Did You See The Latest EZA Changes?...May GREATLY Affect CTR

137 replies
I don't know if you've noticed, but the format your articles appears in has
changed.

It used to be:

Title

Content Adsense


Adsense

Now it's

Title

Adsense

Content Adsense

Adsense

So now, you may not even get people to read your article because they
are hit with Adsense right after the title.

I'm not sure what effect this is going to have on views and click throughs
but I am most certainly going to keep my eye on my stats.
#eza #latest
  • Profile picture of the author Michael Oksa
    Thanks Steven,

    That's good to know.

    My first reaction is that it shows where EZA's priorities lie - they don't care about the authors, only the money the authors can generate. But, it's really a double-edged sword. They need to treat authors with some respect otherwise they start losing fresh content. And they are among the fe sites that actually send physical products as a way of saying thank you.

    After thinking about it, they can do just about whatever they want, however, they should send a notice out to every author (maybe they did). In effect, they are changing the article. This will gice every author the chance to pull their articles if they are not happy with the change. Kind of like being able to cancel a credit card if the terms change.

    By making it Title, AdSense, Content; they are implying that the AdSense is part of the artilce. Look, the idea of Title, Content is as old as printing itself. People are conditioned that way. EZA isn't evil, but all in all, I think this particular change stinks.

    All the best,
    Michael
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    • Profile picture of the author lacraiger
      Originally Posted by Michael Oksa View Post

      Thanks Steven,

      That's good to know.

      My first reaction is that it shows where EZA's priorities lie - they don't care about the authors, only the money the authors can generate. But, it's really a double-edged sword. They need to treat authors with some respect otherwise they start losing fresh content. And they are among the fe sites that actually send physical products as a way of saying thank you.

      After thinking about it, they can do just about whatever they want, however, they should send a notice out to every author (maybe they did). In effect, they are changing the article. This will gice every author the chance to pull their articles if they are not happy with the change. Kind of like being able to cancel a credit card if the terms change.

      By making it Title, AdSense, Content; they are implying that the AdSense is part of the artilce. Look, the idea of Title, Content is as old as printing itself. People are conditioned that way. EZA isn't evil, but all in all, I think this particular change stinks.

      All the best,
      Michael


      its called a business move...
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  • Profile picture of the author Kevin Lam
    Well that sucks, lol. I guess I'll run a few tests to see if marketing on EZA is even any good any more.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kevin Lam
    Originally Posted by ProductCreator View Post

    Anyone here ever thought of using Adwords to bid on the content network on ezinearticles.com

    I'm tempted to test it out, the clicks should be cheap.
    It's definitely worth a shot. I may look into that later on as well. So many projects and clients right now though.
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  • Profile picture of the author Zeus66
    Hmm. I don't know when exactly this started (had to be within the last few days), but I have just checked on some CTR rates for established articles that get a lot of daily views. Sure enough, CTR has dropped noticeably on ALL of them. That sucks. But as someone above me mentioned, it's their property and they can do what they want with it. I might start focusing a bit more on my 2nd and 3rd directory choices, but honestly they still don't even come close to the juice I get from EZA.

    So, deep breath, shrug of the shoulders, and soldier on.

    John
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    • Profile picture of the author HappyCommando
      Originally Posted by Zeus66 View Post

      I might start focusing a bit more on my 2nd and 3rd directory choices
      May I ask what your 2nd and 3rd choices are? Because this is at least the second thread on a similar topic today "EZA biting the hands that feed them".

      I think EZA needs to listen to the sources of content that built their success and adapt or their sources of content will build another empire elsewhere.

      Where else do you Warriors recommend?

      Thank you.
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  • Profile picture of the author thatgirlJ
    Wow. Thanks for the heads up Steven I hadn't seen that. It definitely seems like that will decrease response rates for our articles. I'd be interested in seeing others' results as time goes on. As of this point -- I agree with Michael
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  • Profile picture of the author Kevin Lam
    Hey John,

    I just wanted to say "thanks" because what you revealed has saved me some time. So we know CTR has dropped due to the change. Question now is can we make up for it through other means?

    I wonder if longer copy would make a difference. I guess that's still something to test out and see.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Brian
    Oh no, EZA becoming Squidoo'ish.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      Steven-

      Not just articles views - clickthrough rates to sites/pages have dropped through the floor on my articles. There is always a surge on submission of new articles but articles submitted this past week have had little activitiy even though they are on subject usually very popular.


      EZA may be damaging itself with this one so hope Chris is watching the reactions of authors. I'll be submitting elsewhere for now - not worth it.

