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Promote your feeds and gadgets with iGoogle
Monday, April 28, 2008
Have you heard of iGoogle, Google's personalized homepage? Well, tens of millions of users have, and with a just a little bit of effort you can share that traffic.
iGoogle allows users to bring together their favorite content and services from around the web by adding feeds and gadgets to their Google homepage. Let's start with the basics of what feeds and gadgets are, and how you can create them for your own site:
A
feed
is a format that allows your content to be delivered (and subscribed to) on the Web. This allows users to preview your content wherever they go, making it easier for them to find out whats new on your site and reminding them to come back. To learn more about feeds, check out
Feedburner
for everything you need from basic set-up to advanced performance tracking and monetization tools.
Gadgets
are mini-applications created using simple HTML and JavaScript. You can present more complex information in a gadget, such as a calendar, and also help users interact with your content, for example through search. To find out more about gadgets, check out the
Google Gadget Center
.
Once you have a feed or gadget -- and for those of you who already do -- you can start promoting it. As a first step, make sure to
submit your feed or gadget
to the
iGoogle directory
. Promotion can help new readers find your content and deepen engagement with your existing readers every time they visit their iGoogle page -- all of which can lead to more traffic for you site.
Don't stop there, though. Gadgets and feeds are ranked in the directory according to popularity, so make sure to feature your gadget or feed prominently on your site. One easy way to do so is with the
‘Add to Google’ button
. Simply fill out some basic information, insert a small snippet of HTML into your site, and you’ll be ready to go.
Want to find out more about how to raise awareness of your feed or gadget? Take a look at our
step-by-step guide
.
Posted by Matt Ghering - iGoogle Product Marketing
Image ads for your mobile content
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Our mobile ads team is pleased to announce that mobile image ads are now available in Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, and the UK, as well as the US. With this mobile ad type, you now have a new way to monetize mobile content while still providing the same benefits as our standard text ads.
Mobile image ads enable you to take advantage of the large and growing group of Google mobile advertisers. Ads are matched to your site content and the size of a viewer's screen, and are paid on a cost-per-click basis. You can view example ads and sizes in the
AdWords Help Center
.
For publishers, mobile image ads provide added flexibility and profitability. Publishers choose whether they want to show text ads, image ads, or a mix of both and Google will then dynamically return the ad that we expect will perform best at the time a user is looking at their site.
If you're a current AdSense for mobile content publisher, you'll need to update your AdSense code in order to enable image ads for your site. Directions on how to do this can be found in our
Help Center
. We recommend selecting "Text and image ads" as your ad type, in order to take advantage of all available ads for your content. Once you have your code, paste it into the source code of your mobile website where you'd like to show image ads. If you're new to showing mobile ads, you can follow the same directions to generate code that allows for mobile image ads.
For more information on AdSense for mobile content, check out our
microsite
or our September post on the AdSense for mobile content
product launch
. You can also take a look at our posting on the
Google Mobile Blog
for news on this launch and for information on other mobile and mobile-advertising related topics.
Posted by Alexandra Kenin - AdSense Product Marketing
Ad Review Center available to all publishers
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Many of you have been eagerly waiting for the
Ad Review Center
to arrive in your accounts, and we're happy to tell you that this feature is now available for all publishers. By enabling you to review all ads
placement-targeted
to your site, the Ad Review Center gives you more transparency and control, and ensures that ads are relevant to your site's content and users.
We wanted to share a publisher's thoughts about the Ad Review Center, so we chatted with Jennifer McDonald, Account Manager at RealNetworks for sites such as
rollingstone.com
and
film.com
. Before using it, Jennifer says that "the concerns Real had... were mainly concerns about running competitive ads on our sites." But she says that by using the Ad Review Center, her team has been able to keep competitive ads from running. As she notes, "We are able to quickly review the ads before they run on our sites and block any ads that are considered competitive to our services."
The Ad Review Center is now available for all publishers utilizing placement targeting. You can get started with this feature by visiting your 'Competitive Ad Filter' page, located under the 'AdSense Setup' tab.
Before getting started, we strongly recommend keeping your review preference set to the default of 'Run ads immediately.' This will let you allow or block ads after they have run. If you choose the other option of 'Hold ads,' the ads will await review for 24 hours before being allowed to run automatically. Using the 'Hold ads' setting will keep ads from participating in the auction while they await review, potentially lowering winning bids and your AdSense earnings. Ads that you have blocked can't compete in the auction either, so we ask that you keep in mind the revenue impact of blocking ads or switching from the 'Run ads immediately' setting.
