Date: Fri, Mar 7 2008 11:27 pm
From: Inside AdSense
Welcome back to the second part of our series designed to help you
better understand revenue fluctuations. If you're just joining us now,
or if you'd just like to brush up on those reporting terms before we
dive in again, feel free to visit our previous post from earlier in
the week.
Choose the right treatment
You're finished investigating the cause of the revenue fluctuations,
and it's time to take action. Find the symptom you identified below
for suggested treatments.
Page impression changes
* Check for AdSense technical issues or public service ads (PSAs). If
ads aren't being served on your site, we aren't registering page
impressions.
* Don't miss out on search traffic. Use Webmaster Tools to make sure
that Google is properly crawling and indexing your site.
* Consider the promotions you have running for your site. Did an ad
campaign end, causing a drop in traffic? Has a popular site linked to
you, causing a spike in page impressions?
CTR changes
* A drop in CTR can be caused by a user interface (UI) that's not
optimized or by poor targeting. Readers won't click on ads they don't
see or find irrelevant. To improve the relevance of your ads, you
might want to try section targeting.
* Check for crawl problems. If our system can't crawl your page, we
can't serve relevant ads.
* If you've implemented or changed your ad server, check that there
are no new targeting problems.
* Have you changed the look and feel of your site? Follow our
optimization best practices whenever launching a site redesign. An
easy way to start is to match the ad colors to the design of your site
and choose a top performing unit such as the 300x250 medium rectangle.
* If your CTR has been in a slow decline, your readers may be
experiencing ad blindness. Try testing new ad formats, placements, or
colors.
CPC changes
* CPCs are determined by advertiser bids and are not directly under
publisher control. Most large CPC changes are seasonal. For example,
certain ad verticals attract more spending during the holiday or back-
to-school seasons.
* CPCs can also fluctuate as advertisers begin and end their
advertising campaigns.
* You can always improve your CPCs by choosing ad formats that support
all ad types: text, image, video, flash, and gadget ads. More
competition means higher advertiser bids.
Placement targeting revenue changes
* If overall targeted revenue is changing, determine what your average
placement-targeted revenue has been for the past few months. Your goal
is to determine if the changes in your recent earnings are part of a
trend or a short-term earnings fluctuation.
* Publishers can experience spikes in placement-targeted revenue when
advertisers run limited-time campaigns. For example, an advertiser may
run a large placement-targeted campaign only during the opening week
of a summer blockbuster movie.
* If you want to increase placement targeting over the long term, set
up ad placements. This will make it easier for advertisers to find and
target your site.
Finally, two more things...
Where are the changes happening?
Many AdSense publishers run multiple websites or have site sections
that perform very differently. For example, the article section of a
cell phone review site may have a higher eCPM than the forums.
Whenever you notice revenue changes at the account level, always
determine which of your sites or sections is causing the change. You
can set up URL and custom channels to track all the important parts of
your account separately. Knowing exactly what is changing and where
will allow you to make the smartest decisions about what to do.
Taking seasonal fluctuation into account
Take a broader view and look for historical fluctuations in the
metrics described above. Over the same time period last month or last
year, you may find similar volatility in your eCPM, revenue, or page
impressions. For example, you can compare the Mother's Day performance
of a flowers and gifts site for 2006 and 2007. Is your current account
performance consistent with the previous time range? If so, the
revenue change you're investigating might reflect a recurring pattern.
I hope this series will help you get the most out of AdSense, and the
next time your revenue changes, I hope it's for the positive.
