Does AdSense work on affiliate sites?

24 replies
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I'm pondering about signing up with AdSense. Since I run an affiliate blog though I was wondering if the Ads Google chooses would be "just" related - or actually the same product(s) that I'm promoting on my site through my affiliate programs (ebay, amazon). Obviously that would compete with my main program which I wouldnt want. So can I control this? Is an affiliate site suited for AdSense at all? Thanks for any insight.
#adsense #affiliate #sites #targeted #work
  • Profile picture of the author deloriagod
    At first your Adsense ads might not make sense but give it some time and Google will eventually match up the ads with the content of your site.
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  • Apparently I'm following you around today... not on purpose.

    The reality with Adsense is all you can do is test. You may get ads that match your affiliate content to the point you want to exclude them. I would assume that you get German Results so the market pool would be smaller thus the possibility larger, unless your affiliate products are not German Related.

    I test everything and over and over. I mix affiliate with Adsense, but mostly with text links only on the Affiliate if I do this. A few underlined links in the content don't seem to effect Adsense one way or the other. Same results with Kontera and Adsense.

    However if I have pages that are really geared to specific Affiliate products I don't want adsense on those pages... not enough profit.

    I also like to use Adsense Sparingly... make more money that way. Too many people think of Adsense as an afterthought and just throw it is sidebars site wide. This is a bad idea and usually results in very low earnings.
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    • Profile picture of the author FlashDriveDT
      Yeah, I was thinking of the sidebar too as my posts/content contain the affiliate products and links. If the ads would hone in on the very same market (which is the US btw) my affiliate products are in, then that would kinda defeat the purpose, wouldnt it? Or would I be able to control it in a way that I can block any ads from related product companies? I read somewhere that AdSense allows for such a thing.
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      • Profile picture of the author kursat
        Originally Posted by FlashDriveDT View Post

        Yeah, I was thinking of the sidebar too as my posts/content contain the affiliate products and links. If the ads would hone in on the very same market (which is the US btw) my affiliate products are in, then that would kinda defeat the purpose, wouldnt it? Or would I be able to control it in a way that I can block any ads from related product companies? I read somewhere that AdSense allows for such a thing.
        You can block any URL from the ads on adsense program. Just go to adsense set up then click competitive ad filter. Here you can add any URL that you do not want listed on your pages. Give it 10 minutes or so and you will see different ads appearing. Hope this helps
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  • Profile picture of the author JonMills
    Hey you can block urls in adsense from showing if you want
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    http://www.thecopywriterwhisperer.com/ Persuasion at it's best!
    http://www.affiliateorganizer.com/ Organize your entire online business - Super affiliates give it the thumbs up!
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  • Profile picture of the author sousen
    Google supply Ads content base. It's not Good idea to run adsense ad for Affiliate site
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  • Profile picture of the author blazenetworks
    Nope.. Never take that risk. Google have strict TOS about this.
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    • Profile picture of the author FlashDriveDT
      Originally Posted by blazenetworks View Post

      Nope.. Never take that risk. Google have strict TOS about this.
      What exactly are you referring to?

      Originally Posted by Turtlet View Post

      I would say no. It will reduce your click through rate in Adsense. In other words, it will lower your adsense earning per click
      Actually, Im more worried about lowering my EPC for my affiliate links. I just want AdSense for a possible bonus income. But not to have it take away earning from my already established program.

      Well, its good to know that ads can be filtered. So that way I only have contextual ads but not actually competitive ones. So maybe I will give this a go. Funny btw how some of the feedback is contradicting.
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      • Profile picture of the author Fraggler
        Originally Posted by FlashDriveDT View Post

        Actually, Im more worried about lowering my EPC for my affiliate links. I just want AdSense for a possible bonus income. But not to have it take away earning from my already established program.
        An Adsense unit at the top of the site will usually capture a user before they read your content - it will potentially hurt affiliate conversions.

        Ad Adsense unit at the bottom of the content gives the user somewhere else to look after they have read the article. This will potentially capture some users who decided not to take your call to action on the affiliate link...this may let you increase your return.

        If your site is active enough just try the different options for 1 week and compare, or set up a split test with unique subid's for the different layouts and take the best overall return. A lower affiliate EPC may still result in a higher total EPC once AdSense is taken into account.

        (Adsense can be run on an affiliate site, by the way. You just can't partake in AdSense/Adwords Arbitrage)
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  • Profile picture of the author Turtlet
    I would say no. It will reduce your click through rate in Adsense. In other words, it will lower your adsense earning per click
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  • Profile picture of the author Ronald Nzimora
    Google adsence works on affiliate sites
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    • Profile picture of the author vision2003
      I wouldn't and don't do it. After all you don't want people leaving your site through Adsense adds when they could instead leave through your affiliate link and buy something (in most cases money is way bigger with affiliate marketing).
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  • Profile picture of the author jaxrefinance
    If you are promoting from an affiliate program you want everyone seeing the product, sales page.

