[Inside AdSense] The medium and large rectangle square off

When talking about optimization here on Inside AdSense, we frequently encourage readers to use the 300x250 medium rectangle. But we've also talked about how bigger ad units tend to perform well, so a few publishers have asked us, "Should we be using the 300x250 medium rectangle or the bigger 336x280 large rectangle?"

We took this question to our Optimization Team, who gave us insight into the strengths of each ad format:

• The 300x250 medium rectangle is a widely supported format that advertisers often use when designing their branding and rich media campaigns. Using this ad format and opting in to both text and image ads may generate more placement targeting opportunities, which will help drive up competition for your ad space and should lead to higher earnings over time.
  
• The 336x280 large rectangle tends to have a higher clickthrough rate due to its larger size. It often performs well on text-heavy pages where it's integrated into the content.
  

Our optimization specialists noted that performance of these two ad formats can vary from site to site, so they can't definitively say that all publishers should always use one format over the other. Just like with all other customization options, they recommend experimenting with each ad format for 3-4 weeks and measuring performance using custom channels.

What's your opinion? Feel free to leave us a comment and let us know how the medium and large rectangles have performed for you.

Posted by Arlene Lee - Inside AdSense Team

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Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 9/30/2009 09:30:00 A
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[Inside AdSense] Touch-ups for your ad units

You may remember that last year, we added arrows to the bottom of cost-per-click (CPC) ad units. These arrows allow users to browse through additional relevant ads, helping them find exactly they're looking for.

We've been testing slight updates to the look of these arrows, and our experiments have shown improvements in the user experience. As a result, we'll soon be making a few minor aesthetic changes, including darkening the arrows to make them more visible and orienting all arrows to point left and right. In addition, to help users understand what the arrows do, hovering over the arrows will soon show the labels 'previous ads' and 'next ads'. You'll see these changes appear in CPC ad units in all languages gradually over the next few days.

Posted by Amy Wu - AdSense Product Manager

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Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 9/24/2009 09:11:00 AM
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[Inside AdSense] Monetizing with the Google Maps API

With tools like Street View, Google Maps is altering the way people interact with their surroundings, letting you see the facade of the store you're about to visit, plot directions, and find a place to park before you even leave the house. Google Maps has also changed the way information is being presented across the web. Since 2005, web developers from around the world have begun to overlay their content on Google Maps, mashing it all up and presenting it in extremely creative ways.

As this trend evolves, maps are becoming the backdrop or canvas for many webpages. We've been hearing from the over 150,000 Google Maps developers eager to monetize this growing screen real estate, so we've worked to ensure that Google Maps embedded on external websites can be properly monetized. If you're a Maps developer, you now have two options for your embedded Google Maps API implementations to earn revenue using AdSense.

Maps Ad Unit - This new Google Maps API feature overlays AdSense ads on an embedded Google map on your site. The ads are targeted to the map's current view and update as the user moves around the map. For example, if the user is looking at Napa Valley, California, the text ads will likely display ads for wineries, hotels, and/or restaurants. As the user moves the map, ads continue to change by location and you'll generate revenue from every valid ad click.

To see an example of this, take a look at ZipMaps, an external Maps API site that presents U.S. zip code boundaries:



GoogleBar Local Search - The GoogleBar feature within the Google Maps API overlays a search box onto your map which lets the user perform a local search on the map. When results are shown, an ad is displayed that you earn revenue on when clicked. Feedback from sites that have implemented the GoogleBar reveals that users are happy to be able to search Google while on their map, and the site owners are happy to be able to monetize this additional service.

Here's an example of the GoogleBar in action on another Google Maps API site called Google Sightseeing:



If you're a developer with an existing Google Maps API implementation and an AdSense account, take a few minutes to add it to your maps to see how it performs for you. Interested in embedding Google Maps on your site? Take a look at the new Google Maps site to learn about all your options!

Posted by Mike Pegg - Product Marketing Manager, Google Maps

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Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 9/22/2009 09:58:00 A
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[Inside AdSense] Bringing more buyers to AdSense through the DoubleClick Ad E...

