PPC Ian

PPC Ian

Dividend Investing For Everyone

  • Home
  • About PPC Ian
  • My Dividend Stock Portfolio
  • Sin Stock Investing Guide
  • Stock Analysis Worksheet
  • Yield On Cost Worksheet
You are here: Home / Web Publishing / Google Testing New AdSense Formats

Google Testing New AdSense Formats

By PPC Ian Aug 20 14

If you’ve been reading PPC Ian for a while, you know that my posts tend to be very long. In fact, I average about 800-1,000 words per post. As such, it’s become an intimidating challenge for me to post more than one or two times a week. However, it became very apparent to me at SES San Francisco that I absolutely must post at least two times per week to maximize the potential of PPC Ian. I have very big goals for this blog! As such, I’m going to start incorporating some more concise posts in my mix, such as this one. I hope you find the shorter format equally entertaining and helpful!

Google’s Awesome New AdSense Leaderboard

So, for my first shorter format post I wanted to highlight a fascinating change I’ve seen with Google AdSense recently. Basically, they are testing an awesome new format for their leaderboard where you see three horizontal ads rather than the four standard ads (image below).

New Google AdSense Leaderboard

My AdSense Earnings Started Spiking Recently

How did I notice this change? I actually pulled this ad from one of my personal sites from the financial services vertical. I own a portfolio of websites that drive passive income via affiliate earnings, IJL Productions LLC. AdSense is one of my favorite affiliate programs and it drives the lion share of my passive income. The other day, my earnings started spiking due to an improvement in CTR (my page impressions stayed consistent). After a quick audit of my sites, I realized that the new format could very well be the driving force behind this!

Higher AdSense CTR At The Expense of Advertiser Conversion Rate?

So I’m super happy right now (more money is good). However, I have two points. First and foremost, I don’t want to get too happy because this could go away. The jury is still out whether this test will turn into functionality that Google decides to keep.

Second, who knows what this higher CTR is doing to advertisers (I’m also on the advertiser side) on the Google display network. It’s always possible that the higher CTR is at the expense of conversion rate. I’m hopeful that it’s a true gain (CTR up while conversion rate flat to up). In fact, I think this is very possible because AdSense, in my opinion, is overdue for some format changes. It’s been the same too long and some users are getting immune to it. By shaking things up a bit, Google is doing the right thing, both for publishers and advertisers.

Image of Google AdSense © Google, Ads Within AdSense © Their Respective Advertisers

Tags: adsense, google adsense Categories: Web Publishing

Prev
Next

Comments

  1. d3so says

    August 21, 2010 at 3:11 pm

    True. I’ve seen these on sites and I didn’t know they were adsense ads at first, I’m glad they’re trying new things. I might just put some on my blog.

  2. Ian says

    August 21, 2010 at 5:46 pm

    D3so,
    Thanks for the comment! That’s great to hear that you had the same reaction to the new AdSense formats as me, I hope the new format is a keeper. I’d be curious to hear how AdSense does on your blog should you choose to try it out.
    All the best,
    Ian

  3. Dino Vedo says

    August 21, 2010 at 10:20 pm

    Really interesting and honestly haven’t noticed this until after I read this post. I usually only select image ads only as I find the text ads a bit boring and dull, but I definitely like that Google is doing something different with their ads…

  4. Ian says

    August 22, 2010 at 12:08 am

    Thanks Dino for the comment! It’s really funny: I almost always choose the text ads (and exclude image ads), mainly because it removes the possibility of an image ad not meshing well with my site’s design. It’s interesting how different strategies work for different people. With display getting more and more popular and Google renaming “content” as the Google “display network”, I do expect actual display ad delivery through AdSense to become rather impressive in coming years, meaning I think you’re onto something. Probably something for me to start testing!

  5. Eric | My 4-Hour Workweek says

    August 23, 2010 at 8:10 am

    Hey Ian, thanks for bringing this to our attention. I hadn’t noticed this new ad format yet, but I’ll be on the lookout for it. I think it’s great that Google is actually testing different formats (why does it seem like they’ve had the same formats for a long time?). It really seems like constantly changing ad formats is crucial to keep people from becoming blind to them. I wish Google experimented with this a bit more often.

  6. Ian says

    August 23, 2010 at 8:46 pm

    Eric,
    Thanks so much for the comment! I agree with you very much! I too wish Google would test the ad formats even more. I continue to see really high CTRs on my sites and can only attribute it to this point to the new leaderboard layout. I hope it lasts! 🙂
    All the best,
    Ian

  7. Jeff Pan says

    August 24, 2010 at 7:16 am

    I’ve found in my experience that banner ads that look like text ads (#1111cc link color, etc.) perform much better when CTR is considered. It irks me that ugly banners (arrows, bright borders, ugly typography) usually work better than “pretty” banners… But hey, if it works, why not.

