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rozee
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11 Oct 2006
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Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 4:38 am
Post subject: Google Adsense Background?
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has anyone tried this product ( "http://www.adsensebackground.com" ) ? how do you like it?
I am looking of purchasing it before the price goes up in stages 
The price is ok as long as it works as promised.
Last edited by rozee on Wed Oct 11, 2006 3:20 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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AllanGardyne
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Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 8:43 am
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Yep. We've just started trying a small test of it on some pages of this site. Very early indications are that it was worth buying but - just guessing - it might work better on a simple site which has been designed mainly for AdSense.
The paperclip graphic on this page http://www.associateprograms.com/categories/Affiliate-Resources/
is an example of an AdSense background.
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Allan Gardyne
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Charlie
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Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 1:01 pm
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| AllanGardyne wrote: | | Very early indications are that it was worth buying but - just guessing - it might work better on a simple site which has been designed mainly for AdSense. |
I wonder if there is going to be any general pattern here. Initially, I couldn't fathom Allan's "banner blindness" angle. A part of me says, if the Adsense works well because it doesn't look like graphical banners (in many cases), why try and make it look more graphical.
Generalistaions, maybe, but I think much is still going to come down to choices on the page. Are you competing against the back button, or lots of other "clutter".
Allan's AP pages are what I call "cluttered", in the sense plenty to click. I like the look of the pages, but with this sort of choice I often think the MWR might be "click something".
I'm not knocking the site. Obviously the content's great, but I also like the clean, text-based look. But there are many more options than I generally run with. Perhaps not comparing like with like.
It seems as if having a blank area on the background image is the key (so that the Adsense background colour can match this). All the examples I have seen this far are gif (type) images as opposed to photos.
Is this product more tailored to a "cold information" style of site, as opposed to a site where photos would be the natural choice for complementary images?
Just a thought,
Charlie.
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AllanGardyne
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 1:57 am
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| Charlie wrote: | | A part of me says, if the Adsense works well because it doesn't look like graphical banners (in many cases), why try and make it look more graphical. |
Because graphics catch the eye more than text. And with 100 or so graphics to choose from, it would be easy to keep changing them, so that frequent visitors don't get used to them.
Anyway, without proper testing it's all guesswork so far. 
One reader wrote to assure me the AdSense backgrounds won't work. He said he's tested different methods and the best way to get high CTRs is to use black AdSense text and black links, to match black text on the page, to make the AdSense ads blend in. If anyone tries that and has good results, I'd love to hear about it. (He's using very simple pages. No competitng clutter.)
| Quote: | | Allan's AP pages are what I call "cluttered", in the sense plenty to click. I like the look of the pages, but with this sort of choice I often think the MWR might be "click something". |
Yes. It would be interesting to test removing all promos except one. If you give people too many choices sometimes they get confused and take none.
| Quote: | | Is this product more tailored to a "cold information" style of site, as opposed to a site where photos would be the natural choice for complementary images? |
Maybe. If anyone does tests on different types of sites, I'd love to know the results.
UPDATE: The paperclip AdSense background actually performed WORSE than a standard AdSense ad in our little test. We're going to experiment with some other background graphics.
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Allan Gardyne
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Steve Wright
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Alabama
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 4:34 am
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I was going to buy the backgrounds, but then I started visualizing them in action. And to me it would be banner blindness all over again. Instead of being blind to a banner, I'd be blind to the adsense ads sitting in the background. But as folks have said above, test, test, test. Maybe it'll turn out ok after all and it'll work well.
But I still prefer a series of images above a leaderboard ad or an image to the left of a block ad. They seem to pull the best for me. But good luck with the backgrounds.
Steve
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Charlie
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 10:39 am
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| AllanGardyne wrote: | | And with 100 or so graphics to choose from, it would be easy to keep changing them, so that frequent visitors don't get used to them. |
I think "frequent visitors" is the crux here. Perhaps much depends whether you are trying to give old friends something new, or maximise the effect of the ads on one-time visitors (who are used to seeing Adsense everywhere they go)...
In other words, is the blindness specific to your site, or a general web thing? (I originally thought you meant a general web thing.)
Perhaps, with a cluttered page it's more a question of drawing attention to the ads, but with a simple one (where you're competing against the back button or on site nav), blending them in the key. I have much more experience of this second type of page.
By the way, if anyone's seen a study of tracking Adsense clickthroughs dependent on visiting patterns, I love to hear about it. I've always assumed Adsense generally works worse with repeat visitors, but I haven't tested it in detail.
| Quote: | | Quote: | | Allan's AP pages are what I call "cluttered", in the sense plenty to click. I like the look of the pages, but with this sort of choice I often think the MWR might be "click something". |
Yes. It would be interesting to test removing all promos except one. If you give people too many choices sometimes they get confused and take none. |
Even if they do click on something, it gets hard to test why.
Cheers,
Charlie.
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Bina
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Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 1:13 am
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When I first saw the Adsense Background's samples, my
first thought was it wouldn't work. Like Charlie says,
due to "banner blindness". Because the adsense ads is
actually within the image itself, as opposed to below
or next to, it looks more like a banner ad.
