The Inquisitr » google adsense

Google letting 3rd party ad networks in on the party

Steven Hodson — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 01:17:49 +0000

I just got this in my email but it seems that Google has decided to allow “certified” ad networks to compete for display ad space on our blogs. This will let these ad networks bit in the AdSense auction as long as they meet Google’s requirements when it comes to user privacy, ad quality, and speed.

Here is the email in full that went out to AdSense users and a video from Google explaining out it works.

Hi,
We’re writing to let you know about an upcoming update in your AdSense account designed to help you generate the maximum revenue from your ad units. You’ll soon be able to allow multiple ad networks to show on your pages, which means that advertisers from external Google-certified networks will be able to compete with AdWords advertisers for your ad space.

If you’re unfamiliar with what ad networks are, they’re companies that partner with advertisers and publishers to buy and sell ads on sites they don’t own themselves, similar to AdSense. Ads from these networks will compete with Google ads to show on publisher sites, and the ad generating the highest revenue for publishers will be displayed.

To ensure the quality of the ads appearing on your sites, we’re certifying all participating ad networks for adherence to our standards for user privacy, ad quality, and speed. You’ll also have control over which networks can show ads on your pages — you can choose to opt out of receiving ads from specific networks, or all networks completely. This means you can continue to show ads from only AdWords advertisers if you’d like.

Finally, some ad networks use tools similar to Google’s interest-based advertising to show more relevant ads to users on the sites they visit. These ad networks won’t be permitted to collect data from your site for the purpose of subsequent interest-based advertising, but we’ll allow those who comply with user privacy guidelines to show ads using these tools. You’ll have the ability to opt out of showing ads based on user interests from these ad networks, and we’ve changed our requirements for third-party ad serving to reflect this. More information is available at http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=94230 .

These new capabilities will automatically be enabled for your account, and you’ll see a new section in your Ad Review Center where you can allow or block specific ad networks. Please note that we’ll gradually be adding new ad networks to AdSense accounts over the next few months, so you won’t see any immediate impact on your ads or your earnings.

To learn more about this launch and managing the ad networks appearing on your pages, visit the AdSense Help Center at https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/topic.py?hl=en&topic=13522 and watch our video demo at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HyJPOVLd3I .
Sincerely,
The Google AdSense Team

<\/param><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt="">

Google finds way to short change Adsense users with expandable ads

Duncan Riley — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 04:57:17 +0000

Google has announced the launch of expandable ads within the Adwords/ Adsense ad system.

The new ad unit offers an expanded ad presence, this is, an ad that expands beyond its initial borders as an overlay across a page. Google has gone for a softer version with these ads, setting them up so they only expand when clicked on, and not via a mouseover as is a typical on other ad networks, or in extreme cases auto expansion on page load.

As a general idea I have no issue with this sort of ad unit, at least in the context that it involves an action from a reader to trip the expanded ad. The issue lies with payment, or more importantly lack there of.

The new ad units come in two financial models: traditional (for this format) CPM payment (payment for 1000 views) and CPC (cost per click). The CPM pays irrespective of whether or not the view results in a visit to the advertised site, but the CPC only pays on the visit. The latter is fine for a normal text or image Adsense unit, but remember here, when a reader clicks on the expandable ad, they get shown the expanded ad, and are NOT taken to the advertisers site. So despite the exposure an ad like this would provide (Google’s example includes a unit with video, image above), Adsense publishers only get paid if the reader clicks a second time.

That’s a setup that short changes Adsense publishers. A reader could sit through a 30 second expandable ad with video and complimentary branding, and the site hosting could not be paid a cent for it.

To make matters worse, you can’t opt out of the expandable ads alone. The only way to opt out is to opt out of image ads, and few publishers would want to do that. The only positive (well for me at least) is that these units are only being offered sites with Adsense accounts registered in North America or Europe so far.

The ad market is getting tighter, and it’s understandable that Google would look to expand it’s offering, but not paying publishers in this way is not exactly a friendly move by the largest internet advertising company on the planet.

Google opens up Adsense for Domains: now more people can typosquat and make money!

Duncan Riley — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 05:42:32 +0000

Google Adsense for Domains, Google’s dormant domain ad service has opened its doors to more users.

The program inserts Google ads relevant to the domain on unusued URL’s, creating a landing page of relevant links. Well, that’s the polite version. In reality it encourages domain squatting and typo squatting and millions of pages of rubbish, although some operators are worse than others.

The service was previously available only to users with large domain portfolio’s over a certain size, where as now the doors are open to anyone within North America with an Adsense account, with other countries to follow.

Would I use it on a domain I’m not using? Yes, happily. However there’s some irony in Google being the biggest ad provider in a space that is best know for its proliferation of spam web pages. This business is the equivalent of Google being a church, and running an adult book store at the same time next door to the church.

Google dumps Google Forums for Adsense help, switches to a Yahoo Answers format

Duncan Riley — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 23:40:12 +0000

Google has advised members of the Google Adsense Help forum that they will no longer be using Google Groups, and are instead using a new Q&A platform.

The new site allows Adsense users to ask questions and have them answered by other users. Answers are offered clearly under each question, and each answer can be voted on through a yes and no option on usefulness.

If the new platform sounds like Yahoo Answers, it looks that way as well. Although embracing the usual bland aesthetics of Google services, the format is nearly identical. Whether this is part of a bigger plan by Google to slowly move back into the Q&A space in unknown, but the decision is notable as Google has decided to move away from one of its existing products, Google Groups.

Full email sent to users as follows

The AdSense Help Forum is moving from Google Groups to a new platform that offers a number of features our users have requested. As a result, the English AdSense Help Forum in Google Groups will be closed to posting starting today, October 30, 2008. In order to continue asking and answering questions of other AdSense users, please visit the new forum at http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/AdSense?utm_source=aso&utm_campaign=ww-en-em-asforum_bulk&utm_medium=email. Anyone can read the forum, but you’ll need to sign up using your Google Account in order to post.

The new platform offers the following features:

* Question & answer format to help you find answers quickly
* Improved search functionality and integration with the AdSense Help Center
* Better spam detection and prevention
* Public recognition of Top Contributors and frequent posters
* Ability to subscribe to ask questions and receive answers via email

Thanks in advance for your patience as we work to build a community in the new AdSense Help Forum. We hope you’ll come check it out!

Google Adsense for Games

Duncan Riley — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:39:49 +0000

Google has entered the game advertising space launching Google Adsense for Games.

With the new service, game creators can display video ads, image ads, or text ads within games to earn revenue. Sites will be able to define where ads appear, such as interstitial frames before a game, after a level change, or when a game is over.

Google is pitching the service not only as a first use advertising platform, but as a fall back for remnant inventory, offering “contextually targeted image and text ads which are targeted based on various content and demographic signals.

Google has signed a number of content providers and existing ad players to the network, including Konami, Playfish, Zynga, Demand Media, and Mochi Media. The first advertisers signed to the service include Esurance, Sprint, and Sony Pictures.

The video above is Google’s official pitch for the release, and it’s definitely the most different Google corporate video we’ve seen, although it does fail in one respect: it doesn’t actually show any ads in games, at least from what I could see. The video that shows Google in-game ads can be viewed here, and fast forward to 1:04.