Besting Adwords

Why Bloggers Don't Get It

Fri, 29 Jul 2005 01:59:21 GMT

Graywolf: In doing the research for my series of Adsense articles, two common ideas kept getting repeated:

My Adsense ads are horrible, they only pay out (insert low dollar figure here)
My Adsense CTR is horrible, I only get a (insert extremely low CTR here)

To be fair these comments weren't coming just from bloggers, but bloggers did make up an overwhelmingly large percentage. [cut] They are no more commercially viable or attractive than say Aunt Millie's Holiday Newsletter.

http://www.wolf-howl.com/2005/07/adsense-why-bloggers-dont-get-it.html

Mistakes AdSensers Have Made

Thu, 28 Jul 2005 16:28:30 GMT

Abakus: Mistakes that people have made that decreased their AdSence income.

Picked up a penalty by doing some spammy things.
SEO’ed their site for a key phrase that they wanted to rank for that ended up effecting the Ads displayed and got paid less.
Not adding new content often enough.
Not blending the ads into the site.
Not putting AdLinks up as soon as it came out. The person lost income opportunity.

Good Adsense Week!

Thu, 28 Jul 2005 15:07:52 GMT

I'm having a good Adsense week. Tuesday was my 5th highest daily earnings. Monday was 10th highest. Extremely good considering that my Webpage hits are down 50% over the last two weeks.

The Importance of CTR: Has it Changed?

Wed, 27 Jul 2005 15:31:26 GMT

Andrew Goodman: Advertisers will no longer have to grapple with the former clickthrough rate (CTR) “cutoff” of “0.5% normalized for ad position.” Now, there is no cutoff, and low CTR’s will not cause a campaign to be slowed. However, for low-CTR keywords, advertisers may be forced to bid higher than the current minimum bid of .05 in order to keep their keywords active.

http://www.traffick.com/articles/internet-marketing/advanced-adwords-strategies.asp

Randy: Andrew's entire article is worth a thorough read. Some very interesting analysis of the pending Adword changes.

How to Fake a Google Page Rank 10

Wed, 27 Jul 2005 02:28:42 GMT

SEO Black Hat: Here’s how you Spoof a Google Page Rank:

Buy a domain.
301 Redirect the domain either in you .htaccess, PHP header (anything server side) to a page with the desired page rank. [cut]
Link to the page with the redirect from another of your sites that gets regularly spidered by Google. Since you use the Alexa Toolbar, you should have several sites that are spidered daily by google.
Wait for google update. Google Updates happen about every three months. [cut]
Now you use cloaking software that says:
if(ip is in list) (list of google IPs) {
header(”HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently”);
header(”location:http://www.seoblackhat.com”);
exit; } else {
//Show your site };

The main drawback is that your site will not actually be indexed by Google.

Randy: I simplified the instructions a bit, so you might want to read the original to get a better picture.

How To Make More Money With Google AdSense

Tue, 26 Jul 2005 18:49:29 GMT

Will Spencer: The basic formula for thinking about revenue from Google AdSense is:

Revenue = (Impressions * CTR * CPC)

Read the full Article.

Randy: Another article on the Google AdSense formula. Very similar to an article written by Eric Giguere. One of these two authors spent a lot of time researching the others article.

3 Tips to Increase CTRs

Sat, 23 Jul 2005 13:19:43 GMT

Rox: Here are three Adsense Tips, together with the required HTML code , to dramatically increase CTRs and Google Adsense revenue.

Include Images Above An Adsense Leader Board Block
Use the Competitive Ad Filter to exclude low-paying Blog related URL's
Add a Double Block of Large Rectangle Adsense Blocks at the End of each Post or Webpage

http://www.marketingdefined.com/blog/2005/07/adsense-tips-dramatically-increase-ctr.html

Larry Wingo v. Google

Sat, 23 Jul 2005 03:11:45 GMT

It would seem that the Internet personality Larry Wingo is taking his battle against Google's Adsense to the blogosphere by posting comment SPAM on Adsense topic blogs. Here are three of this comment SPAM on my blogs.

http://www.webvertization.com/?guid=20050630082555
http://www.kbcafe.com/iBLOGthere4iM/?guid=20050621215917
http://www.kbcafe.com/iBLOGthere4iM/?guid=20041223154728

If you know his story, then you'll also know he's a wacko and most likely his story is mostly half-truths. He's upset that Google cut off his Adwords campaigns after he reversed his Google Adword credit card charges. Hmmm!

