Adsense Pros and Cons
- March 31st 2008
- Blog to travel
Adsense by Google is the most popular monetization strategy for blogs because it is very easy to implement and understand. However, before you go putting dozens of ad blocks all over your page, consider the following pros and cons to working with the Google Giant.
Pro: Ease of Use
Like so many things Google, it’s easy to use and understand Google Adsense from a publisher standpoint. Putting in the html links is easy, finding the space is easy, it’s all easy. Add to this the fact that they will give you reports on your click through ratio (CTR) and make it easy to get paid and Adsense makes it easy to get started in blog monetization.
Con: No control
Because it’s easy and automated to set up, you have very little control over which ads get shown on your website. You can choose what style of ad shows up but you don’t get to choose whose ads get placed there. Not being able to control this means that you’re at the mercy of Google to determine how much you will make from your clicks when you get them. Rest assured though that Google is good at finding relevant ads, so they’ll match your content.
Pro: Everyone Does It
You know what you’re getting into with Adsense, everything is up front and spelled out. Google’s good about this.
Con: Banner Blindness
With Adsense your CTR is what will make your money. If you have 1,000 daily visitors and only 1% click through at 5 cents a click you’re not going anywhere fast. Because everyone uses Adsense, people are so used to seeing the ads that they simply ignore them.
Pro: Help in placement
Google will help you determine how to get better returns on your ads through better placement on your site, free of charge. Of course it’s good for them because they’ll make more money that way, but it does help with boosting your CTR.
Con: Income dependent on clicks.
With other types of advertisement advertisers pay for placement, not for each click they get. If your site isn’t running a high CTR on your adsense ads, or if you can’t figure out how to disguise them well, you might consider another advertising method.
Adsense success takes time and patience. Consider always keeping at least one block on your page just to see how it does. If it takes off, consider adding more. If not, move it around and see if you can improve it. One of the best placements I’ve ever worked with was a Wordpress design that put the ad block directly between posts or in the upper left corner of the top post. The best strategy for any blog monetization is always to try lots of things, track them all, and see what works best for your community.
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