Sometimes I think that publishers and Google are moving in different directions. As publishers, we put in all sorts of effort to match colors, check placement and blend ads into our sites so that they bring in the maximum amount of income.
Thats the same goal that Google has.
They also want to see us doing well. And theyre doing everything they can to help us. The problem is that we have no control over the measures theyre taking... and sometimes their work clashes with ours.
A case in point is the expanded text ads. Youve probably seen these on your site. Maybe youve embedded a rectangular ad unit into an article, put it right at the beginning so that users cant miss it and matched it to the rest of the page so that it looks like part of the text. Then you open the page a few days later and find that instead having a bunch of ads in the same font size as the surrounding text, youve got just one or two big ads with lots of white space around them. The whole area screams Ad!
Two things could have happened: either youve been site-targeted by an advertiser whos paying per impression; or youve been keyword-targeted and Google has determined that a larger ad will give you more money.
As long as Google is right about the effect on the bottom line, thats fine. If Im making more money from an advertiser paying per impression than I would make fishing for clicks then I dont care how much the ad looks like an ad. Google can put flashing neon lights around it for all I care. I doubt if many people would click... but then they dont have to click to make me money.
And if Google finds that one big keyword-targeting ad will bring more clicks than several smaller ads, then they can go ahead and put a single ad there. But I cant help feeling skeptical about that and Im a bit worried about relying on Googles automated predictions to determine how my site will make money.
Its not that I dont trust Google. Id just like to know why think that a big lonely ad is going to do well.
Google wont give me the figures they used to make their predictions. But I can still check them. When I find that Im being served an expanded text ad instead of a group of smaller, better blended ads then Im going to watch its performance like a hawk. If I see my revenues drop, that ad is getting blocked.
Joel Comm is The Internet Revenue Expert. Online for over 20 years, Joel teaches people how to make money in the digital age. The recognized authority on Google AdSense, Joel teaches how to multiply your AdSense income at The AdSense Code. To ask Joel Comm a question about making money online, visit Joel invites you to download a free copy of The Internet Money Tree at
Theres a big misconception about contextualized advertising. Too many people feel that its a hands-off way to make piles of cash. All they have to do is build their site, optimize their ads, set up their traffic streams and... head off to the beach. Maybe theyll have to update the content every now and then but as far as theyre concerned, a month later, a year later or even five years later, those dollars will still be pouring in and theyll still be spending their days soaking up the sun.
If only.
Were probably working in the most dynamic environment in the world. Nothing changes faster than the Internet. A revenue system you set up today could easily be overtaken by something new tomorrow. If you arent keeping up with the latest developments, the only time youd know about those changes is when your income suddenly starts to fall and youre left staring at your stats, scratching your head and wondering whats going on.
A few weeks ago, I talked about Kontera. Theyve got a system that looks pretty impressive to me. Im still testing them out on some of my sites and think theyve got a system to watch. But they arent the only ones Im watching.
Ive also got my eye on Chitika... and so should you. Theyve got some of the smartest looking ads Ive seen. You get a picture of the product, a list of places and prices to buy, and (heres the best bit)... tabs that give more information about the product when the user mouses over. Without leaving the page, the user can get a summary of the product, user reviews and a search box to look for similar products.
Thats a heap of information packed into one ad. And users love the fact that they can interact with it.
These MiniMall ads are contextualized (and Chitika also offers traditional contextualized ads too) but you can turn off the contextualization and pick your own ads so you can combine them with AdSense or YPN. Thats a huge bonus.
Again, I dont know yet if Chitika can bring me higher revenues than AdSense but Im certainly not going to ignore it!
Ive already started playing around with Chitika and looking at ways to use their ads to maximize revenues. After all, if they do turn out to be the next big thing, I wouldnt want to be left behind. Ill let you know how I get on.
To apply with Chitika, visit
Joel Comm is The Internet Revenue Expert. Online for over 20 years, Joel teaches people how to make money in the digital age. The recognized authority on Google AdSense, Joel teaches how to multiply your AdSense income at The AdSense Code. To ask Joel Comm a question about making money online, visit