Posted by Christian Ashlock - AdSense Optimization Team
Friday, March 07, 2008 at 9:08:00 AM
Showing posts with label Advice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Advice. Show all posts
TOPIC: In for a penny, in for a pound key
Date: Tues, Feb 19 2008 10:15 am
From: Inside AdSense Team
As more publishers are being asked to complete the phone verification
process, we've received a number of puzzled emails from our
international community asking about the prompt to 'press the pound
key'. To clarify, the 'pound key' refers to the '#' symbol (also known
as the hash key), and not the '₤' symbol. The pound/hash key can
typically be found below the '9' key.We're working on perfecting our
non-US English, and we apologise for any confusion caused ;) Posted by
Arlene Lee - AdSense Publisher Support
--
Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 2/19/2008 10:15:00 AM
From: Inside AdSense Team
As more publishers are being asked to complete the phone verification
process, we've received a number of puzzled emails from our
international community asking about the prompt to 'press the pound
key'. To clarify, the 'pound key' refers to the '#' symbol (also known
as the hash key), and not the '₤' symbol. The pound/hash key can
typically be found below the '9' key.We're working on perfecting our
non-US English, and we apologise for any confusion caused ;) Posted by
Arlene Lee - AdSense Publisher Support
--
Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 2/19/2008 10:15:00 AM
TOPIC: Sounds of success for Buenamusica
Date: Thurs, Jan 10 2008 2:23pm
From: Inside AdSense Team
In just three years, Manuel Treto's Buenamusica.com has become quite a
successful enterprise. A U.S. based Spanish-language site dedicated to
everything associated with music, Buenamusica.com now receives around
100,000 unique visitors per day from users around the world.When Manuel
first started, he knew he needed an ad network that would deliver both
English and Spanish ads relevant to his U.S. Hispanic and Latin
American visitors -- a one-stop shop with domestic and international
inventory. "This was one of our biggest hurdles for monetizing the
website," Manuel says. "Several of the networks I tried billed
themselves as 'Hispanic networks', but after testing fifteen different
ad networks on our site, we were happiest with AdSense. AdSense is
better for Hispanic publishers because it usually outperforms all other
ad networks by at least 50 percent in earnings, even those ad networks
that are specifically targeted toward Hispanic sites."With a staff of
only five people, Manuel and his colleagues wanted a product that could
adapt to their needs without requiring significant development
resources. "The product's flexibility in terms of customization options
is its most impressive feature," says Manuel. "What has worked the best
for me is incorporating colors that are already associated with the
site. We try to customize everything so that it matches the look and
feel of the site, and users have commented on how nicely the ads fit
into the page."Manuel now employs AdSense ads on 100 percent of his
pages. He also offers his users the ability to navigate through his
site with the Google Custom Search Engine, which he has linked to his
AdSense account. This has allowed him to monetize his search results
and to generate additional revenue for the site. "The more exposure you
give to Google the more money you are going to make, and every little
bit adds up. I strongly recommend using other Google products. Using
the Custom Search Engine feature is bringing a little bit of Google
technology to your website, and you can't beat that."If you'd like to
share your own success story with us, please fill out our
questionnaire. If you're not yet an AdSense publisher and would like to
get started with Manuel's suggestions, you can submit an application
today. Posted by Meridith Major - AdSense Publisher Support
--
Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 1/10/2008 02:19:00 PM
From: Inside AdSense Team
http://groups.google.com/group/Inside-AdSense/browse_thread/thread/d3bef7331a2561ab?hl=en
In just three years, Manuel Treto's Buenamusica.com has become quite a
successful enterprise. A U.S. based Spanish-language site dedicated to
everything associated with music, Buenamusica.com now receives around
100,000 unique visitors per day from users around the world.When Manuel
first started, he knew he needed an ad network that would deliver both
English and Spanish ads relevant to his U.S. Hispanic and Latin
American visitors -- a one-stop shop with domestic and international
inventory. "This was one of our biggest hurdles for monetizing the
website," Manuel says. "Several of the networks I tried billed
themselves as 'Hispanic networks', but after testing fifteen different
ad networks on our site, we were happiest with AdSense. AdSense is
better for Hispanic publishers because it usually outperforms all other
ad networks by at least 50 percent in earnings, even those ad networks
that are specifically targeted toward Hispanic sites."With a staff of
only five people, Manuel and his colleagues wanted a product that could
adapt to their needs without requiring significant development
resources. "The product's flexibility in terms of customization options
is its most impressive feature," says Manuel. "What has worked the best
for me is incorporating colors that are already associated with the
site. We try to customize everything so that it matches the look and
feel of the site, and users have commented on how nicely the ads fit
into the page."Manuel now employs AdSense ads on 100 percent of his
pages. He also offers his users the ability to navigate through his
site with the Google Custom Search Engine, which he has linked to his
AdSense account. This has allowed him to monetize his search results
and to generate additional revenue for the site. "The more exposure you
give to Google the more money you are going to make, and every little
bit adds up. I strongly recommend using other Google products. Using
the Custom Search Engine feature is bringing a little bit of Google
technology to your website, and you can't beat that."If you'd like to
share your own success story with us, please fill out our
questionnaire. If you're not yet an AdSense publisher and would like to
get started with Manuel's suggestions, you can submit an application
today. Posted by Meridith Major - AdSense Publisher Support
--
Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 1/10/2008 02:19:00 PM
TOPIC: New Manage Ads improvements, compliments of you
Date: Mon, Dec 10 2007 9:55 am
From: Inside AdSense Team
http://groups.google.com/group/Inside-AdSense/browse_thread/thread/c1e6b82ccd553d6c?hl=en
We've been listening to your comments on our new ad management feature,
and so we're excited to tell you about a few updates that stem directly
from your requests:
- You can now view the ID number associated with a specific custom
channel by visiting the 'Channels' link under the 'AdSense Setup' tab.
