Google AdSense - is an advertising service run by Google that places advertisements at Web sites. The
principle of the service is that Google software can sense what a Web page is about and can then place
advertisements there that are relevant to page content according to the keywords. There are a number of similar services offered by other
advertising companies. Web site owners get only a portion of the income - about 30% - from Google advertisements,
but in return, Google or another advertising company recruits advertisers, tabulates visitor clicks and provides
extensive statistics about what pages and types of advertisements are effective.
Adding Adsense or other
advertisements to a site is called monetizing the site or Web log.
Getting Accepted for Adsense
Google is fairly permissive in its criteria for Web sites accepted for AdSense, but excludes gambling and similar Web
sites. Occasionally, it will exclude a site for obscure reasons that are based on its estimate of the click through to
conversion ratio for the site. Once one of your sites is accepted, you can use the same AdSense account for others, but
it would not be a good idea to place advertisements in a site that you know violates Google criteria.
AdSense fees
Fees paid to publishers per click depend on the supply of advertisers for a particular keyword or topic and the
supply of Web pages with that content. Advertisements for oil drilling rigs, flowers and higher education for example,
are relatively expensive.
Google Site Search and AdSense
Google provides Web site owners with the possibility of adding Google Search
to their Web sites through the AdSense account. This provides an internal site search whether or not the Webmaster chooses
to place Google advertisements on the results page.
Sites or pages designed for Adsense
Some Web sites or pages are designed for AdSense and intended to display high value advertisements. For most small or
medium sized Web sites (up to about 5,000 pages and perhaps 50,000 visitors per week), the income one can derive from
such advertisements can be a useful supplement but it is usually not sufficient to justify a business based only on
display of content and income from the advertisements.
Percentage Click-Through Rates in AdSense
Click through rates (CTR) for a site or page as reported by Google can vary from 0 to as high as 6% of impressions,
depending on the placement of advertisement and the content. 2% may be average, but this may depend on the content of
your site. Optimum placement seems to be the left hand column. For
Google search results pages, it may be even higher. However, there is some lack of correlation between the numbers of
impressions reported by Google AdSense and the number reported by statistics programs. By this I mean that section A can
have X pageviews and section B 3X pageviews, while Google AdSense reports that section B totaled Y impressions while
section A totaled 2Y impressions in the same period. This, despite the fact that every page in every section has the
same number of advertisements.
Google reduced the size of the clickable area in advertisements at the end of 2007. The purpose was to reduce the
number of accidental clicks and improve the conversion ratio (number of sales per click through) for advertisers, so
that they would not be paying for visitors who did not want to see their page.
This resulted in a loss of click through rates (CTR) for some Web sites and for Google. Speculation about this fueled a
drop in Google share prices, aided by half truths provided by an investment consultancy. Google earnings remained high,
confounding the predictions, but share prices have not fully recovered. In fact, there probably has not been a
substantial permanent drop in CTR.
AdSense advertisement limitations
For a given type of AdSense advertisement, such as the text or graphic
advertisements you see on this page, Google allows only three advertisements per page, regardless of the length of the
page. In addition, one can use other forms of advertisements such as link bars.
AdSense Referrals
Google had an
affiliate referral program that paid a percentage of
sales. This is being discontinued as of the end of August, 2008.
Note - Definitions of Search Engine
Optimization terms are based on inferences from common usage and definitions given by other sources. Conclusions about
search engine behavior are based on understanding of the behavior of the most popular search engines. Both are subject
to error or may change. Search engine company management may define or use a term or set or change any policy in any way
they see fit, and may make these definitions and specifications public or not. These decisions and definitions are
beyond our control. Notice: Copyright
All materials are copyright 2008 by Ami Isseroff. All rights reserved. These pages may not be reproduced in any
form in electronic or printed media without express written permission from the author.
SEO Glossary