    What happes is this: If the product is "nearly" what the person is looking for, and adsense is showing exacly what the person wants, instead of a commision from the product (40-70%) you only get the click value (3$ at most).

    Do the math
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    • Profile picture of the author FlashDriveDT
      Originally Posted by jaxrefinance View Post

      What happes is this: If the product is "nearly" what the person is looking for, and adsense is showing exacly what the person wants, instead of a commision from the product (40-70%) you only get the click value (3$ at most).
      40-70% percent? What affiliate program are you with?? Im only talking ebay and amazon here.


      Originally Posted by Fraggler View Post

      An Adsense unit at the top of the site will usually capture a user before they read your content - it will potentially hurt affiliate conversions.

      Ad Adsense unit at the bottom of the content gives the user somewhere else to look after they have read the article. This will potentially capture some users who decided not to take your call to action on the affiliate link...this may let you increase your return.

      If your site is active enough just try the different options for 1 week and compare, or set up a split test with unique subid's for the different layouts and take the best overall return. A lower affiliate EPC may still result in a higher total EPC once AdSense is taken into account.

      (Adsense can be run on an affiliate site, by the way. You just can't partake in AdSense/Adwords Arbitrage)
      Thanks for your input, Fraggler. Very much appreciated. Can you explain what you mean with AdSense/Adwords Arbitrage? Because I am thinking of getting into AdWords as I have received a couple of coupons. Are you saying I cant do both at the same time?
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  • Profile picture of the author bgray
    If I'm are promoting a high lead/commission product I tend to stay away from Adsense. If I'm dealing with an affiliate site that has more traffic and a lower/volume commission product I'll typically put Adsense in.

    You are adding another middle man so be careful as you can cannibalize your own efforts.
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    Hebrews 12:11

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  • Profile picture of the author jaxrefinance
    Whatever you do, never put adsense on a sales page. That's just a kill from the start.
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  • Yeah amazon and ebay have much lower commision rates (3%-15%??) when compared to clickbank (the 40-70%) or other various affiliate programs. As far as adsense and an affiliate site goes, I think the answer will depend on a few factors. First off what are you trying to achieve with your affiliate site? I take it you want people to click on your links and buy the product you are reviewing/selling. If so, how does adding adsense help? If used incorrectly adsense will provide your visitors with an additional way out of your site. Personally being the newb that I am I tend to fall in the category of people that can't utilize adsense to its fullest. Fraggler makes a good point, if you know how to split test that is definitely the way to go. Also have you or are you building a list on these sites as well (a little off topic I know)? If you are sending people to amazon/ebay I'm sure you will want to establish a relationship with your visitors. Why should the sellers and vendors get all the glory, its us affiliates doing all the hard work lol.. I would rather use my webspace to get people to subscribe to my list as opposed to clicking an ad.
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  • Profile picture of the author Diysolar
    Hey, don't try to do this. i can make sure that this tactic not gonna work....
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  • Profile picture of the author styla786
    I've seen the media bot instantly produce a result just after a page has been created (On a search request).

    The page content is there, then the adsense appears almost instantly.

    That just seems real quick to me.
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  • Profile picture of the author electronik69
    Why would you want to do this your steering an amount of your viewers to other websites for a lazy payment and your still not even guaranteed that payment either.
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    If it doesn't sell, it isn't creative - David Ogilvy
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  • Profile picture of the author FlashDriveDT
    I agree with most of you. However, on another forum somebody brought up a good viewpoint that may make the model work if approached in that angle. Quote:
    "The priority is to sell your affiliate product, if that doesn't interest the buyer the related items may get their attention, and lastly if that fails, they will see the Adsense ads and you'll (hopefully) at least earn some money from a click.. they would leave your site anyway so why not make a few bucks as they do so right?"
    Makes sense, yes?
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    • Ideally that is what you would like to happen Flash, but that might not be the way that things happen when visitors arrive on your site. Yes, I'm sure you would like people to click on the adsense as some sort of last ditch effort to make some money. You would want to test out and see if having adsense on your pages is hurting or helping your conversions. People can always click on the ads first if they really see something that catches their attention. It seems like you really want to incorporate adsense into your webpage, is this because the payout for your affiliate commissions are similar to the payout for adsense. I can only assume because you said amazon and ebay that this might be the case. Like it was suggested earlier you could alway try to testout which works better for your site. You should already have a good idea at what rate your website converts for the affiliate products, so try adding adsense and see if you notice a decrease or increase in your affiliate sales and go from there.
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