I agree completely. My guess is that most of us would like to see it spelled "Google". I don't care who at Google ever thought it would be cute or clever to spell the company name that way. Brand recognition is worth a lot.

Actually kind of wierd..

I hear several people complain about this Ads by Gooooogle header.

On my adsense pages, all of the headers are without 1 million o's

I have : Ads by Google!

Come to think of it, the other day I was on a site about dental hygiene, and the ads said "Ads by Gargle". And then there's that popular Goth site, with the "Ads by Gargoyle".

Gooooooooooogle is their trademark! Just take a look at the bottom of the search results pages of Google, and that is how you quickly navigate to other pages, by clicking on the o's.

it looks cheap and I am sure more people would recognise the name a lot easier if it just said Google.

Google has more data than we do about clickthrough rates for "Ads by Gooooogle" vs. "Ads by Google."

Google probably has focus-group and survey data about recognition and recall, too.

The long trail of os probably catches the eye better than just "Google" and if so, that should compensate for the apparent cheapness. But I agree they must have done their studies and we don't have them ;)

Gooooooooooogle is their trademark! Just take a look at the bottom of the search results pages of Google, and that is how you quickly navigate to other pages, by clicking on the o's.

Well, well, well...I'd never noticed that before! Probably because my sites are ranked at the top of the SERPs:-)))

Google has more data than we do about clickthrough rates for "Ads by Gooooogle" vs. "Ads by Google."

Yes, that's what they say. Why not let the publishers test it, though? We are in the same boat with Google. Let the publisher opt out of this feature. If it affects my CTR, I will gladly re-enable it.

I wonder are they trying to establish more trademarks for when Google is genericised?

Why not let the publishers test it, though? We are in the same boat with Google.

Which publishers?

Which publishers?

All the non-premium AdSense publishers?

Why not let the publishers test it, though?

1) We can be fairly certain that they've already tested it, since they've used both "Ads by Google" and "Ads by Gooooogle" in the past.

2) Most publishers are unlikely to have enough impressions to yield statistically significant results.

3) The number of publishers who want to test "Ads by Google" vs. "Ads by Gooooogle" is likely to be small, so there's no compelling demand or need.

To be honest, I have better things to dooooooooooo than worry about this as the only thing that matters is if you get "Money by Gooooooooooogle" at the end of the month, and I dooooooooooo, a lot of it tooooooooooo, sooooooooooo as looooooooooong as they keep paying I don't care how they do it.

FWIW, I see a mix on my site of Ads by Google and Gooooooooooogle, on the same page even.

I just shortened my ad height by enough pixels so it doesn't show up at all. I also don't like the "click here to advertise on this site" link, so this solves that problem too. I sell direct advertising as well and don't want people clicking to Google thinking that's the only way to get an ad on my sites.

I just shortened my ad height by enough pixels so it doesn't show up at all.

You're now in violation of your T&Cs for AdSense by obfuscating the ad and you're not allowed to modify the HTML either.

Google Rights.

... You will not remove, obscure, or alter Google's copyright notice, Brand Features, or other proprietary rights notices affixed to or contained within any Google services, software, or documentation (including without limitation the display of Google’s Brand Features with Ads, Links, Search Boxes, Search Results, and/or Search Buttons, as applicable)....

If you don't fix it just spare us the "I was banned thread" when it happens.

[edited by: incrediBILL at 6:47 pm (utc) on Aug. 27, 2006]

I just shortened my ad height by enough pixels so it doesn't show up at all. I also don't like the "click here to advertise on this site" link, so this solves that problem too. I sell direct advertising as well and don't want people clicking to Google thinking that's the only way to get an ad on my sites.

I don't think that the TOS allow you to do that. If you dont want the "Advertise on this site" link to appear, you can disable the feature.

3) The number of publishers who want to test "Ads by Google" vs. "Ads by Gooooogle" is likely to be small, so there's no compelling demand or need.

Honestly, I don't care if most publishers don't care what impression their sites make. I do care about it. To me, the word "Gooooooooogle" makes the impression that the ads are some cheap hoax. I would like to be able to make choices that affect the impression my site makes (just like the Premium publishers can). I want more control, and I don't want Google to treat me like a small child.

I want more control, and I don't want Google to treat me like a small child.

Should they extend this privilege to all publishers?

If it's in our benefit to have the goofy goooooooooogle thing in there, it would probably be reassuring to publishers for Google to release some data to prove it.

Still, I can't see how one size can possibly fit all. How about you?

I want more control, and I don't want Google to treat me like a small child.

Okay, but look at it from the other side's point of view: Google may not want you treating them like small children by overriding decisions they've made after careful research.

