Google Targets "Above The Fold" Ad Laden Pages

[retsek]

Check my post history and you'll see me warning warriors about coming changes and those sweet 336x280 layouts above the content since November. Those changes are about to be live (or are already):

Page layout algorithm improvement - Inside Search

So you're looking for Algo friendly layouts that still give good CTR ?

Try these:
An SEO Guide to Adsense, Ads and Placement | SEOmoz



These yield about 5% to 12% CTR for me depending on the niche. I still make good money because I choose valuable (high CPC) niches.

That said I DO have one site that is laden with ads above the fold. It gets as much as 15,000 unique visitors on some days and is very popular. I'm leaving those ads above the fold just to see what happens .....just as an experiment.

On the otherside, I think Google is being incredibly hypocritical here. Looking at the competitive terms, sometimes the organic results are pushed below the fold by their ads and other products.

Another Excellent Read on the Subject:
http://searchengineland.com/too-many...ut-algo-108613

[Maraun]

Thanks for the info. In addition to monitoring this on your site, it would be really nice to also see an update of this thread with your findings if anything significant happens.

[retsek]

Originally Posted by Maraun

Thanks for the info. In addition to monitoring this on your site, it would be really nice to also see an update of this thread with your findings if anything significant happens.

I will. So far nothing.

Look like this update will be an easy one to remedy. Unlike Panda, you'll should just need to change your layout, reduce your template footprint and wait for the next time Googlebot visits you.

[paulgl]

Before you people panic, you really need to read the whole
thing. Google has always told people to put adsense above
the fold. But, they have always said that if you see no
content, and have to scroll down, that is indeed a violation
of adsense TOS. Something I have said many, many, many
times. People just ignore it. If you have to scroll to begin
reading, that is bad now, and always has been.

But stop the panic:

This algorithmic change does not affect sites who place ads above-the-fold to a normal degree, but affects sites that go much further to load the top of the page with ads to an excessive degree or that make it hard to find the actual original content on the page.

My pages have always been stuffed with ads above the fold, but never ask
someone to scroll down to begin reading.

Stop the panic. They are just reiterating a long-standing guideline.

In fact, all this hype about panda, panda 2, whatever, is really just
a reiterating of webmaster guidelines that have always been on the
books. They are just restating them in a bolder, unkinder manner.

And it also states, although probably ignored, that it affects less
than 1% of the searches. Or, over 99% of searches will not be
affected. I guess that doesn't make for a good story though.

But for those who love to panic, watch out:

This change is just one of the over 500 improvements we expect to roll out to search this year.

Paul

[retsek]

Originally Posted by paulgl

And it also states, although probably ignored, that it affects less
than 1% of the searches. Or, over 99% of searches will not be
affected. I guess that doesn't make for a good story though.

Paul

Just want to point out that 1% of searches doesn't equal 1% of the keywords. For example, Panda was supposedly only geared to effect 10-12% of the searches and look how big of an effect it had.

[phans]

Originally Posted by paulgl

But, they have always said that if you see no
content, and have to scroll down, that is indeed a violation
of adsense TOS.

You are right.
Maybe you can help me out. My Laptop has a 1920x1080 resolution so i can see way more of a website above the fold that people with a lower resolution. Is there a standard resolution google talks about? I couldn't find anything about that in the TOS.
I know that there is a tool recomended by google that explains above the fold but it isn't of any use when it comes to my question about the resolution.

here is the link: Google AdSense - Above the Fold Tool

[anshuldayal]

Too many ads above the fold generally do negatively affect your bounce rate in my experience. High bounce rate in the long run is likely to impact on your search engine rankings anyhow so I am no longer convinced that putting large blocks of ads above the fold is the best way to go.

In fact I ran a test with one of my top earning AdSense site where I simply moved the two large rectangles from above the fold to below the fold (or below the post content) and added one randomly placed half banner ad within the content body and saw an increase in overall CTR more than anything plus you get the added benefit of vistors not bouncing back straight after landing on your page.