We recently announced that AdSense would start allowing Google-certified ad networks to bid for your display ad space in order to help you find new ways to generate revenue. You may have seen today's post by Neal Mohan on the Official Google Blog announcing the new DoubleClick Ad Exchange, and we'd like to take a moment to let you know how these two announcements fit together.

The Google-certified ad network capability is powered by the DoubleClick Ad Exchange that we announced today. Certified ad networks are Ad Exchange participants who have gone through an additional certification process in order to be able to to bid for your ad space through AdSense. We call this feature "yield management", because it offers you the most revenue for each ad that shows on your site in real time, regardless of whether it's Google or another certified party who can offer you the highest bid.

You don't need to change any of your account settings to start allowing these ads to compete. Also, you can continue to use the Ad Review Center to control which certified ad networks can appear on your site.

Opening AdSense to certified Ad Exchange participants means that more advertisers will be able to bid on your ad space. We believe this will ultimately help you earn more revenue for your sites.

Posted by Sean Harvey, Business Product Manager, and Scott Spencer, Group Product Manager

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Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 9/17/2009 09:03:00 P
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[Inside AdSense] Australian and New Zealand publishers: Register for an upcom...

If you've ever argued over where the pavlova was first invented and are currently enjoying the first signs of spring, the Australia and New Zealand AdSense team is holding a webinar specifically for you! We'll be presenting our techniques for improving your AdSense for content performance, as well as handy tips on making your AdSense implementation more user-friendly.

We'll be running two free sessions that you can choose between; both are exactly the same and will run for approximately one hour. Register for the one you'd like to attend by visiting one of the links below -- even if you're not located in Australia or New Zealand, you're still welcome to register!

• Webinar Option 1: 12.00pm AEST Monday 21st of September 2009 (GMT +10:00)
  
• Webinar Option 2: 5.30pm AEST Tuesday 22nd of September 2009 (GMT +10:00)
  

Once you've registered, you'll receive an email from messenger@webex.com to confirm your time and give you instructions on how to attend the webinar. We recommend that you register in advance.

If you're new to webinars (or web seminars), they're online meetings that you can attend using any computer with an internet connection and speakers or a headset. This Help Center entry will provide further details about what you'll need to participate. You'll also have the chance to ask questions based on the presentation through the interactive chat panel. Here are a few more details about next week's webinars.

• Presenters:
  
• Victoria, Mel, and Disha from the Sydney-based AdSense Team
  
• Content:
  
• Introduction - The Google Australia & New Zealand AdSense Team
  
• Google AdSense – AdSense for content optimisation
  
• Ad Formats – Opting in to image and text
  
• Placement – Position and size
  
• Design – Colours and borders
  
• Google Custom Search Engine - Best practices
  
• Working with Google - AdSense account essentials
  
• We'll also be showcasing some real-life examples of how other publishers have optimised their AdSense implementation.
  

We hope you can make one of the sessions, and we look forward to sharing our best AdSense optimisation techniques with you.

Posted by Mel-Ann Chan - AdSense Optimisation Team, Australia & New Zealand

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Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 9/17/2009 12:19:00 P
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[Inside AdSense] Introducing Google Web Elements

Looking for ways to spice up your website with dynamic content? You may know from our optimization tips that you can help increase your AdSense revenue by incorporating other Google products into your site. We're happy to introduce a new, easy way for you to do just that with Google Web Elements.

Web Elements let you easily add richness and interactivity to your site simply by copying and pasting a snippet of code. Inspired by the convenience of embeddable YouTube videos, each Web Element is built upon existing Google products. For example, the Google News element, introduced on this blog earlier this year, dynamically pulls in content from Google News based on news topics you select and displays within an embed on your site. With the official launch of Web Elements, you can choose to include Web Elements from products like Google Custom Search, Calendar, Docs, Friend Connect, and more.

Need more inspiration on how to integrate Web Elements into your site? Here are a few ideas:

• If you're using a Custom Search Engine on your site, the Custom Search element can help you integrate search results much more seamlessly with the look and feel of your pages. You can continue to earn revenues from searches while offering a better user experience to your users with better results styling.
  