      I'm not complaining that EZA wants to make money - that's what they exist for. This is not a good move as it clearly has affected views and clickthroughs.

      kay
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      • Profile picture of the author Terry Hatfield
        Hi all,

        I have said for years that EZA is not a business model.

        But there is a simple solution, take all the articles off of EZA and put them up on your own websites.

        EZA is ridicuously easy to outrank in the serps. I have articles on pr1 sites that rank above others EZA articles. And when you have the articles on your own site you don't have the problem of 2 weeks later someone putting up another EZA and knocking yours off the page.

        Stop relying on 2.0 sites for your business model. It is just hype.

        I do use EZA and other 2.0 sites for backlinks. I put up short and crappy articles that I can outsource super cheap where the quality doesn't matter, because it is just for backlinks.

        Try and put your articles on your own site and see how easy it is to outrank 2.0 sites and I am sure you will not go back.

        Best of luck,
        Terry
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        • Profile picture of the author Kay King
          My articles already go on my sites- before I submit to EZA. But I've always had a surge in traffic from EZA when publishing of new articles.

          Will be submitting elsewhere for now. I can get backlinks from any directory. Doesn't have to be EZA.

          kay
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          Saving one dog will not change the world - but the world changes forever for that one dog
          ***
          One secret to happiness is to let every situation be
          what it is instead of what you think it should be.
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          • Profile picture of the author HeySal
            Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

            My articles already go on my sites- before I submit to EZA. But I've always had a surge in traffic from EZA when publishing of new articles.

            Will be submitting elsewhere for now. I can get backlinks from any directory. Doesn't have to be EZA.

            kay
            Mine go on the site first, too - but here's something...
            Yesterday Willie posted a linking code you can put on the bottom of each article....
            You can put links to your aticles on social media - with the code at the end of the article and people can "share" that article, post it, etc - so the backlinking is pretty automatic other than you have to initially market the article yourself. Maybe a flock.com toolbar for that. Will speed the process. Got a good article it's sure better than just sticking marketing links on soc media sites anyway.

            Off to put that code on my article pages.

            Thanks again Willie - if you are reading this you realize how timely that info was.
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        • Profile picture of the author Bryan Zimmerman
          If enough people let them know they're going to take their articles else where like Goarticles, and then actually do it, this could eventually really hurt them.

          Everybody is taught or knows to submit to EZA because it gives good traffic. If everybody picked another directory (the same directory of course) and started putting their articles there it would put a hurt on Ezine. Might take a bit before they fell out of google's good graces but I think it's possible.

          Either way, the new layout def. sucks!
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          • Profile picture of the author Kay King
            The layout is terrible - and I agree with you Bryan. I've already begun a list of other sites to make regular submissions to (I don't mass submit articles).

            EZA is a service and as long as it's useful and productive, it is referred to as the "best". To me, these changes take it out of that category and will not use it or recommend it with the current format.

            I expect EZA will be hearing from many authors about this. If they hear from enough authors and see submissions decline, they may get the message.

            kay
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            Saving one dog will not change the world - but the world changes forever for that one dog
            ***
            One secret to happiness is to let every situation be
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            • Profile picture of the author Bryan Zimmerman
              All it would take to make someone else "the best" directory is a concentrated effort by marketers to pick another directory and make THEM "the best". Hell 99% of articles submitted to that place are from marketers anyway. So really, if enough people switched to a new directory and started teaching students to submit to this new directory, Ezine would fall pretty fast I would think.
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              • Profile picture of the author steve39
                Anyone using the EZA/Clickbank income model is being squeezed big time. What used to be a livable income for me is drying up quick. As if all the Clickbank problems weren't enough, now we have to to contend with the Ezine changes as well.

                Time for a new strategy - and fast.

                Steve
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        • Profile picture of the author abo28
          Originally Posted by Terry Hatfield View Post

          Hi all,

          I have said for years that EZA is not a business model.

          But there is a simple solution, take all the articles off of EZA and put them up on your own websites.

          EZA is ridicuously easy to outrank in the serps. I have articles on pr1 sites that rank above others EZA articles. And when you have the articles on your own site you don't have the problem of 2 weeks later someone putting up another EZA and knocking yours off the page.

          Stop relying on 2.0 sites for your business model. It is just hype.

          I do use EZA and other 2.0 sites for backlinks. I put up short and crappy articles that I can outsource super cheap where the quality doesn't matter, because it is just for backlinks.

          Try and put your articles on your own site and see how easy it is to outrank 2.0 sites and I am sure you will not go back.

