AdSense publisher Next Small Things has long understood that search is the entry point for users to find what they're looking for on the web. In fact, the idea for CoolChaser.com, a MySpace layout creation and customization site (and Next Small Things's largest business to date), came from the observation that many web surfers were using the company's search engine to find instructions to change their MySpace backgrounds. The observation and ensuing business idea has paid off, and in just one year CoolChaser.com has gained a loyal user base: over 200,000 users are now finding or creating layouts on the site every day. "CoolChaser has become a one-stop-shop for layouts because of the ease of use and the choice and ability for users to express what they feel at the time," says founder Chao Lam. With over 20 million user-submitted layouts (and 3,000 created every hour), it was becoming increasingly difficult for users to find the layouts they were looking for. "We were getting a lot of requests from users to provide some sort of search mechanism so that they could easily find what they were looking for," developer Sachiko Kwan says. As an existing AdSense publisher, Kwan decided to try AdSense for search and was immediately impressed by the quick setup process and the accuracy of the results. With the new SiteSearch feature, Kwan was able to restrict the searches so users didn't have to leave the site to find what they were looking for. In addition, the new watermark feature allowed Kwan to add the search box without any rearrangement in the navigation bar.
Most recently, Lam and Kwan began optimizing their search for better performance and user experience. If a user wasn't creating a layout, they were looking for one. So Kwan moved the search box from the upper right corner of each page to the center of the header and also added a second search box to the bottom of every page, in case users who were done browsing needed to search again. On the search results page, she changed the ad borders to a lighter color to better blend in with the site's pages.
Within a week of making these changes, Lam and Kwan saw their daily search queries on CoolChaser increase by 40% and earnings more than double. Since implementing AdSense for search on CoolChaser, search has become the second most popular functionality behind creating layouts. Lam and Kwan continue to focus on user experience, and they are now working to refine search results using keywords and labels. "There's such an enormous variety of things people search for," Lam says. "AdSense for search is really working for us."
Have you had success with AdSense for search, or our new optimization tips? If so, we'd love to hear from you.
10 comments:
If I choose Adsense for Search and list certain sites, does that limit the searches to those particular sites or does it simply give them priority?
I suppose it is a matter of whether or not those folks sites I list are paying for impressions, perhaps?
Hi timsingleton,
If you choose a list of sites to search across, we will return results for just those sites.
To address your second point -- it's not possible for site owners to pay to appear in Google search results. In other words, the search results you see are independent of payment for the ads which appear.
I've tried adding my google search bar at the top of mine site. It seems to have worked much better.
This is from Google Adsense program policies:
Ad Placement
AdSense for search results pages may show only a single ad link unit in addition to the ads Google serves with the search results. No other ads may be displayed on your search results page.
I was just wondering how coolchaser.com escaped it and to add to it featured in this blog! So is it legal and Google forgot to update the program policies?
Thanks!
Yeah, I also put the Search at the top section of my blog. Right below the header image. I don't think my Search is well-used by my visitors. But I think it's better than to put it at the bottom or at the left/right section.
I've added a search box on my blog, but there are no ads with the search results.
ps the box searches the web, not just my blog (at blogger.com)
4% of my users are using my adsense search bar. Its been running on my web page for 2 months and when I looked at the adsense report today it has paid Zero nothing not even 1 penny! I do not understand as to why I need it on my page if its not going to pay.
Is double AdSense for Search tab is allowed in single Blog.
the adsense for search was located at the bottom of page. how can i put it at the top of my homepage/site. thanks in advance for your time and help.
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