Many of you told us that you needed these channel ID numbers for ad
management programs you're using. We've added this information to your
account since it no longer appears in your ad code.
- Any ad units generated within the last 7 days that haven't yet
received any impressions will now be listed as 'New', rather
than 'Active', in your status column. This should help avoid confusion
about your newest ad units and those already appearing on your pages.
- You can now view the most recent date when each of your ad units was
updated. Please note that these dates aren't retroactive, so any ad
units you generated or edited before this display change will show a
last-edited date of November 1st, 2007.
- We're starting to slowly roll out the manage ads feature for your
referral units. Just as with AdSense for content units, you'll soon be
prompted to enter names for your newly generated referral units. If
you'd like to make changes to your referral units at a later time, you
can visit the 'Manage Ads' page. In the 'Content' column of this page,
your referral units will display 'Referrals:' followed by the products
or category of products being referred.It doesn't end here, though --
we've got a few more enhancements planned for the Manage Ads feature in
the next few weeks, so keep checking back for more updates. In the
meantime, please continue sending your suggestions our way.Posted by
Arlene Lee - AdSense Publisher Support
--
Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 12/10/2007 09:54:00
AM
From: Inside AdSense Team
http://groups.google.com/group/Inside-AdSense/browse_thread/thread/c1e6b82ccd553d6c?hl=en
We've been listening to your comments on our new ad management feature,
and so we're excited to tell you about a few updates that stem directly
from your requests:
- You can now view the ID number associated with a specific custom
channel by visiting the 'Channels' link under the 'AdSense Setup' tab.
Many of you told us that you needed these channel ID numbers for ad
management programs you're using. We've added this information to your
account since it no longer appears in your ad code.
- Any ad units generated within the last 7 days that haven't yet
received any impressions will now be listed as 'New', rather
than 'Active', in your status column. This should help avoid confusion
about your newest ad units and those already appearing on your pages.
- You can now view the most recent date when each of your ad units was
updated. Please note that these dates aren't retroactive, so any ad
units you generated or edited before this display change will show a
last-edited date of November 1st, 2007.
