Experience with interest based ads so far?

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Experience with interest based ads so far?

koan

7:33 am on May 21, 2009 (gmt 0)

Does anyone here think they've been picked by Google to display interest based ads, and if so, any comments on the performance so far? Has it been positive or do you think it has anything to do with the below average performance of May that many publishers (including me) are experiencing? If so, any luck with turning it off?

CWebguy

3:38 pm on May 21, 2009 (gmt 0)

I wish I knew. I have disabled interest based ads, so I assume they are showing for all accounts(?)

purplecape

7:07 pm on May 21, 2009 (gmt 0)

It's supposed to be a limited beta for the advertisers, so I doubt that it would have had much of an impact yet, especially compared to the elephant in the room (the economy).

nrep

8:52 am on May 22, 2009 (gmt 0)

I also wish I knew! Since 1st May there has been a sizable drop in CTR across my major sites, and I've not changed anything to do with layouts. I'm wondering if that is because of interest ads.

Erku

12:56 pm on May 22, 2009 (gmt 0)

I could say that interest based ads don't work on our sites. If someone is looking for ars in the morning and has a back pain in the evening and looking for back pain medications or treatments, do you think showing car ads will help him? Do you think he will be interested in cars while suffering back pain?

I don't think so.

My point is that when people search for something they are interested in that particular subject not what you had in mind few hours ago.

Do you drink coffee in the evening because you drunk coffee in the morning or because you want coffee in the evening?

I suggest Adsense to reconsider this idea.

walrus

1:41 pm on May 22, 2009 (gmt 0)

Good point Erku, i see that all the time, ads for web design on furniture sites, go figure.

purplecape

2:03 pm on May 22, 2009 (gmt 0)

ads for web design on furniture sites

Well, that's nothing to do with interest-based advertising--that's most likely a broad match with keywords such as "design."

Erku

2:56 pm on May 22, 2009 (gmt 0)

I hope this interest based thing is just a test and google will retire it. it's not working for us at all

Erku

2:58 pm on May 22, 2009 (gmt 0)

If I were Google I would do the following to rewamp Adsense:

1. Retire Smart Pricing
2. Go back to the very basics that made Adsense great.
3. DO NOT ACCEPT ANY SITE TO THE PROGRAM UNLESS THEY HAVEY 5000 DAILY VISITORS.

This last point will fight click fraud perfectly.

purplecape

4:24 pm on May 22, 2009 (gmt 0)

Erku, I have to disagree with just about everything you say!

I could say that interest based ads don't work on our sites.

How do you know they are on your sites? As I said earlier, this is supposedly still in the testing stage. I also wouldn't necessarily assume that it's so unsophisticated as to serve up ads in the afternoon based on what someone was looking for in the morning.

I hope this interest based thing is just a test and google will retire it. it's not working for us at all

Here I partly agree. As Google has said, it's a test. But I don't see any basis for concluding that it's not working--unless you mean it hasn't yet brought additional ads and advertising competition to your sites!

Finally, re your solutions to this non-problem:

3. DO NOT ACCEPT ANY SITE TO THE PROGRAM UNLESS THEY HAVEY 5000 DAILY VISITORS.

My site doesn't even average 2,000 visitors daily and yet it has done well in AdSense since I joined in 2003. Even in this down economy, earnings and CPC are holding up surprisingly well. You would exclude sites like mine just because things aren't going well for you now?

Bottom line: unless you are keeping the evidence to yourself, you have no clear reason to believe that interest-based ads are having any impact on your earnings at all, and so the conclusions and solutions you derive from that belief just aren't valid....

hal12b

4:43 pm on May 22, 2009 (gmt 0)

Erku -
This is ridiculous -->

3. DO NOT ACCEPT ANY SITE TO THE PROGRAM UNLESS THEY HAVEY 5000 DAILY VISITORS.

There are plenty of quality niche sites out there just don't get a lot of visitors.. historical, automotive, etc.