More Ebay Ads

1. 59

   Mark Knowlesposted 16 years ago

   I know there are a lot of posts on this topic, mostly bitching about the dog food ads ( me included) but i wondered what the thinking is behind these ads. Are you planning to replace the adsense? Just looking for another option? Will they pay better? I just ask because I feel they are interfering with the look and earning potential at the moment. If there is a long-term benefit, I just wondered what that might be. And i think a few other people too I don't mind putting up with a short term loss if there is a long term gain, but at the moment I don't know what that is likely to be.

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   1. STAFF

      pauldeedsposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      Mark -- Our objectives are to 1) keep our authors satisfied, and 2) maximize total revenue.  For many author's #1 and #2 are strongly related, but we do recognize that not everyone is here primarily to make money (and we'd like to keep them satisfied as well).
      
      The other side of the HubPages business is a technology called YieldBuild that automates ad color, position, size, shape and network choice (ie. ebay, adsense, etc) optimization in order to maximize revenue.   This is what powers the ads on HubPages (as well as a growing number of other sites).  In its current state, the publishers (ie. HubPages, and other sites) don't have a ton of control over what ad networks appear -- the yieldbuild engine makes most of the decisions automatically.   Fairly soon, a new release of Yieldbuild will allow us a little finer control which may mean that we can eliminate an ad network like ebay altogether if we felt that was the right thing to do.
      
      Yieldbuild would only place the ebay ads very infrequently if they did not perform well in some situations, but we certainly understand why you wouldn't want the ones that sit right in the middle of your hub and aren't at all related to your content.   As soon as we can do something about those we will.
      
      I mentioned it elsewhere but it bears repeating: we have added an ad level of 'Medium', which is the same as 'High' but does not include the ad inside and near the top of hub.  That option will give authors so inclined the ability to remove that ad position at their discretion.

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      1. 0

         Terri Paajanenposted 16 years agoin reply to this

         The point that nobody at Hub seems to want to address is the rather obvious fact that the ads are NOT working properly. With a network like Ebay, there is no reason to display about 5 different and badly chosen ads (dog food, tattoos and job search are the only ones that come to mind).
         
         Nobody is complaining about their location or their existence, but rather the fact that they are clearly broken. We don't necessary want a way to turn them off, we want them to actually work so that they can maximize our earnings.

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2. 88

   Paragliderposted 16 years ago

   Hi Mark -
   I've read the theory that intrusive vertical ads get more clicks, but true or not, I could wish them away, especially when the content is inappropriate. I've had dog-food ads appear in a hub about the holy month of Ramadan. That's about as crass as it gets!

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3. 86

   livelongerposted 16 years ago

   I have to admit that I'm in the dark about this one.
   
   Are Muslims offended by the existence of dogs, or do they believe they should not be fed by (presumably non-Muslim) people who keep them as pets? I actually Googled this and couldn't find an answer from an actual Muslim. Everyone was just guessing.
   
   I have a hard time believing that Muslims would be offended/insulted by the mere mention of the word "dog" written on a computer screen. Those that would would have to be really fundamentalist, and fundamentalists of all stripes are offended by just about everything.
   
   This is not meant to be inflammatory at all Paraglider - I simply do not understand it.

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4. 88

   Paragliderposted 16 years ago

   Some take it more seriously than others. Dogs are considered unclean and are banned from many areas. Some western ex-pats in the Gulf states do keep dogs, but it's rather frowned upon. I don't think many people would be genuinely offended at the advert, but it's about as appropriate as offering a bacon sandwich during prayers. I long ago stopped complaining about these ebay column ads, but as Mark had started a new thread, I thought I'd add my support.

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   1. 87

      Isabella Snowposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      I support the concern of whether or not the ads are good for hubpages - but I don't think the dog food ad would offend any Muslims. And if it did, they'd be ticked at ebay, not you.

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   2. 86

      livelongerposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      I apologize for my off-topic question but thank you for the explanation.

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5. 59

   Mark Knowlesposted 16 years ago

   Thanks Paul,
   
   Like I said, I don't mind a short term loss if there is to be a long term gain. I assume that by leaving the current set up, the system will be able to "learn," and hopefully provide more appropriate, better earning ads at some point in the future. I honestly don't mind what gets advertised - If it sells
   If it doesn't sell, it seems pointless to have. But, if hugpages owns yieldbuild, why the lack of control?

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6. 87

   Isabella Snowposted 16 years ago

   I think they are starting to sort themselves out.
   
   Im still seeing them, but Ive started seeing the regular adsense ads in-between capsules again.
   
   And I noticed a new ebay ad yesterday when viewing a hub - to the right of the profile photo at the top of the page. It looked a lot like the kind youd insert into a hub yourself - it looked a lot better.

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