  Who's using it: The Mayo Clinic uses the Custom Search Element as their main search function. The look and feel of the search results blends in smoothly with the rest of the site.
  
  
  
• To enable your visitors to post comments and links on your site, use the Conversation element. The element also lets visitors participate in conversations via Friend Connect.
  
  Who's using it: St. Simons Blog uses the Conversation element to let users in St. Simons Island and Georgia's Golden Isles connect with each other.
  
  
  
• The YouTube News element displays the latest YouTube videos from a number of news content partners including the Associated Press, CBS Online, Washington Post, Bloomberg, NY Times, Russia Today, Al-Jazeera English, and more.
  
  Who's using it: CitizenTube is YouTube's official news and politics blog. They display the YouTube News element on the right-hand side of the homepage labeled as "Latest News Videos".
  
  
  
• The Spreadsheet element allows you to display a table of information to your users which pulls from any Google Spreadsheet you choose. Whenever you update the Spreadsheet, the element will also update automatically. This is an easy way to keep dynamic content on your site fresh.
  
  Who's using it: Metal Italia is an Italian heavy metal fan site. The site uses the Spreadsheet element to display album information for heavy metal artists.
  
  
  

To get started, all you need to do is go to http://www.google.com/webelements, select the element you want on your site, and copy and paste the resulting code into your website source code. If you're interested in tinkering further with the Web Elements, you can further customize any of the elements as you please, since they're all powered by Google's developer APIs.

Using a Web Element on your site (or two, or seven)? We'd love to hear what you think and how they've been working for you. Just leave a comment on this blog post!

Posted by Christine Tsai - Google Web Elements Team

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Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 9/15/2009 03:01:00 P
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[Inside AdSense] Site maintenance on Saturday, September 12

This Saturday, our engineers will be performing routine site maintenance from 10am to 2pm PDT. You'll be unable to log in to your AdSense and Ad Manager accounts during this time, but we'll continue serving ads to your pages and tracking your clicks, impressions, and earnings as usual. In addition, your ad targeting won't be affected.

We've converted the maintenance start time for a few cities around the world:

Ottawa - 1pm Saturday
London - 6pm Saturday
Kolkata - 10:30pm Saturday
Manila - 1am Sunday
Auckland - 5am Sunday

If you'd like to learn more about what goes on during these maintenance periods, check out this Inside AdSense post.

Posted by Arlene Lee - Inside AdSense Team

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Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 9/09/2009 11:00:00 AM
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[Inside AdSense] More filtering improvements

As part of our continued efforts to give you more control over the ads that appear on your sites, we'd like to share two additional improvements to the Competitive Ad Filter:

Faster filtering
In the past, the Competitive Ad Filter sometimes took up to several hours to block URLs you'd entered. Knowing you've wanted a faster filtering system, we're excited to let you know that URLs added to your Competitive Ad Filter are now usually blocked within 30 minutes. We hope that this will help you quickly make changes to maintain a positive user experience on your sites.

Increased filter list size
At the same time, a growing number of you have let us know that you're running out of space in your Competitive Ad Filter. Now, you can add up to 500 sites to your filter list, more than double the previous limit. As you add new sites, please continue to keep the possible revenue impact of filtering in mind. You might also find it helpful to review our tips for using your Competitive Ad Filter.

We're continuing to work towards enhancing your ad controls, and we'd love to hear any suggestions you have. Feel free to leave us a comment below.

Posted by Arlene Lee - Inside AdSense Team

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Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 9/02/2009 11:14:00 A
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[Inside AdSense] Ad serving issue resolved

An ad serving issue yesterday, August 31st, from 4:30pm PDT to September 1st, 2am PDT caused less relevant ads or public service announcements (PSAs) to appear on some publisher pages. This was mostly limited to regions of Asia. Our engineers have now resolved the issue, and ad targeting has returned to normal. We apologize for the inconvenience, and are working to make sure that this doesn't happen again.

Posted by Arlene Lee - Inside AdSense Team

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Posted By Inside AdSense Team to Inside AdSense at 9/01/2009 11:04:00 AM
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