A look inside Google AdSense
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Payments information may be delayed
This month we experienced a posting delay that might keep some payment information from appearing in your account immediately. While all payments have been sent out as usual, the 'Payment...' line might take some extra time to show up on the Payment History page of your account under the My Account tab.
Additionally, if you recently signed up to receive payments by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), or added a new bank account for EFT deposits, it may take a few extra days after you've received your test deposit before you can verify your bank account.
We expect to have the issue resolved by the end of this week. Thank you for your patience and, again, don't worry--AdSense payments went out as usual!
Introducing the AdSense API beta
If you're a web developer or host, now you can generate more revenue and improve your service with the new AdSense API. The AdSense API is a free beta service that allows you to integrate AdSense into your website offerings.What can I do with the AdSense API?
Using the AdSense API, you can enable users to perform a variety of AdSense functions without leaving your website, including the following:
- Create an AdSense account
- Manage an AdSense account
- Create and modify AdSense for content ad units and link units, AdSense for search boxes, and Referrals
- View detailed reports to monitor performance and earnings
How does the AdSense API benefit your site and users?
By making it easy for publishers to sign up for AdSense and generate revenue, the API offers another compelling reason for publishers to choose your service over a competitor's--and remain loyal to you. The AdSense API is great for publishers who don't want the hassle of setting up their own accounts or dealing with cutting and pasting HTML snippets.
How does this generate revenue for you?
Approved AdSense API developers will receive a share of the revenue earned by the publishers you've signed up. In addition to the revenue share, you'll also receive $100 each time a new publisher you've signed up earns $100 in less than 180 days. This means that developers who currently charge for services can now use the AdSense API to offset some of the costs of your services--maybe even making it possible to offer your services free of charge.
Additionally, as the developer, you can optimize your ad's placement, color, and format to increase your users' earnings--and your users don't have to do any additional work to display optimized ads.
Interested?
We've started taking applications from people whose sites receive a minimum of 100,000 daily page views. To be eligible, your site must register users who then maintain their web content through your site. The types of sites we're looking for include web hosts, blog hosts, Wiki hosts, forum hosts, and web publishers.
Visit the AdSense API web site for more information. To see if you qualify for our beta, submit an application today.
Video ads: Your questions answered
A couple of days ago, we launched click-to-play video ads. We thought we'd follow up with answers to some of your top questions:Will video ads slow down my site? Do I have to pay for bandwidth?
Google will host the video, and it is user-initiated, so it will not slow down your site and you will not have to pay for the bandwidth. No data will be transferred until the user presses "Play."
Are video ads intrusive to my users?
Not at all. If a video ad appears on your site, it will always show up as a static image until a user clicks on the "Play" button. In other words, nothing plays automatically, and everything is user-initiated. Additionally, the video-ad UI allows users to control sound.
How will I be paid for video ads?
Video ads can be either site targeted or contextually targeted. Publishers will be paid for site-targeted video ads on a CPM basis. For contextually targeted video ads, publishers will be paid for clicks to the advertiser's landing page. Clicks are generated either by clicking on the display URL at the bottom of the ad, or by clicking on the video itself during play.
Will I earn more from video ads?
We can't guarantee the earnings potential of video ads (or any ad served through AdSense, for that matter). However, video, text, and image ads compete for placement on your site in the same ad auction. AdSense automatically shows the ads with the highest Ad Rank for each ad unit at that moment. For a video ad to display, its eCPM has to be greater than the projected eCPM of any combination of CPC ads competing to display in the same ad unit at that time.
Will the video ad be targeted to the content of my site?
If the video ads are contextually targeted to your site, then yes. Video
ads may also be site targeted, which means advertisers specifically select to show their video ads on your site because they feel the ad's message is highly relevant for your site's audience.
What is the duration of each video ad?
While the length may vary, video ads can be up to two minutes long.
Can I watch the videos appearing on my own site?
Yes, you can watch the videos appearing on your site by clicking on the "Play" button--this will not affect your reports. However, please do not click on the advertiser's URL, or on the ad itself, which will also bring you to the advertiser's site. Clicking on the ad or URL could generate invalid clicks on your account and inflate advertiser costs.