Killer Adsense Tip

Fri, 22 Jul 2005 16:50:32 GMT

Dr. Mani: I just read this in Allan Gardyne's newsletter. [cut] It's a tip that's increasing clickthrough rates for Adsense ads by upto SEVEN HUNDRED percent! [cut] What is it? Pictures. On top of ads.

http://www.ezinemarketingcenter.com/drmani-says/archives/001225.html

Randy: This is a great idea! I just wonder how I could implement it on kbcafe search.

Google Announces Record Revenues for Q2

Fri, 22 Jul 2005 12:52:24 GMT

Google: Google reported record revenues of $1.384 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2005, up 98% year over year. [cut] Google-owned sites generated $737 million or 53% of total revenues. [cut] Revenues generated on Google's partner sites, through AdSense programs, contributed $630 million.

http://investor.google.com/releases/2005Q2.html

Randy: According to my Payment history, Google is sending me a cheque for $249.75. Next month's cheque should be even bigger. Google made the Web monetizable by the little guy.

When AdSense Serves The Wrong Ads

Wed, 20 Jul 2005 17:12:17 GMT

Dave Lavinsky: The most common frustrations among AdSense publishers are 1) Google serving inappropriate ads on their web pages, 2) low click-through rates and 3) low payouts per click. This article discusses the first frustration.

http://www.ecommnewz.com/2005/0202.html

$1 Million Adsense

Wed, 20 Jul 2005 15:13:49 GMT

Jason Calacanis: Yesterday we broke our $2,100 record with a $2,335 day. That’s an impressive number I know, because if we can take that number to $2,739.72 we’re at—wait for it—$1M a year.

http://calacanis.weblogsinc.com/entry/1234000403051129/

Randy: Proof that you can create a business around blogging and Adsense.

Google AdSense for domains

Wed, 20 Jul 2005 03:34:19 GMT

Google: AdSense for domains allows domain name registrars and large domain name holders to unlock the value in their parked page inventory.

http://www.google.com/domainpark/

Randy: AdSense for domain squatters?

Email from Disgruntled AdWords Advertiser

Wed, 20 Jul 2005 03:08:23 GMT

Larry Wingo: I complained to my credit card company and they reversed the charge. [cut] Google promptly cancelled my ads! They give me bad service and if I don’t like it, they simply cancel my account and cut me off from the world of search engine advertising.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/DearKalena?m=73

Randy: Most every Google complaint finally comes down to something stupid like this. He reverse charges on his credit card from Google, then is surprised that they cancelled his account. What an idiot!

Class Action Lawsuit Against Google

Wed, 20 Jul 2005 02:48:40 GMT

Kalena: Mr Wingo has sent multiple emails to me outlining his complaints in detail and encouraging others to join him in a class action lawsuit against Google. I have asked Mr Wingo for permission to post specific content from his email on this blog. Stay tuned!

http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?b355602222&r=MSNnews

Randy: Subscribed.

AdWords Raising Prices for Lesser Ads

Tue, 19 Jul 2005 20:21:37 GMT

MarketingVOX: Google announced that it will start charging higher minimum bids for keywords for those advertisers whose placements prove less relevant to readers.

Randy: This isn't very good for the little guy. I'll hold off further judgement until I see the implementation, but this sounds like smaller campaigns pay more money.

Adsenselogger

Mon, 18 Jul 2005 21:13:30 GMT

Adsenselogger: The first ever, public released open source php adsense tracker. A great majority of the internet webmasters that earn a advertising revenue with Google's Adsense program, have been looking for more in-depth and detailed statistical information on their Adsense performance. [cut] The Adsense ad tracking registers amongst others : Adsense ad colours, referrers, details about ad clicked, ad size, ad type and much more data that will assist in optimizing Adsense earnings.

http://www.adsenselogger.com/

Randy: This is weird. You can already do this type of tracker with Adsense reporting. I must be missing something.

The AdSense Formula

Mon, 18 Jul 2005 15:31:58 GMT

Make Easy Money with Google: The only AdSense formula that you need to know is this:

earnings = number of clicks * average price per click

http://www.makeeasymoneywithgoogle.com/adsense-formula.html

Randy: This is a little oversimplified. The actual formula of importance is this:

earnings = page impressions * ads per page * click thru rate * average price per click

And remember that also that:

page impressions = f(ads per page)

Tha is, page impressions is a function of ads per page. If you have too many ads, then you'll lose readers, which will result in less page impressions.

Longer RSS Ads Catch More Clicks

Mon, 18 Jul 2005 13:26:40 GMT

MarketingVOX: Charles M. Smith, president and COO for Pheedo, told the Times that advertisers currently pay 50 cents to $1.75 per click for Pheedo ads, which Pheedo and the publisher of the content in the feed share. In tests of various RSS ads, he says, longer, 500-word ads work better than the 100-word ads of search marketing fame.

