Six AdSense Referral Lessons

One Year of AdSense Referrals

May 14th, 2008

Amazing how fast a year can fly by. Over the past year along with running the regular Google’s content ads via the AdSense program I have also been publishing referral ads. I am not talking about the Google referral ads for the AdWords and other products offered by Google. I will be discussing what I have learned about the referral ads certain AdWords Advertisers are able to present.

When I first started running the ads during the initial beta I found myself greedy - selecting individual ads that would return large amounts of cash on a single conversion. Needless to say that plan was ineffective and lead me to write back in December;

…I do assure you however those $80 conversions make you do a double take the first couple of times they happen. Not all advertisers have this type of payout but I use this to illustrate a danger in using the Google Referrals 2.0 ads. It is really tempting, I mean really freakin tempting, to place the high paying ads on your site, take my advice on this one as it was hard for me to get it through my thick skull - ONLY PLACE RELEVANT ADS! This advice seems easy to follow, what is relevant? It is hard to see a potential $150 payout and convince yourself it will not work in your content no matter what the ad’s subject matter. In my case, as I suggested, Google’s Media bot was much smarter than me… but fear not, I think I got a handle on it now with a few conversions a day - me likes 2.0

That was lesson one.

Lesson two - Do NOT allow the “system” to select your referral ads.
Lesson three - Do NOT select a group of ads based on a keyword or phrase.
Lesson four - DO individually scrutinize every ad you place.

Looking at the illustration below you see the basic advertiser block - this block is generated as a return of your keyword search or by you selecting a category. The block allows you to do research on your potential advertisers.

You see the block divided into three basic columns. First column is “Product” - it allows you to use the links to the product’s web site and to the landing page you will be sending your visitors. Also in this column is a link to maximize the block to also show the formats available from the advertiser for their ads. (Keep in mind that unless you selected the option to only show you advertisers that “fit” your ad unit, ad blocks may appear that you cannot display an ad for).

The second column is a brief overview of the “Ad Formats” available - the formats available that meet your ad unit will be in bold.
Column three is “Performance on the Network”. It displays the cash amount(s) you will receive for a proper conversion. As illistrated you notice a “conversion details” link - this link shows you the requirements and payouts for conversions. It also, but not illustrated here, displays for ads with enough time to establish a history;
Expected Revenue/Click:
Average conversion rate:

Each will have five stars - the number of stars filled in will indicate the advertisers success and you potential for success (again, these are only indicators - I assure you if the add isn’t relevant picture in your mind NONE of the stars highlighted!). The “choose product” link will select all the ad formats eligible for your ad unit.

Lesson Five - Do NOT select the “choose product” option as some of the ads available may not be written for your visitors - take the time and be selective, you can select up to 15 ads per ad unit.

Publishers Beware!

I have found that some advertisers pull the old “bait and switch”. Make sure if you are sending your visitors to a landing page that looks legit that the conversion details are in-line with your expectations. In other words; if your page is about a car, the ad you selected is about a car, the ads’ landing page is about a car - make sure the conversion required is not about downloading a screen saver about whales! Big reason for lesson two and three!

Lesson Six - Check and monitor your ads often! I have seen instances where on one day everything was satisfactory and conversions had modest payouts to the next day where the conversion details dropped to 2 CENTS!

Overall I am very happy with AdSense Referrals 2.0 and hope my advertisers are just as happy with me - converting 10% of the clicks is something I’m proud of for sure. If I was going to change anything? I would like to see a report button for unscrupulous advertisers - yes, you can individually select the ads which will display on your site but there is still some bugs - ads you don’t select still show up occasionally.

If you have additional insight, please share it!