Do I get to preview video ads before they're displayed on my site to make sure there isn't any inappropriate content?
All video ads are screened against the Video Editorial Guidelines set by AdWords, so like all Google ads displayed through AdSense for content, they are family safe.
What do I need to do to get video ads on my pages?
Opt into image ads, within any of the following ad formats:
- 336 x 280 (Large rectangle)
- 300 x 250 (Medium rectangle)
- 250 x 250 (Square)
This sounds great! How can I get advertisers to site-target me so I can show video ads to my users?
Make sure to read this advice from Bismarck Lepe of the Google AdWords team. Also, the Help Center is a great resource for any further questions you might have.
Redesigned AdWords referral buttons now available internationally
We've extended our new AdWords referral button designs internationally. The new designs offer several colors and options to choose from, along with a more web-friendly GIF image.To start displaying the new AdWords referral button of your choice, select Referrals on the AdSense Setup tab of your account and follow the guided referrals wizard.
Introducing video ads
Introducing the newest member of the AdSense ad family--click-to-play video ads. Video ads will compete in the same auction as text and image ads for placement on your site, and as we've mentioned before, increased competition in the ad auction means increased revenue potential for you. Video ads open your site up to a whole new type of advertising that is engaging and highly relevant for your users.We know you're curious as to what these new video ads look like, so here's a sneak preview:
There are no guarantees that click-to-play video ads will appear on your site; however, to increase the chances make sure to:
1) Opt into image ads.
2) Use one of the three ad formats that support video ads: 300x250 Medium Rectangle, 336x280 Large Rectangle, or 250x250 Square.
Also, keep in mind that there are a few things advertisers look for when targeting their ads to specific sites.
Got questions about video ads? We've got answers--check out the Help Center for more information.
Announcing more referrals options for international publishers
Last month, we announced the launch of text links for referrals for US English only. We're now pleased to let you know that text-link referrals for AdWords, AdSense, Picasa, and Firefox are now available for all AdSense languages.We've also extended the referrals feature to four new languages: Czech, Croatian, Slovak, and traditional Chinese. Referrals for both AdSense and AdWords are available for these new languages. You'll earn $100 when the publisher you refer to AdSense earns his or her first $100, and $20 once an advertiser you've referred spends at least $100 with AdWords.
To display a referral button on your site, simply choose Referrals from the AdSense Setup page of your account, then select the product you'd like to refer users to on your pages. For more information on how much you'll earn from referrals, you may wish to visit the AdSense Help Center.
EFT now available in New Zealand, Australia, Norway, and Poland
As promised, we've introduced EFT in several new countries. Publishers located in New Zealand, Australia, Norway, and Poland can now have AdSense payments sent directly to their bank accounts while avoiding postal delays and check processing fees. If you need assistance signing up for EFT in one of these countries, please visit our Help Center.Cleansing our palettes
When choosing colors for your Google ads, you might notice that the list of predesigned palettes just got a lot shorter. We recently decreased the number of predesigned palettes we offer to just six; three palettes have been renamed (Seaside, Shadow, and Blue Mix) and three more are brand new (Open Air, Graphite, and Ink).We made this change to streamline the choices, getting rid of a number of palettes that don't typically perform well while also encouraging you to create your own custom palettes that fit better with the unique look and feel of your site (blended ads, anyone?).
No need to worry if you've used one of our older palettes in the past--it will still show up as an option in your account, but will simply have been moved to the Custom Palettes section of the color palette dropdown.
Now more publishers can use Sitemaps
What keywords are people using to find your site in the Google search index? Is your robots.txt file blocking search engines from crawling your site? Whatever questions you have about your site's visibility, Google Sitemaps provides you with information that can help--and Sitemaps recently launched several new features you should know about:New verification method
In the past, you needed access to your site's root directory to verify site ownership and create a Sitemap. This meant you couldn't create Sitemaps for many hosted sites, including Blogger.com sites like Inside AdSense. However, now more publishers can use Sitemaps. Sitemaps has launched a feature that allows publishers to use meta tags to verify site ownership. For example, if your site is hosted on Blogger.com, all you have to do is add a unique meta tag to your site's header to verify your Sitemaps account.
