Forum Moderators: martinibuster
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Lets review:- Google retracts almost every webmasters/siteowner outreach program it had in 2009.
- They left the trade show circut. Other than what they had contracted a year earlier, they eliminated their participation in trade shows.
- Left their own speakers to pay for their own way to industry conferences. (denying expense receipts).
- Eliminated AdWords account support.
- Layed off hundreds (thousands according to some reports) temp advertising support reps.
- Canceled the Google customer support party (Google dance).
- Eliminated the vendor appreciation programs for AdSense and Adwords.Everything Google has done in the last year has screamed, "AdSense and AdWords markets are maximized or tapped out. Put it into maintenance mode and lets go see where else we can make money."
And so 2009 was about Chrome, Google Docs, Android Mobile, and now Android Desktop.
http://www.webmasterworld.com/google_adsense/4047831-2-30.htm [webmasterworld.com]
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With the big push to monetize the mobile web, and pursue wireless avenues like the Nexus One:
1. Do you think Adsense will grow, become stagnant, or cease to exist over the next 5 years?
2. How would you monetize your website if Google gave up on the Content Network?
I would then look for other networks to add.
I would look for ways to sell direct to advertisers.
It would not be good, because Google, as so far, produced good CPMs for little hassle (no time spent selling ads etc.), but it would not mean closing down the site either.
Can't try everything....
if you have significant traffic
And therein lies the problem for many of us. Many of us tend to be widget specialists with very low volumes of traffic in comparison to the big sites.
Many of these other networks do not want us because our traffic is deemed insignificant OR because we are not based in the US/Canada.
AdSense and Chitika is the only game in town for many simply because of their ease of use and reliable payments. Furthermore many publishers simply could not justify the creation of a direct ad sales department and all that encompasses.
I would guess for the majority of publishers that it would have to be a direct, ease-of-AdSense look-a-like competitor that needs creating to put AdSense under threat.
The big boys, as ever, will look after their own interests, they're not concerned one iota about the minnows succeeding or failing and most likely couldn't give a damn about AdSense either!.
Adsense is the heart of Google. If it stopped, everything that made Google will cease. Right? Also, every ad network will feast if Google will do that.
Ditto, hard to monetize without the cash cow of Adwords/Adsense. Other companies would love to fill the gap and would do so.
If there are a million publishers in the long tail of which 10,000 mid-sized publisher generate 10% of ad spend, that leaves 990,000 who are just left with pennies. Talk about getting left holding the bag.
Clearly only a network like Google's AdSense (with its zero marginal cost of supporting long-tail publishers) can afford to engage everybody. So if AdSense goes, a lot of publishers will go under. Only a network with zero marginal costs can afford to fill Google's shoes.
AdSense and Chitika is the only game in town for many simply because of their ease of use and reliable payments. Furthermore many publishers simply could not justify the creation of a direct ad sales department and all that encompasses.
Mid-sized publishers don't need to create a direct ad sales team, they can automate the process just like Facebook did. Get a self service ad manager.
[google.com ]
It's the new trend. NYTimes, Reddit, Plenty Of Fish etc have all rolled out theirs.
I would guess for the majority of publishers that it would have to be a direct, ease-of-AdSense look-a-like competitor that needs creating to put AdSense under threat.
You can say that again.
Adsense is the heart of Google. If it stopped, everything that made Google will cease. Right? Also, every ad network will feast if Google will do that.
Google may be more concerned about ads on SERPS than ads on websites:
Google Sites Revenues – Google-owned sites generated revenues of $3.65 billion, or 66% of total revenues, in the second quarter of 2009. This represents a 3% increase over second quarter 2008 revenues of $3.53 billion.
Google Network Revenues – Google’s partner sites generated revenues, through AdSense programs, of $1.68 billion, or 31% of total revenues, in the second quarter of 2009. This represents a 2% increase from second quarter 2008 network revenues of $1.66 billion
My Plan B: Scale back and live off spouse's income.