8 Ways to Increase Your Adsense Revenue

Mon, 18 Jul 2005 03:32:46 GMT

TheTechDomain: 8 ways to boost your Google Adsense earnings.

Check your site’s keyword density
Find the high paying keyword
Don’t just rely on Adsense
Location
Traffic
Use the google search
Choose an alternate ad
Stop Words

http://thetechdomain.com/?p=9

Earning Milestones

Mon, 18 Jul 2005 01:33:24 GMT

Darren Rowse: I went to the PO Box this morning to grab my mail and found my monthly cheque from Google’s Adsense had arrived for earnings in the month of May. [cut] I will give a rough figure though - it’s between $10k and $20k ($USD).

Randy: Blogging + Adsense = Living.

PageRank updated again

Mon, 18 Jul 2005 00:22:02 GMT

Say It LOUD: About every six months, Google updates its PageRank numbers.

Randy: Although my page rank did not seem to change, I've noticed a drastic drop in search results referring into my Website.

Monitor Adsense from your System Tray

Sun, 17 Jul 2005 16:37:59 GMT

downloadsquad: SysSense will sit unobtrusivly in your system tray and poll your AdSense account at regularly configured intervals, and pop up a balloon tip with the details of your earnings.

http://www.singerscreations.com/AboutSysSense.asp

$0.01 Adword CPC

Sat, 16 Jul 2005 13:19:10 GMT

Google: The current range of bidding possible within the AdWords system is $0.05-$100. With this upcoming change, the minimum CPC will be reduced to $0.01, and therefore the possible CPC range for AdWords will be $0.01-$100.

http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?b353559225&r=MSNnews

Randy: This would encourage buying a lot of low value keywords for $0.01. Personally, I currently buy $1 worth of $0.05 keywords daily. I would change this to $0.01 keywords giving me 100 clicks rather than 20.

AdSense Updates Terms

Fri, 15 Jul 2005 16:15:51 GMT

WebmasterWorld: Here is your complete update and rundown of all the changes, and what they mean to you.

Click here to view the rest of the article.

Randy: Changes seems trivial in nature and were made to account for recent new features and changes in the Adsense program.

Google Tricks

Thu, 14 Jul 2005 23:48:38 GMT

Found some new Google search schemes.

Money for Blog/Podcast-ing

Thu, 14 Jul 2005 20:52:23 GMT

Dave Winer: You can make a lot of money off both activities, but not the same way as you would from radio programming or news writing.

Randy: I don't know, I have a few blogs, I put ads on them, people read my blogs and click on the ads. This seems a lot like the way news writing works. I didn't think you could monetize blogs with ads until I saw what Jason was doing. I started working on ad positioning in April. In May, I started making money. In June, I made three times more. In July, I'll make two-three times more than June. I expect to make twice July's amount in August. Yet, my ads are not overwhelming and my readership numbers are still going thru the roof.

New Adsense Interface

Thu, 14 Jul 2005 20:07:15 GMT

How popular is your site?

Wed, 13 Jul 2005 04:56:19 GMT

etc: You may know that Google also lets you see the links pointing to a particular site, by simpling doing a Google search for: link:www.domainname.com. [cut] For a better indicator go to Yahoo!. You can search for all links to a particular site like this: linkdomain:www.domainname.com. To make sure you don’t also include internal links between pages in the site, you can subtract that site address from the search like this: linkdomain:www.domainname.com -site:www.domainname.com.

Adwords Traffic Estimator

Tue, 12 Jul 2005 21:12:54 GMT

Google: Get quick traffic estimates for new keywords without adding them to an account or using the AdWords sign-up wizard.

https://adwords.google.com/select/TrafficEstimatorSandbox

Randy: Requires login.

AdWords Algorithm Change

Tue, 12 Jul 2005 21:02:09 GMT

AdWordsAdvisor: As part of our ongoing effort to improve the user experience, we've made recent enhancements that might have affected the ranking of your ads. These system changes are designed to show your ads to users who are more likely to click on them, thus driving more qualified traffic to your site. For this reason, your ads might be shown in different positions to different users depending on search behavior, such as the user's location and search query.

Google Opens Up Adsense for RSS

Tue, 12 Jul 2005 15:25:12 GMT

Steve Rubel: Google has opened up its contextual Adsense ads for RSS feeds to any web site owner. [cut] You must have more than 100 feed subscribers to sign up.

Randy: Previously, you needed 1000 feed subscribers to sign up.