If you really think "Ads by Gooooogle" is going to make your site look cheap and drive away visitors, then you can solve the problem immediately by taking the AdSense code off your pages until Google changes its policy. Or you can cross your fingers, keep on complaining, and risk the loss of those visitors and their respect. I personally think AdSense has bigger challenges to deal with than the negative effects of "Ads by Gooooogle" (or whatever "oooooo" variation is in place at the moment), but we all get to pick our battles and our worries.

>>>overriding decisions they've made after careful research.

I guess we posted at the same time. While I personally don't mind the goofy Goooogle thing, it does occur to me that it may be unreasonble to assume that one size will fit all (and I mean everybody in the AdSense program).

It may be the case that the goofy label increases income for most but not all sites. So for a few websites, Google may be driving down income. Limited but acceptable collateral damage?

[edited by: martinibuster at 9:00 pm (utc) on Aug. 27, 2006]

I find these posts amusing. When they changed Google to Gooooooogle (seven o's, let's not go oooooooverboard on the characterizations of what Google's doing), I cared for about an hour. But then I got over it.

The supposition that your visitors would think "Gooooooogle" makes the ad look like a hoax is only valid if they only ever saw it on your site, but web surfers see "Gooooooogle" everywhere, so that's not valid.

You have to admit, they already offer us a lot of leeway. They allow us to filter ads (could be better, but that's the subject of other threads). They allow us to specify to not show image ads. They allow us to opt out of "seasonal" formatting, they allow us to opt out of CPM ads (you have to request this manually by email) and they allow us to opt out of "Advertise Here" (or however they word it...)

The fact is, you contract with Google to carry their product (Adsense). It's their product, they have a right and responsibility to make it look they way their business tells them is best. That's why we can't change things like underlining, fonts, ad sizes, and yes, "Gooooooogle".

All right. What if Google started forcing every non-premium publisher to serve ads on pink background with orange foreground font and green border claiming that their research has shown that it increases CTR? See the point? I would rather opt out of this and have lower CTR. Is that hard to understand? (Or do some people always have to unconditionally support everything Google does?)

The bit I don't like (at all) is not the Goooooooooooooooogle, it's the Ads by.

What's wrong with advertisements? Why should it be Ads?

Advertisements by Google => fine by me
Advertisements by Goooooooooooooooogle => fine by me
Ads by Goooooooooooooooogle => urgh, how American!

All right. What if Google started forcing every non-premium publisher to serve ads on pink background with orange foreground font and green border claiming that their research has shown that it increases CTR? See the point? I would rather opt out of this and have lower CTR. Is that hard to understand? (Or do some people always have to unconditionally support everything Google does?)

OK, if Google ever forces you to serve ads on a pink background with an orange font and a green border, most of us are likely to support your desire to opt out. :-)

But the bottom line is that you've given Google a block (or blocks) of space on your pages, and you can't expect to control everything that's displayed in that space. You can hope, and you can ask, but it's unrealistic to demand 100% control.

Still, if this a battle that you think is worth fighting, by all means do so (preferably without insulting members who don't agree with your choice of battles).

There is certainly a good reason why this topic resurfaces regularly on this board (and BTW it has never been me who started any of these threads). There is also certainly a good reason why all premium publishers display "Ads by Google" instead of "Ads by Gooooooooooooooogle".

If you don't care what impression your site makes (or trade it for higher CTR), that's just fine. If you don't agree with us that "Goooooooooooogle" looks like cheap scam, that's just fine too.

I just shortened my ad height by enough pixels so it doesn't show up at all. I also don't like the "click here to advertise on this site" link, so this solves that problem too. I sell direct advertising as well and don't want people clicking to Google thinking that's the only way to get an ad on my sites.

I don't think that the TOS allow you to do that. If you dont want the "Advertise on this site" link to appear, you can disable the feature.

I looked for this and couldn't find it anywhere - where can I disable this?

digitalv-

I looked for this and couldn't find it anywhere - where can I disable this?

My Account > Account Settings > Onsite Advertiser Sign-Up > UNCHECK: Include me in Onsite Advertiser Sign-Up

Chapman

There is certainly a good reason why this topic resurfaces regularly on this board (and BTW it has never been me who started any of these threads). There is also certainly a good reason why all premium publishers display "Ads by Google" instead of "Ads by Gooooooooooooooogle".

Actually, quite a few premium publishers don't display the Google name at all: They have a link that says "What's this?" (or something similar) and points to a page or popup window with more information.

If you don't care what impression your site makes (or trade it for higher CTR), that's just fine. If you don't agree with us that "Goooooooooooogle" looks like cheap scam, that's just fine too.

Whether it looks like a "cheap scam" is determined less by an "oooooo" in "Ads by Google" than by:

- The ads that appear in the "Ads by Goo[ooo]gle" box.

- Whether the site itself inspires trust.