          Best of luck,
          Terry
          Thank you very much for your advice, Terry. Seriously, I'm going to try it.
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        • Profile picture of the author Jesus Perez
          I agree. Wordpress + Backlinking = </EZA>

          Originally Posted by Terry Hatfield View Post


          EZA is ridicuously easy to outrank in the serps.
          Best of luck,
          Terry
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        • Profile picture of the author AndrewCavanagh
          Originally Posted by Terry Hatfield View Post

          I have said for years that EZA is not a business model.

          But there is a simple solution, take all the articles off of EZA and put them up on your own websites.

          EZA is ridicuously easy to outrank in the serps. I have articles on pr1 sites that rank above others EZA articles. And when you have the articles on your own site you don't have the problem of 2 weeks later someone putting up another EZA and knocking yours off the page.

          Stop relying on 2.0 sites for your business model.

          For the most part I agree with this.

          You are better off using content on your own site and seeing ezine articles as a source of potential back links.

          In fact you should really be thinking of any site that way in your overall strategy.

          In other words if it's not your site you don't rely on it.

          Contribute value, be ethical but don't start looking at someone else's site (or a few outside sites) as being a reliable source of your own income...it's just too easy to crash and burn with that kind of business model.

          There's also a good argument for spreading your articles and off site content and backlinks across a ton of different sites to give your traffic more stability.

          Kindest regards,
          Andrew Cavanagh
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          • Profile picture of the author Bob A
            Since EZA has made this change I have definitely have seen a drop in my CTR.

            Just My 2 cents

            Bob A
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Brian
    Maybe their Adsense earning are declining like majority of the people so they have to make adjustments.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lindsay Brynn
    Thanks Steven. I wonder when exactly this happened. I have also noticed what seems to be a big decrease in my views for this week in niches that were usually quite popular. I think it may have happened last week too. I thought maybe it was just flukes since my previous week was amazing.
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  • Profile picture of the author PLRwithAlex
    Interesting. They are so strict on what they will accept then they seed it with AdSense. Could become to busy and confusing for visitors to stay, perhaps.
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  • Profile picture of the author cashcow
    That's a bummer. When I submit articles it is mainly for link juice although I also enjoy the traffic I get from EZA (or maybe I should say "used to enjoy"). The only thing that comes close is Buzzle, but you can only have 3 articles in your queue at a time and it takes them forever to approve so it's really not that great of an option.

    If you want better click throughs to your articles then consider website-articles.net because there are NO ads on the articles and the resource box is highlighted at the top plus you can have links in the last paragraph of the article along with the resource box. It costs $10 a month, but seeing the way EZA is going it might be worth it. I know it doesn't have a lot of link juice yet, but I can get my articles to rank pretty good if I give them some links. Not as good as EZA but maybe the overall traffic would be better due to higher CTR - sounds like a test is in order!

    Lee
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    Gone Fishing
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Oksa
    Wow! The articles look like cheap garbage now.

    Thanks!
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    • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
      Originally Posted by Michael Oksa View Post

      Wow! The articles look like cheap garbage now.

      Thanks!
      Michael, I'm going to write up on article about this, put it on my blog, tweet
      about it and HOPEFULLY Chris will see it.

      I think he's made a HUGE mistake here and hopefully he will realize that and
      go back to the old format.

      If not, I don't even want to think what the repercussions will be.
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    • Profile picture of the author Ron Douglas
      Originally Posted by Michael Oksa View Post

      Wow! The articles look like cheap garbage now.

      Thanks!
      Perfect example of why you can't depend on someone else's website to be a major part of your business. Folks that have a thousand articles on EZA and only like 20 on their own site are crazy. If you're a prolific writer, make your own site a hub for information. There many are other ways to link build besides EZA.
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  • Profile picture of the author talfighel
    Look, EZA is a free tool to submit your articles and at the end of the day, EZA also wants to make money from those ads. Nothing wrong with that.

    If you don't want to submit anymore articles with them, then that is your choice.

    I don't know, maybe this is not bad thing after all.

    Tal
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    • Profile picture of the author yves
      Originally Posted by talfighel View Post

      Look, EZA is a free tool to submit your articles and at the end of the day, EZA also wants to make money from those ads. Nothing wrong with that.

      If you don't want to submit anymore articles with them, then that is your choice.

      I don't know, maybe this is not bad thing after all.