I guess it depends on the actual background you use and
the type of visitors you are getting.
A visitor who is much more used to surfing the net
would probably brush it off as an ad. And I agree that
is also depends on whether your visitor comprises more
of first time visitors or return visitors.
From my own tests for my web site, I notice that
putting an image right next to my adsense ads on my
blog's post pages have pulled in the highest
conversion rates ( [single-digit deleted admin.]% and above). According to
Google Analytics, 75% of my visitors are new.
I have the same ads on the pages where I have my
series of e-course lessons (which suggests repeat
visitors) and the conversion rate is slightly lower
but nevertheless higher than a plain adsense ad.
From personal experience though, I tend to click
more on ads that really blend into the rest of the
page. Here's an example of one:
http://www.masternewmedia.org/
But then again, Robin has adsense privileges that
most of us don't, i.e. the ability to change his
adsense links to look like other links on his page.
First look, you wouldn't think it was an ad.
I'm surprised that your paperclips background
didn't perform as well as plain ads, Allan. When
I first saw it, I thought it was clever.
Which shows that testing is the only way to really
know for sure.
~ Bina.
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Charlie
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Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:21 am
Post subject:
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| Bina wrote: | When I first saw the Adsense Background's samples, my
first thought was it wouldn't work. Like Charlie says,
due to "banner blindness". |
Just to clarify, it was Allan who brought up "banner blindness". I was referencing his use of the phrase to say how I wasn't sure it necessarily worked that way here, rather than choosing the concept myself to try and explain the opposite effect. Moving on though...
| Quote: | A visitor who is much more used to surfing the net
would probably brush it off as an ad. |
This is one of the aspects of "other people's clicking" I have always had trouble associating with. It's part of how and why people surf...
Since 1997, apart from checking what competitors are promoting or sussing out affiliate tools for my own use, I have only knowingly clicked on one graphical ad and as far as I remember three Adsense ads. (I was going to say two, but it must be more than that.)
Yet I've clicked many thousands of links embedded in text and other nav links. I basically just do not click on anything that even looks like it might be an ad (of certain types). I really find it hard to understand what other people are doing (though I'm sometimes gald they do it that way).
| Quote: | From my own tests for my web site, I notice that
putting an image right next to my adsense ads on my
blog's post pages have pulled in the highest
conversion rates |
I've found that with some content pages too. The problem with all these methods, is that time doesn't stand still. As your visitors get used to something, their behaviour changes. You have to move with that.
Cheers,
Charlie.
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its_me_shaners
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Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2006 11:18 pm
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Before you buy it, consider how you might be able to do that yourself. Its a picture with text on it basically isnt it?. Wouldnt it just require some slicing and placing the adsense script on it?
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Charlie
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Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 9:14 am
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It's just another example of a tool that saves time (and tears). It will be worth it for many people, but probably not people who can do their own code and like working with graphics.
When you look at the history of the world (let alone the net), marketing is often about presenting the perception of a fairly-priced solution to some problem or other.
I can see why this appeals to many, though as code butcher and fiddler extraordinaire, it isn't my cup of tea.
Cheers,
Charlie.
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stressbattle
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Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 8:49 am
Post subject:
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| its_me_shaners wrote: | | Before you buy it, consider how you might be able to do that yourself. Its a picture with text on it basically isnt it?. Wouldnt it just require some slicing and placing the adsense script on it? |
I actually did one on my own and implemented it on my blog. I even gave out some steps to download the adsense background for free. Few days later, I decided to check with Google Adsense team if it is violating the TOS and got a reply that it was. I discontinued allowing people to download the adsense background image. Maybe because my image was not generic enough.
During the one week that the images were implemented, my CTR went down thus I could conclude that the images does not improve CTR as it makes the ads stand out more as "Hey! I'm an AD, don't click me!"
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rozee
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Posted: Sun Nov 12, 2006 8:46 am
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The background change works for me so far...
I implmented on one of my sites that has <100 visitors a day for testing, by changing the background and format, my CTR went from [Single-figure digits] to [double-digit figures]%, there are still tweakings I can do, but I am happy with the result.
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AllanGardyne
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Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 7:56 am
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Bina and rozee, Thanks for the reports.
Please don't tell us specific conversion rates for AdSense.
I know it seems silly, but discussing such details publicly is against the AdSense Terms of Service which you agreed to when you joined AdSense.
I don't want to be dumped by AdSense.
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Bina
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Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 11:29 am
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Thanks Allan. I was kind of aware of this rule because
I've watched many videos where marketers would cover
their stats. But it never crossed my mind that I was
doing what I'm not supposed to. I'll be extra careful
from now on.
~Bina.
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James_Chen
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Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 10:45 am
Post subject: AdSense Decorator
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I am a software developer and a affiliate marketing newbie.
I like the AdSense background images and bought a copy.
I developed a freeware named AdSense Decorator to compose background images for Google AdSense. It is located at http://www.adsensedecorator.com |
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