Google AdSense Optimization Webinar

Mon, 11 Jul 2005 05:45:53 GMT

Phoebe Ho: And our goal of this call is to relay some of the tips that we have and basically enable you to figure out how to maximize your revenue and give you the chance to optimize the ads and maybe spend more time giving you some tips and hopefully give you some suggestions along the way.

http://www.google.com/services/adsense_webinar.html

Randy: This article is required reading for Adsense power users.

#1 Mistake Made with Adsense

Fri, 08 Jul 2005 19:09:53 GMT

Joel Comm: That mistake is making your ad look like an ad.

gdrmarketing.com

Flickr testing Adsense and Yahoo! Ads

Fri, 08 Jul 2005 02:46:27 GMT

Loren Baker: Yahoo is testing both Google AdSense ads and Yahoo Search Marketing Contextual Ads on Flickr to possibly determine and compare the revenue generated by each contextual advertising network as part of Yahoo Search Marketing’s plans to unveil their own Yahoo Publisher’s advertising.

http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?b348542608&r=MSNnews

12 Tips to Effective AdWords

Thu, 07 Jul 2005 00:13:22 GMT

Michael Wong: These tips will help you create ads that generate higher click through rates, and lower cost per click.

Target The Right Audience
Refine Your Keywords
Test Multiple Ads Simultaneously
Track The Return-On-Investment Of Each Ad
Include Targeted Keywords In Your Ad
Sell The Benefits
Include Attention Grabbing Words In Your Ad
Use Words That Provoke Emotion & Enthusiasm
Sell Your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
Link To Relevant Landing Pages
Remove Common Words
Deter Freebie Hunters

http://www.mikes-marketing-tools.com/marketing-tips/google-adwords.html

7 Adwords Strategies

Wed, 06 Jul 2005 02:47:35 GMT

Website Marketing Course: 7 Explosive Strategies to Maximize Your Google AdWords Campaigns.

Identify a large number (preferably 300 above) of low-cost but highly targeted keywords/keyword phrases.
Develop various ad headlines and descriptions and split-test them to identify the most effective ad.
Use the Keyword Matching option to better target your ads.
Limit the ad impressions to certain countries and/or regions once you’ve received customer data from the initial sales generated.
Add a subscriber sign-up box on ALL the websites you’re promoting.
Add a DHTML (Dynamic Hyper Text Markup Language) pop-up on your websites.
Monitor and manage your campaigns.

Randy: I would avoid #6.

http://websitemarketingcourse.com/?p=5

Try Google Adwords for FREE!

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 15:39:32 GMT

Google: Kick-start your campaign with a £20 voucher, free from Google.

http://services.google.com/marketing/links/UK-OA-NETCRAF

Google Wins Click Fraud Case

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 14:55:34 GMT

MediaBuyerPlanner: Google won its suit against an AdSense partner publisher that it had accused of deliberate click fraud.

Randy: I have to wonder, Google charged adword users for those clicks. Is Google going to reimburse them or pocket the money?

Get Rid of Irrelevant AdSense Ads

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 04:28:20 GMT

Website Maintenance: Recently I’ve figured out several ways how to solve this problem.

Try adding META tags to your web page.
Rename your html file.
Try refreshing your page again and again until you see relevant ads displayed.
If any of the above tricks do not work, you can send an email to Google Adsense Support

http://websitemaintenance.com.au/blog/?p=34

Why can't I see my ad?

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 03:51:32 GMT

SEO Techniques: There are several common reasons you may be unable to see your ad. Here are several possible approaches to the situation:

1. Check back later.
2. Check your daily budget.
3. Check the approval status of your ad.
4. Check the performance of your keywords.
5. Check your Max CPM.
6. Check your geo-targeting.

sophiabath

26 steps to 15k a Day

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 02:23:16 GMT

Brett Tabke: The following will build a successful site in 1 years time via Google alone.

Prep Work
Domain name
Site Design
Page Size
Content
Density, position, yada, yada, yada...
Outbound Links
Cross links
Put it Online
Submit
Logging and Tracking
Spiderlings
Topic directories
Links
Content
Gimmicks
Link backs
Rounding out the offerings
Beware of Flyer and Brochure Syndrome
Build one page of content per day
Study those logs
Timely Topics
Friends and Family
Notes, Notes, Notes
Submission check at six months
Build one page of quality content per day

http://www.searchengineworld.com/misc/guide.htm

Big decrease in adsense earning

Mon, 04 Jul 2005 18:01:42 GMT

szehau: Since 1st of July, my adsense earning has a big decrease … too bad, it is about 50% .

http://www.szehau.com/archives/2005/07/big-decrease-in-adsense-earning/

Randy: This was szehau's first month using Adsense. I've also noticed similar complaints. It would seem that Adsense pays highest the first month you have an account and the CPC decrease on the first day of the second month.