For more information about using the Ad Review Center, please visit our
Help Center
, and to start using it, please
log in
to your account.
Posted by Katie Mandel - AdSense Product Marketing
Promoting your referrals -- properly
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Some of our publishers have asked us about the policies surrounding promotion for referral units, and so we'd like to address two of the most frequent areas of confusion. While the policies are generally the same for referrals as for standard AdSense for content ad units, there are a few minor differences.
Recommending products vs. encouraging clicks
We previously
addressed this topic
, but we'd like to remind you of the policy and provide some additional clarification. You can endorse or recommend products you've chosen to refer on your sites, but we ask that you only make recommendations when you're familiar with the specific product and you've decided not to use the
'Pick best performing ads'
feature for that ad unit. For example, if you're familiar with a specific travel agency you're referring, you may use language such as "I use this agency and recommend it to book your next vacation." By being honest with product recommendations, you can help build user loyalty and trust, which will benefit your site in the long run.
You may be wondering why we allow publishers to call attention to referral units but not standard ad units. This is because there are significant differences between these two types of ads, the most important being that advertisers only pay for traffic from referral units if the user performs a specific action the advertiser has designated (such as making a purchase from the site or signing up for a newsletter). Please keep in mind that there is a fine line between recommending a product and encouraging your users to click on a referral button for personal profit. Publishers may not ask users to click on the referrals to help them earn money, and may not refer themselves to their own referral products. In addition, publishers may not draw unnatural attention to their referral units with arrows pointing to the units or other similar methods.
Using online advertising
As is true for all sites displaying AdSense ad units, referral units, or search boxes, your site must comply with Google's
Landing Page Quality Guidelines
(LPQ) if you'd like to use online advertising of any kind as a traffic source. The term 'online advertising' refers to a range of methods, from advertising programs such as AdWords to posting your site within a link exchange or in a forum. However, if the primary purpose of your site is to generate conversions from referral ads, you'll need to go one step further before advertising your site. You'll need to first receive permission from the advertisers whose products you're referring before advertising your site or their products. Please note that Google has made the decision to not allow publishers to use online advertising for any of the Google products or those of our Google Pack partners.
Posted by Uladzimir Hrapelman - AdSense Publisher Support
The report of these link units is not exaggerated
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
I don't know about you, but I'm a big fan of data. I look at my own reports frequently and use
channels
to track the performance of individual pages and ad units so I can optimize my AdSense experience.
I'm also a fan of AdSense for content
link units
. As we've
mentioned before
, these units pack a big punch while conserving your screen real estate and can be a great addition to a page that's already using one of our many other products. We've also been doing a lot of work lately to improve the targeting of link units.
This is why I'm happy to announce that my two loves are now coming together. As of today, we've enhanced your reports so that you can view the performance of link units separately from your other AdSense for content units. Even better, the link unit-specific reports contain more information about your link units. A lot of publishers have been asking us for more statistics on their link units, such as the per-link CTR and the number of click-throughs to the link units results page.
To view your new, improved reports, visit the Advanced Reports page under your
Reports
tab and select AdSense for content. You'll notice a new option to customize your reports -- 'Choose Units'. A 'Combined' report will look just like the data you're used to seeing in your AdSense for content reports, while choosing 'Ad Units' or 'Link Units' will help you look at things with more granularity.
Please note that data is only available dating back to May 2007. Right now, we're having a little issue where, if you generate a report with a date range starting any earlier than May 2007, our report won't show any data, even if there
is
data after May 2007. Rest assured that our engineers are aware of the issue and are working to display all available data even if the date range starts before May 2007.
Remember, you're allowed to put up to three link units on any given page in addition to your three regular ad units. With better reporting and improved performance, now is the perfect time to start using link units if you aren't already.
Posted by Molly Aplet - AdSense Publisher Support
Site maintenance on April 12 at 10am PDT
Friday, April 11, 2008
Our engineers will be performing routine site maintenance tomorrow, April 12th from 10am to 2pm PDT. You won't be able to log in to your account, but we'll continue to serve ads to your pages and track your earnings as usual.
Located in a different time zone? Here's the maintenance start time in a number of cities around the world:
Ottawa - 1 pm Saturday
London - 6 pm Saturday
Hyderabad - 10:30 pm Saturday
Hong Kong - 1 am Sunday
Canberra - 3 am Sunday
Happy Friday!
