall earning. This surely involves testing of sub-optimal layouts.
             
             In other words, to know what is good, YB has to try many not-so-good things, and compare them. And since things keep changing constantly, it tries constantly. Hope this makes sense.

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             1. 58

                C.V.Rajanposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                If they keep experimenting, it's fine. Then my suggestion to try a good ad box at the bottom of the article will also be something good to try, I suppose!

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    2. 86

       Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       If the article was recently published, it's possible Google had not had time to crawl the Hub and work out what is relevant.  The other thing to check, as I said, is that perhaps there is something wrong with that Hub. 
       
       Try posting it in the Extreme Hub Makeover thread, explaining that it's not getting relevant ads - we'll see if we can work out why.

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13. 70

    thisisoliposted 14 years ago

    Ad placement is very important, fortunately Hubpages has done most of the hard work for you!
    
    When it comes to images in the top right, this is always a trade off.  While the top right is where you will always get the most clicks, a nice picture will draw the reader in to your article, allow them to read the rest of the adverts, and possibly buy a product for greater revenue!

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14. 60

    ganeshbehera2010posted 14 years ago

    yaa....you are right suggesting ad at bottom will increase your revenue

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