Re-inclusion request form
If your site violated Google's quality guidelines and was subsequently penalized--i.e., dropped from the Google search index--now you can submit a re-inclusion request using your Sitemaps account. Simply sign in, click the link, and fill out the form. This form is also available from the Summary page for sites that show violations.
For information about these and other newly launched Sitemaps features, visit the Inside Google Sitemaps blog.
Maintenance on Saturday, May 13, at 10:00am PDT
We'll be performing routine AdSense maintenance on Saturday, May 13, at 10:00am PDT. During this time, you may not be able to access your account. However, your Google ads will continue to display, and stats and earnings will continue to accrue in your account.As always, thanks for your patience!
Rock on with Dan Marcus, AdSense payment specialist
What do you do when you're not working?
Not working? I'm not sure I understand the question... Just kidding--I don't work that much. I'm usually playing guitar with my rock band, the Swamees, or my heavy-metal side project, the Gibbous Moon. (I've been assured that shamelessly self-promoting my band website is okay, though I guess I could be more discrete and rely strictly on the power of suggestion.)
When I'm not rocking out, I like riding my motorcycle, chillin' with the homies, and BBQ'ing. Oh yeah, and camping is just about the greatest thing ever--especially if it involves BBQs, guitars, and motorcycles.
When is EFT going to become available for more countries?
We recently launched EFT in a number of countries and are working to expand even further in 2006. We're also exploring alternatives for locations where EFT isn't a viable option.
One common misconception is that EFT simply involves linking our bank account to yours. Unfortunately, it's not quite that easy. To provide EFT, we not only have to gain access to closed or heavily regulated bank networks, but we must also comply with local tax and commerce regulations. As a result, linking our bank account to yours is not as straightforward as it seems.
What are your top tips for publishers?
1. Sign up for EFT if it's available in your country. EFT can help non-US publishers avoid paying bank fees, and it's more reliable than snail mail.
2. Make updates to your account information by the 15th day of the month. We start processing payments around the 15th, and changes to your address, hold status, or form of payment made after that date won't take effect until the following month.
3. Reduce banking fees by placing a self-hold on your account. If you're outside the US and receive USD checks, you can let your earnings accrue and then receive larger checks less frequently.
4. Make sure your mailing address is correct. PINs and checks will not arrive if your address is wrong.
5. Don't wait for help. Find answers without emailing us by checking out our Payments Guide, video demo, and AdSense Help Group.
6. Patience is a virtue. PINs and checks are sent by snail mail, which can be unpredictable in some countries. While they can get lost and damaged in transit, more often the mail is just slow.
Remember, once we've stopped a check the process can't be reversed. I can't tell you how many times a publisher requests a reissue and then receives the original check the next day. If your check is reissued, you won't receive your earnings for an additional month--so it's in your best interests to be patient!
What are your favorite websites?
Wow, this is probably the toughest question. Here are five of my favorites:
realultimatepower.net – This site simply rules.
alienlovespredator.com – Pure genius.
craigslist.org – I compulsively search for stuff to buy, sell, and trade--especially guitar equipment, concert tickets, and motorcycle parts.
Pandora.com – Discover all the bands you never knew you liked.
GasBuddy.com – Increasing in importance on a daily basis.
Get site-targeted with quality, placement and size
As someone on the inside track for site targeting, the AdSense team asked me to share a word with you regarding what advertisers are most keen on when selecting sites for their site-targeted campaigns.For advertisers -- and especially traditional brand marketers -- the name of the game is brand engagement and association. When purchasing ad space, advertisers focus on three elements of a website: quality of content, physical placement of the ad unit, and ad unit size.
1. Quality - Let's face it, advertisers are all about attracting user interest. When selecting places to advertise online, they look for sites that incorporate high quality and unique content in combination with good navigation, layout and features. It goes to reason that if users like the site, then advertising on these sites will build positive brand association or "positive brand karma".
2. Placement - In site targeting, "above the fold" ad placements are important to advertisers because they're paying for these ads on a cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) basis. Eye-tracking analysis has shown that users are more likely to engage with ad placements that appear in the upper left-hand corner of a page.