- We're starting to slowly roll out the manage ads feature for your
referral units. Just as with AdSense for content units, you'll soon be
prompted to enter names for your newly generated referral units. If
you'd like to make changes to your referral units at a later time, you
can visit the 'Manage Ads' page. In the 'Content' column of this page,
your referral units will display 'Referrals:' followed by the products
or category of products being referred.It doesn't end here, though --
we've got a few more enhancements planned for the Manage Ads feature in
the next few weeks, so keep checking back for more updates. In the
meantime, please continue sending your suggestions our way.Posted by
Arlene Lee - AdSense Publisher Support
--
Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 12/10/2007 09:54:00
AM
TOPIC: Site maintenance on November 10th at 10 am
Date: Fri, Nov 9 2007 1:32 pm
From: Inside AdSense Team
http://groups.google.com/group/Inside-AdSense/browse_thread/thread/6f0e6c8f3b8664a0?hl=en
Tomorrow, November 10th, our engineers will be performing routine site
maintenance. Although you won't be able to log in to your account
between 10 am and 2 pm PST, we'll continue to serve ads to your pages
and track all earnings in your account as usual.Our international
readers can expect the maintenance to start at the following
times:London - 6 pm SaturdayKiev - 8 pm SaturdayChennai - 11:30 pm
SaturdayManila - 2 am SundayMelbourne - 5 am SundaySome of you have
been curious about what our engineers are up to during these
maintenance periods. As you can imagine, running the system reliably
requires constant nurturing. Some maintenance tasks are more
fundamental to the way the system operates and are not easily done on
the fly -- as a result, it's most efficient and helpful for us to take
the system offline for a few hours. With that in mind, our engineers
line up these tasks in advance and implement them during our regularly
scheduled downtimes. We hope that these maintenance periods aren't too
much of an inconvenience, and we appreciate your understanding.Posted
by Arlene Lee - AdSense Publisher Support
--
Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 11/09/2007 01:31:00
PM
From: Inside AdSense Team
http://groups.google.com/group/Inside-AdSense/browse_thread/thread/6f0e6c8f3b8664a0?hl=en
Tomorrow, November 10th, our engineers will be performing routine site
maintenance. Although you won't be able to log in to your account
between 10 am and 2 pm PST, we'll continue to serve ads to your pages
and track all earnings in your account as usual.Our international
readers can expect the maintenance to start at the following
times:London - 6 pm SaturdayKiev - 8 pm SaturdayChennai - 11:30 pm
SaturdayManila - 2 am SundayMelbourne - 5 am SundaySome of you have
been curious about what our engineers are up to during these
maintenance periods. As you can imagine, running the system reliably
requires constant nurturing. Some maintenance tasks are more
fundamental to the way the system operates and are not easily done on
the fly -- as a result, it's most efficient and helpful for us to take
the system offline for a few hours. With that in mind, our engineers
line up these tasks in advance and implement them during our regularly
scheduled downtimes. We hope that these maintenance periods aren't too
much of an inconvenience, and we appreciate your understanding.Posted
by Arlene Lee - AdSense Publisher Support
--
Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 11/09/2007 01:31:00
PM
TOPIC: An update on channel reports
Date: Thurs, Nov 1 2007 10:09 am
From: Inside AdSense Team
http://groups.google.com/group/Inside-AdSense/browse_thread/thread/c649dd425aba5260?hl=en
We'd like to provide you with an update on the recent channels issue --
our engineers have been working to provide publishers with their
missing data, and you should see this data in your account by early
next week. Thanks again for your patience!Posted by Arlene Lee -
AdSense Publisher Support
--
Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 11/01/2007 10:08:00
AM
From: Inside AdSense Team
http://groups.google.com/group/Inside-AdSense/browse_thread/thread/c649dd425aba5260?hl=en
We'd like to provide you with an update on the recent channels issue --
our engineers have been working to provide publishers with their
missing data, and you should see this data in your account by early
next week. Thanks again for your patience!Posted by Arlene Lee -
AdSense Publisher Support
--
Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 11/01/2007 10:08:00
AM
2 TOPIC ( Webinar transcript now posted AND Custom channels up and running again)
TOPIC: Webinar transcript now posted
Date: Fri, Oct 26 2007 10:08 am
From: Inside AdSense Team
In case you weren't able to attend our latest webinar, What's New with
AdSense, you can now find a recording on our Help Center. Our support
specialists cover the latest features such as Referrals 2.0 and Blogger
inline ads and provide a refresher on the top AdSense support issues.
You can also find recordings and transcripts of our previous
webinars.Posted by Laura Chen - AdSense Publisher Support
--
Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 10/26/2007 10:08:00
AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------.