Google Referral Program

Mon, 04 Jul 2005 17:18:02 GMT

Google: The program works by giving approved sites unique links to Google, then compensating the referring site for passing on a new AdWords advertiser or AdSense publisher.

http://www.google.com/referral/index.html

Page Views vs AdSense

Mon, 04 Jul 2005 15:00:07 GMT

Mark Evans: Looks like Google AdSense isn't going to make me rich after all. Last month, this blog had more than 115,000 page views but only $19.83 in AdSense revenue. I guess the content is so compelling - :) - people don't want to click on Google ads. Actually, I think it may highlight an unspoken truth about blogs and advertising: few of them will be financially lucrative.

http://evans.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2005/7/4/994737.html

Submit Your June Earnings

Sun, 03 Jul 2005 21:30:03 GMT

AdMoolah: It’s July 1st so it’s time to submit your AdSense earnings for June. Just got to the input page.

http://www.admoolah.com/blog/index.php/2005/07/submit-your-june-earnings/

Google is Testing Deep Web Search

Sun, 03 Jul 2005 21:14:34 GMT

eWeek: BetaNews has learned that Google is testing a premium service that will open up mainstream access to the "Deep Web," allowing webmasters with restricted or subscription content to let in Google and provide the masses with free previews. [cut] Premium content will be indexed and tagged as paid, and will be displayed in a special content area on the right side of Google's search results underneath the AdSense advertising links.

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1833618,00.asp

5-step Program to Quality Traffic

Sun, 03 Jul 2005 20:41:52 GMT

John Laffery:

After creating quality theme related content for your site getting inbound links is the most important activity a site owner should get up to.
Remember if you cant find your way around your site then neither will your visitors be able to.
When linking to a site or when a site is linking to you make sure the link is in words and not http://www.yoursite.com.
Getting a top listing in a search engine for a highly searched keyword is obviously a very good way to get lots of quality traffic.
Buying traffic is a option open to anybody.

http://www.selfseo.com/story-2508.php

15 Mistakes that Violate TOS

Sun, 03 Jul 2005 20:33:51 GMT

Quick Online Tips: So here a few helpful reminders, probably many you already know, and few you might gain by knowing now.

Never click your own ads or get them clicked for whatever reason.
Never change the Adsense code.
Do not place more than 3 ad unit and 1 ad links or 2 search boxes on any web page.
Do not run competitive contextual text ad or search services.
Do not disclose confidential information.
Label headings as "sponsored links" or "advertisements" only.
Never launch a New Page for clicked ads by default.
One Account suffices for Multiple websites.
Place ads only on Content Pages.
Do not mask ad elements.
Do not send your ads by email.
Keep track of your content.
Do not alter the results after ad clicks or searches.
Avoid excessive advertising and keyword stuffing.
Ensure you Language is Supported.

http://pchere.blogspot.com/2005/05/15-common-mistakes-by-google-adsense.html

AdWords Demos and Guides

Sun, 03 Jul 2005 19:50:25 GMT

Google: Learn the basics of Google AdWords by viewing these brief demos.

https://adwords.google.com/select/library/index.html

GoogSpy

Sun, 03 Jul 2005 18:28:42 GMT

GoogSpy is a search engine into the Adwords database.

http://www.googspy.com/

99 High Paying Keywords

Sun, 03 Jul 2005 18:16:57 GMT

Structured settlements
Mesothelioma
Acne
Life Insurance
Death Insurance
Bextra
Asbestos
Car Insurance
Dental Plans
Private Jets

More...

Click-Fraud Rates

Sun, 03 Jul 2005 17:34:43 GMT

The blogosphere is reporting that Adsense click-fraud rates of upto 38%. This is entirely misleading and is based on the following quote from a Reuters article.

Scott Boyenger, chief executive of Colorado-based Click Defense, said in an e-mail that his company's tracking system has detected click fraud rates of as high as 38 percent. The company sells software to prevent click fraud.

Note that Scott is CEO of a company that sells click-fraud prevention software and his motive is to create fear to sell more product. Also, he does not say that click-fraud is upto 38%, but rather that a sample has been detected as high as 38%. I assume he found a sample of 8 clicks in which 3 were fraudulent (3 div 8 = 38%).

Adsense/Adwords Forums

Sun, 03 Jul 2005 15:52:52 GMT

Found an Adsense/Adwords forum on GoogleCommunity.com.

http://www.googlecommunity.com/forum-2.html