  8. Ian says

    August 24, 2010 at 9:41 am

    Jeff,
    You bring up some great points, thank you! Totally agree with you. It’s crazy: We once had a hot pink banner at one of my companies that did extremely well despite looking very cheap and elementary. It’s really wild what works and what doesn’t. Thanks again!
    All the best,
    Ian

  9. Alex Dumitru says

    September 6, 2010 at 8:55 am

    My CPM went 50% since I’ve implemented Google’s new 728 AD, which is more than great.

  10. Ian says

    September 6, 2010 at 11:22 pm

    Alex,
    Thanks so much for sharing your success, that is awesome! Nice work! It is awesome to get another reference point. I also continue to see great success with the new 728 ad, very exciting stuff.
    All the best,
    Ian

  11. Mike | The Mobile Fanatics says

    July 10, 2011 at 3:30 pm

    Hi Ian,

    What position do you usually place the 728 ad at?

    Sidenote: I’m just getting started with EPN since we lost Amazon Associates in California. Wish me luck!

  12. Ian says

    July 10, 2011 at 9:16 pm

    Hi Mike,
    Thanks for the question! 🙂 I own over 100 sites and have experimented with a lot of different ad positions. The one that has worked the best for me is placing the 728×90 ad right within an article (between paragraphs). I tend to use the 728×90 sparingly (as I believe less is more). I have had a ton of luck with it using text only option and also (more recently) text and images. Hope this helps!
    All the best,
    Ian

  13. Mike | The Mobile Fanatics says

    July 11, 2011 at 1:05 pm

    thanks Ian. I just implemented the Large Rectangle unit below my titles instead of the Medium that I’ve been using and already see a huge jump.

  14. Ian says

    July 11, 2011 at 2:00 pm

    Mike,
    That is truly awesome to hear! 🙂 I’m really glad you are seeing an improvement. If you are not already trying text AND image ads, I also recommend trying that. I have found since adding image ads (on one of my sites at least) that the earnings are up quite a bit. I think it totally depends on the site. The site I picked, for example, has very few graphics so I think the image ads are really standing out and capturing clicks.
    All the best,
    Ian

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

About PPC Ian

Ian Lopuch (PPC Ian)Hi, I'm Ian Lopuch, also known as PPC Ian. I'm a Silicon Valley business executive with an incredible passion for dividend stocks (and investments that provide true passive income for the long-term). In fact, I have built a portfolio of 40 stocks that will one day pay for all of my living expenses. I enjoy blogging here about my passion for cash flow investing, while also sharing some other business and digital marketing insights from time-to-time.

Read More About PPC Ian

My Valued Sponsors

Advertise Here     Advertise Here

Let’s Talk Stocks

Watch My YouTube Videos See My Photos On Instagram Tweet Me on Twitter Like Me on Facebook Network With Me on LinkedIn

PPC Ian Tag Cloud

3q digital acquisio ad copy adlift admedia adwords affiliate marketing bid management bing blog anniversary blog commenting charity digital marketing dividend dividends domaining ebay partner network facebook ads facebook advertising goals google google adwords ian lopuch kenshoo lending club marin software mentor box mentorbox ppc associates ppc automation ppc career ppc jobs public speaking search alliance sem agency sem automation sem career sem software seo smx smx west stanford gsb weekend musings yahoo youtube

Posts By Category

PPC Ian Dividends Yield On Cost

My Favorite Dividend Stocks For 2018 and Beyond

Check This Out These Are Dividend Checks

I Invest For Dividends and Financial Freedom

Ian Lopuch Carmel CA

Angel Investing: My Experience With SAFE Agreements

The Five Minute Journal

The Five Minute Journal: My Review and Experience

Mentor Box

My Mentorbox Review

PPC Ian at Stanford Graduate School of Business

PPC Ian Presents at Stanford GSB Again

Stanford GSB Presentation

Video: Stanford Graduate School of Business

Net

Buying Domains on Sedo

BlueHost Web Hosting

BlueHost, Add-On Domains, and .htaccess

PPC Ian
Follow on
Twitter
Connect on
Facebook
  • Home
  • About PPC Ian
  • Consulting
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Affiliate Disclosure
  • Disclaimer
  • Contact Me
Copyright © 2009 through 2023 PPCIan.com (An IJL Productions LLC Site). All Rights Reserved.