TOPIC: Custom channels up and running again
Date: Fri, Oct 26 2007 4:59 pm
From: Inside AdSense Team
Over the past few days, some publishers let us know that they were
unable to view any data for their custom channels. Our engineers have
now resolved the issue, and they're currently working on including the
missing data from the past few days. Your custom channels should now be
tracking data as normal. Please be assured that your aggregate reports,
which are used to calculate payments, have not been affected.Thanks for
your patience, and for bringing this issue to our attention!Posted by
Arlene Lee - AdSense Publisher Support
--
Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 10/26/2007 04:59:00
PM
Date: Fri, Oct 26 2007 10:08 am
From: Inside AdSense Team
In case you weren't able to attend our latest webinar, What's New with
AdSense, you can now find a recording on our Help Center. Our support
specialists cover the latest features such as Referrals 2.0 and Blogger
inline ads and provide a refresher on the top AdSense support issues.
You can also find recordings and transcripts of our previous
webinars.Posted by Laura Chen - AdSense Publisher Support
--
Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 10/26/2007 10:08:00
AM
--------------------------------------------------------------------.
TOPIC: Custom channels up and running again
Date: Fri, Oct 26 2007 4:59 pm
From: Inside AdSense Team
Over the past few days, some publishers let us know that they were
unable to view any data for their custom channels. Our engineers have
now resolved the issue, and they're currently working on including the
missing data from the past few days. Your custom channels should now be
tracking data as normal. Please be assured that your aggregate reports,
which are used to calculate payments, have not been affected.Thanks for
your patience, and for bringing this issue to our attention!Posted by
Arlene Lee - AdSense Publisher Support
--
Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 10/26/2007 04:59:00
PM
TOPIC: Site maintenance on Saturday, August 11th
Date: Fri, Aug 10 2007 10:03 am
From: Inside AdSense Team
Tomorrow, our engineers will be performing routine system maintenance
from 10am to 12pm PDT. Although you won't be able to log in to your
account for 2 hours, we'll continue to serve ads to your pages and
track your earnings as usual.For our international readers, we've
converted the maintenance start time for a few cities around the
world:Toronto -- 1pm SaturdayLondon -- 6pm SaturdayCairo -- 8pm
SaturdayMumbai -- 10:30pm SaturdayMelbourne -- 3am SundayThanks for
your patience, and enjoy your weekend!Posted by Arlene Lee - AdSense
Publisher Support
--
Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 8/10/2007 10:02:00 AM
From: Inside AdSense Team
Tomorrow, our engineers will be performing routine system maintenance
from 10am to 12pm PDT. Although you won't be able to log in to your
account for 2 hours, we'll continue to serve ads to your pages and
track your earnings as usual.For our international readers, we've
converted the maintenance start time for a few cities around the
world:Toronto -- 1pm SaturdayLondon -- 6pm SaturdayCairo -- 8pm
SaturdayMumbai -- 10:30pm SaturdayMelbourne -- 3am SundayThanks for
your patience, and enjoy your weekend!Posted by Arlene Lee - AdSense
Publisher Support
--
Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 8/10/2007 10:02:00 AM
TOPIC: Publishers go Dutch with newest AdSense forum
Date: Thurs, Aug 9 2007 2:28 pm
From: Inside AdSense Team
Two weeks ago, our blog team celebrated the first birthday of the Dutch
AdSense blog. We're now happy to announce the launch of the Dutch
AdSense Help Forum! Visit the new forum to ask troubleshooting
questions, offer optimization advice, and meet other AdSense
publishers. You might also notice posts from 'AdSensePro', a Google
representative who will contribute to discussions.Aside from Dutch, the
AdSense Help Forum is also available in the following languages:
Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), English, French, German,
Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and
Turkish.Posted by Arlene Lee - AdSense Publisher Support
--
Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 8/09/2007 02:28:00 PM
From: Inside AdSense Team
Two weeks ago, our blog team celebrated the first birthday of the Dutch
AdSense blog. We're now happy to announce the launch of the Dutch
AdSense Help Forum! Visit the new forum to ask troubleshooting
questions, offer optimization advice, and meet other AdSense
publishers. You might also notice posts from 'AdSensePro', a Google
representative who will contribute to discussions.Aside from Dutch, the
AdSense Help Forum is also available in the following languages:
Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), English, French, German,
Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and
Turkish.Posted by Arlene Lee - AdSense Publisher Support
--
Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 8/09/2007 02:28:00 PM
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