It's important to advertisers that when a page loads, people see and interact with the ad. The greater the level of user engagement, the higher advertisers are willing to bid to display on a site.
Opting into both text and image ads also helps, because it gives advertisers more options for what types of ads they can display on your site.
3. Size - In advertising, size does matter; bigger ads are more likely to be seen. The AdSense program offers many ad formats for you to use on your site. Among them, the 336 x 280 Large Rectangle, 300 x 250 Medium Rectangle, and 250 x 250 Square are the larger ad units and consequently, the ones advertisers most value. Average CPMs for these sizes are usually 300% higher than a typical 468 x 60 Banner ad.
Of course, incorporating these elements doesn't guarantee that your site will be site-targeted, but it can certainly increase the chances by making it more advertiser-friendly.
Unobtrusive ads can boost revenue
Sharon Maguire expected that matching her Google ads to her site, dogbreedinfo.com, would give it a cleaner look and feel that her visitors would appreciate. What she didn't expect was the large revenue increase spurred by her changes -- AdSense revenue nearly doubled, to $650 per day.When generating her ad code, Maguire chose a white background and white borders to blend her ads more effectively into her site's overall color scheme. "Originally I'd chosen the standard 'Mother Earth' palette with the thin outline of a border," Maguire said. "I was happy with performance, but could see the revenue potential of the ad units. I discovered by simply removing the border around the ad units the AdSense revenue doubled."
Before:
After:
Many publishers have found that visitors are more likely to see and click on Google ads when the ads themselves blend cleanly into a site. At the same time, the "Ads by Goooooogle" tagline clearly distinguishes the Google ads from the site content, so users aren't confused.
You can create a custom color palette to help combat "ad blindness" and increase your site's revenue potential. If you've already seen similar successes, please share your story with us.
Referral buttons get a makeover
Every once in a while we like to give AdSense features a new look. This time, we're excited to announce the new and improved referral buttons for AdSense, Firefox with Google Toolbar, AdWords, Google Pack and Picasa. With the sleeker design comes a more web-friendly GIF image and several additional colors to choose from -- all to help the button feel more at home on your site.The new buttons are currently available to US English publishers, and we hope to roll this out for all countries and languages supported by AdSense for content. To try out the new buttons, choose Referrals on your AdSense setup tab and follow the instructions to start displaying the button of your choice.
UPDATED pictures and for accuracy
New referrals for Google Pack and Picasa
We're happy to announce that, in addition to AdSense, AdWords, and Firefox with Google Toolbar, you can now refer your users to Google Pack and Picasa. You'll earn up to $2 for each time a user installs Pack and up to $1 for each Picasa install. Although Picasa referrals will be available for several AdSense languages, Pack referrals are currently only offered in US English.To display Pack and Picasa referral buttons on your site, all you have to do is select Referrals from the AdSense Setup page of your account, and then select the product of your choice. And remember, now US English publishers can use text links for your referrals.
UPDATED for accuracy.
An 'AdSense Help'-ing hand
Since the AdSense Help Group launched, we noticed you've been having lots of interesting discussions about AdSense. We thought we'd address a couple questions that have come up fairly frequently in the Help Group.My website tracking software is registering more impressions than my AdSense account -- why is there a discrepancy?
To provide more accurate information about ad performance, we count impressions only when the AdSense JavaScript is executed by a user's browser. Therefore, the impressions listed in your AdSense account may differ from statistics reported by third parties. For example, AdSense doesn't count impressions generated by:
Other spiders, robots, crawlers from other search engines Browsers that don't have JavaScript enabled or don't support JavaScript Browsers that don't support the iFrame tag Programs that people may have written to grab website content
I pasted AdSense ad code for two ad units into my site -- why is only one ad unit appearing on my page?
Don't worry, this is normal ad behavior designed to automatically optimize your site's revenue potential. Although you can display up to 3 ad units per page, sometimes only the first ad unit contains ads. When highly targeted ads aren't available for all your ad units, we'll display the additional ad units as transparent boxes rather than showing ads that our system determines would not perform well. As our ad inventory changes, or if your page content changes, you may start seeing ads appear in all of your ad units.
In the meantime, you can set up your ad code so that an alternate ad will appear when this happens.
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