Posted by Arlene Lee - AdSense Publisher Support
A word of caution
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Of late, we’ve received a few emails from new AdSense applicants about not being accepted into the program despite paying a specific amount of money or buying a CD package.
We’d like to take this opportunity to state that we're not affiliated with any third-parties that solicit payment to join the AdSense program or that sell CDs with money-back guarantee offers. AdSense is a free product offered to publishers by Google Inc., and there’s no cost or obligation involved. As a result, we recommend that prospective publishers exercise caution when presented with such offers.
To submit an application, simply visit
www.google.com/adsense
. Please also review our
program policies
and our
application tips
before applying.
Posted by Shanti Nanisetti - AdSense India Publisher Support
Sixteen Help Forums, going on seventeen
Friday, April 04, 2008
We've just launched our 17th AdSense Help Forum for
Czech
and
Slovak
speakers! If you speak one of these languages, join the new forum today to ask questions and share your AdSense knowledge with other publishers. As with our other forums, an AdSense representative nicknamed 'AdSensePro' will occasionally participate in discussions and collect your feedback.
Looking for an AdSense Help Forum in another language? Try one of these:
Arabic
,
Chinese (Simplified)
,
Chinese (Traditional)
,
Dutch
,
English
,
French
,
German
,
Hebrew
,
Italian
,
Japanese
,
Korean
,
Polish
,
Portuguese
,
Russian
,
Spanish
, and
Turkish
.
Posted by Arlene Lee - AdSense Publisher Support
Show me the ads
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
After months of testing, we've just updated our text ad format to include 'next' and 'previous' arrow buttons for cost-per-click (CPC) ads. When a user clicks on the 'next' button, an entirely new group of ads will appear in the ad unit, giving your users greater control over the ads they see and click.
While the ads the user initially sees may be relevant to a publisher's content, they may not be precisely what the user is seeking -- for example, a user may see ads about cheddar and brie cheese but would prefer more information about Swiss cheese. With the 'next' and 'previous' buttons, users can view more cheese ads until a Swiss cheese ad appears.
You won't generate earnings for clicks on the 'next' and 'previous' buttons, but these buttons will help improve both advertiser value and your potential revenue. When users click on the buttons, they begin interacting with the ads and are more likely to find the specific offering they're looking for, which can lead to higher earnings for you.
Posted by Katie Mandel - AdSense Product Marketing
Introducing AdSense for conversations
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
We're happy to announce the launch of AdSense for conversations, a new type of monetization solution that "puts the 'context' in contextual advertising". Now, in just a few simple steps, you can begin displaying ads that are relevant to the topics you're discussing -- in an unobtrusive screen above your head.
Anyone taking part in the conversation can hit the ad with their hand to immediately take advantage of the product or service being offered. With our new Teleportation Technology(TM), you'll be transported directly to the site where the service is available, or have the product appear instantaneously in your hands.
Based on our omega testing, we've noticed a few common questions among publishers that we'd like to answer.
How do I add Google ads to my conversations?
Once you sign up using the link at the bottom of this post, we'll send you an adjustable screen and special AdSense headgear to attach it to. Just follow our Screen Implementation Guide to assemble it and select your desired size, such as the very effective 300 x 250 mm. Don't forget to also visit the 'Manage Ads' section of your account to customize the look and feel of your ads -- try a color palette with 336699 to bring out the blue in your eyes!
Can I prevent ads from appearing in certain conversations?
Yes; we understand that there's a time and place for ads in conversations, as a chat with a friend isn't quite the same as an interview with a prospective employer or parole officer. That's why we let you choose which conversations to target using the 'Allowed Conversations' feature, located under your
AdSense Setup
tab.
Why are my ads not targeted to my conversation?
If you're not seeing targeted ads, it may be that you haven't discussed a particular topic long enough for our system to determine the meaning of your conversation. We recommend rambling and repeating yourself to help our system pick relevant ads to display. Also, you may wish to try our voice targeting feature -- you can speak more loudly to emphasize certain phrases. However, these activities may result in socially awkward situations, so please proceed with caution.
What reports can I view?
You can view reports about how funny your conversations were, how much your companion was actually listening, and, if you implement the 'review my spoken English' setting, how many times you said the word 'like' or 'uh' in a particular conversation.
What if I'm stretching and I hit an ad accidentally?
We understand accidents may happen, and appreciate your concern. However, we recommend that publishers refrain from having conversations during yoga classes to prevent these types of accidental hits.
Where can I learn more about conversation ads?
For more information or to sign up,
click here
.
Posted by The
Inside AdSense
team
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