Adsense Tip: It's all about location
 

Most people run 3 ads on their site.

Type and location of ads determines your return. We will discuss location.

Did you know that the first ad displayed has the highest return per click?
(you get a higher % in return per each click*)

Below are some scenarios that I have seen on many forum sites.


Site A:

Basic forum <table> layout illustration:
______________ ________________
logo_________ | [banner]
______________ ________________
navbar
[leaderboard]
_______________________________
content
_______________________________

has the following ads.. (listed high->low CTR)

• leaderboard (below navbar) most clicks
• banner (next to logo) low

GRADE F: Not optimized - admin is actually losing money; the banner is receiving the highest return yet the leaderboard has the most clicks. :down:


The ads are displayed in the following order:

1. banner
2. leaderboard

Site B:

Forum left column <table> layout illustration:
_____________ ________________
logo________ | [banner]
_____________ ________________
navbar

_____________ ________________
sidebar_____ | [leaderboard]
[skyscraper] | content
_____________ ________________


has the following ads.. (listed high->low CTR)

• leaderboard (below navbar) most clicks
• banner (next to logo)
• skyscraper (left column) low

GRADE F: Not optimized - admin is losing money; they are getting the minimum for each leaderboard click yet the leaderboard has the most clicks. :down:

The ads are displayed in the following order:

1. banner
2. skyscraper
3. leaderboard

Site C:

Forum left column <table> layout illustration:
______________________________
logo
______________________________
navbar
[leaderboard]
_____________ ________________
sidebar_____ | content
[skyscraper] | [banner]
_____________ ________________


has the following ads.. (listed high->low CTR)

• leaderboard (below navbar) most clicks
• skyscraper (left column)
• banner (below content) low

GRADE A: Optimized - admin is maximizing his clicks :up:

The ads are displayed in the following order:

1. leaderboard
2. skyscraper
3. banner

Is your site optimized for Adsense?


* Google does not make this information available; but it's believed to be true by many

I use GAB for Advertisement, tried OpenX but is a bit server-load consuming...
as far as I know AdSense is not giving good result to the majority of the boards although is the 'basic' source of income to consider... but that's my .2 cents

Thanks for the heads up. I guess my ads are optimized then. It just so happens that mine falls along these lines.

not sure about what site you are referring about but that calistyle site is NOT

I'm looking at this page:
http://calistyle101.com/forums/freeb...p-freepay.html

the first ad displayed is your left column skyscraper - not the leaderboard below the first postbit

although, the skyscraper earns you the highest return per click
it's the leaderboard that gets you the highest ratio on clicks per # of impressions


NOTE: I'm NOT referring to the first ad that you see. I'm talking about the first ad displayed (fetched) by your browser.

i've never been able to make adsense work :d I've given up on it and switched to affiliate marketing and made 1000% more in 4 weeks then i ever did with adsense in 4 years

Oh, ok. I just assumed the first one on the page would be the first one to load. In the above examples that just so happed to be how they all were.

I'm a site c but prefer a footer leaderboard instead of a skyscraper on the side.

-Raymond

can you have a look at the locations on:

muskelbody.info/forum
sportsuche.info/forum

thanks for the feedback.

muskelbody.info/forum :down:

I suggest a new style and logo.
I recommend posting your site (for style review) in Community Reviews.

about adsense - you have too many above the fold; most likely your bounce rate is really high

sportsuche.info/forum :up:

The ads do not integrate well with your style; I also recommend pushing the skyscraper down (add something above it)

I recommend posting your site (for style review) in Community Reviews.

i did not understand everything you wrote (sorry i am german).
can i pm you therefore ?

nice info

Hi

Even though this thread is 3 month old I just found it.

I am constantly working on optimizing my adsense integration into vBulletin for years now.

I think I nearly perfected it but I really like some feedback from you on it

http://www.patientenfragen.net

I made several of my adsense integrations available as mods for anyone who is interested.
Check my profile.

Thank you in advance

StarBuG

Logo - Leaderboard (Yes, 728x90 next to the logo. Tight fit for some.)

Adsense Link Units under navbar - (Background to match page background, text to match rest of text on page, 728x15 centered under navbar)

Right Column - 120x600 or 160x600 Skyscrapper

Footer - Don't bother. CTR isn't worth placing a ad here, and if you place ads in your welcome text, then this would make 4 ad spots (and with adsense, one is going to disappear and leave your page with a hole)

With the above, in my experience you would triple your adsense earnings to the other scenarios listed above.

And, as for other optimum spots, a 250x250 or 336x250 (I think that's the larger box ad) in your welcome text. Text on the left, Ad on the right. (Add note below this ad (Registration makes this ad disappear. Also, set welcome text to display on every page and not just forumhome)

Last position is in the first post for visitors only, either 200x200 image or 250x250 image float right of post content using:

With this layout, here is the breakdown I've experienced personally:

728x15 Text Link Unit Under Navbar - Highest CTR, Highest PPC

728x90 at Logo (to Right) - Next highest CTR and earnings

120x600 Right Column (Top if you run other advertisers, anything after the first skyscrapper banner in my opinion is a waste because the ctr if very low) - Third highest CTR and PPC

200x200 or 250x250 (Unfortunately, I forgot to channel this location, but I know without even channeling it, that this position does great and increased earnings exponentially.

And the first post ad spot... does ok, not great, but not to bad.

I realize this thread started with three locations, of which the first three I listed are the best positions I have used, however the other spots (which are only shown to guest anyway, do well enough to try them out, and keep if they earn).

So how about those other positions that vBulletin makes available to show ads in...

Well, the footer location in my experience has been the worse, with a ctr of about .02%, and the thread list bottom, before the quick reply, and end of forums (on forum home) all similar)

After first post, which some choose to use the 728x15 text links, and some a leaderboard banner, have always been poor performers as well, not to mention, most members of the forum HATE to have the post broke up by any kind of ad. The other positions haven't seemed to be a nuisance.

Anyhow, how that helps. Although I won't publish numbers, as I said this simple change from the usual below navbar leaderboard, ad after first post, and footer location, has tripled, if not quadrupled earnings consistently.

big squares are thought to do best i hear.....so i got the big square on top, first, next to the welcome image.....does pretty good (on TalkDE)

What do you guys think about the placements on my forum: www.lineolatedparakeet.net/forums

• Small link unit below welcome header
• Leader board in footer
• Two link units above thread listing (forumdisplay.php)
• link unit immediately before post text (between the postbit and the message)
• Leader board after first post
• Link unit after 5th post on every page
• Small banner before quick reply

Any areas to improve?