      Tal
      Maybe so, but the authors are what makes Ezine what it is. It is a symbiotic relationship and unfortunately ezine are on a power trip and neglecting to maintain a relationship with these authors (us).
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      • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
        unfortunately ezine are on a power trip and neglecting to maintain a relationship with these authors (us).
        I don't even do article marketing any more, but I had to reply to this:

        Sparky? On a power trip?

        Your tin foil hat is on too tight, Yves. That is sooo not Chris's style. I've known him for a long time. (What, Chris? 12, 13 years?) He's never once shown a tendency toward that kind of thing. Not even in small ways.

        You're barking up the wrong dude, dude.


        Paul
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        • Profile picture of the author yves
          Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

          I don't even do article marketing any more, but I had to reply to this:

          Sparky? On a power trip?

          Your tin foil hat is on too tight, Yves. That is sooo not Chris's style. I've known him for a long time. (What, Chris? 12, 13 years?) He's never once shown a tendency toward that kind of thing. Not even in small ways.

          You're barking up the wrong dude, dude.


          Paul
          Paul,

          I'm not talking abut anyone in particular here, I'm simply outlining the fact that ezine's recent shenanigans are really affecting the authors and therefore their earnings and bit by bit they are making it more difficult to work with. (And up till this thread, it would seem they were not too bothered about the repercussions to the authors cos they know they are seen as the best, hence the power trip).

          This includes taking much longer to publish and having problems with the articles that are sometimes petty, inconsistent and causing frustration and now these adsense blocks. Warriors are saying that their views are being affected and many are feeling deflated and ready to give up on ezine and many have been high quality, steady content providers for ezine.

          Ezine, I'm sure would be effected if many authors turned elsewhere and they have to recognise the fact that the authors are their bread and butter. Athors in return get awarded for their hard work.

          And if Chris is the one in charge then it is good that he is being made aware of this and if he does something about it, then great, the thread wasn't in vain

          I stand by what I said.

          Cheers
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          • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
            Yves,

            There is a rather large difference between pointing out perceived problems and assigning unpleasant motivations to the actions behind those problems.

            You crossed that line. That's your right, without question. Just as it's my right to point out that I think you're smoking something way too strong for your tolerance level.


            Paul
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            • Profile picture of the author redrossero
              I have had good results with articlesbase. Guess it is time to move...
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            • Profile picture of the author yves
              But Paul,

              I had an explanation for the "assigned unpleasant motivation" it wasn't an ill-though out remark and there was no line to cross. Your unbiased (ahem) response is a bit unfair considering you no longer article market and are not suffering as a consequence. I'm sorry but I think ezine are neglecting their authors at the moment and really hope they can sort things out for the best.

              P.s I am a girl and don't accessorise with tin hats
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              • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
                Yves,

                You're not paying attention. I didn't argue the point about whether they are "neglecting" their authors, or whether this "neglect" is having an adverse effect. I doubt it, but I have no concrete experience of that circumstance on which to base any debate.

                I didn't agree or disagree with any comments in this thread, except your assertion that there's a power trip involved. On that point, I have some small experience.

                As far as the fashion comment... Hats are like belts - or strait jackets. They are non-gender-specific items of apparel.


                Paul
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                • Profile picture of the author yves
                  Paul,

                  I am very much paying attention. You are sticking up for your mate, I suppose there is an element of honour in that. But people's businesses are being affected by this and when I say power trip, I obviously mean that ezine are starting to take action in ways which are detrimental to the autors without care (at this moment). The authors are at the mercy of ezine as they already have many articles with them and know that they are perceived as the best directory. Ok ezine are a business etc, but having a little concern for their all important authors would not go amiss and I was just saying that I think thay have gone a bit too far, I'm allowed to use power trip for that arn't I?

                  I stated that I was a girl because you called me a dude, no connection to the accessories whatever Geez!
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                  • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
                    Yves,

                    "Dude" has been a non-gender-specific term in the US for a while. No offense intended.

                    As far as the rest, you are indeed entitled to hold whatever opinion you wish. You continue to assert motivations for your claimed results, without any basis for the assertions. I'm calling you on that part (and only that part) of your comments.

                    Phrases like "without care" and "at their mercy" suggest a very specific type of attitude which you have no valid reason to suppose actually exists.

                    So, you get the commemorative Magic Loon Lapel Pin as a souvenir.


                    Paul
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                    • Profile picture of the author yves
                      Oh great, thanks I will treasure it forever! Can't think what to give you in return tho. What do you give the man that has everything!


                      Go on, you can have the last word

                      P.S
                      I thought my last few posts were pretty valid reasons, but hey ho.
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                      • Profile picture of the author John Taylor
                        Originally Posted by yves View Post

                        What do you give the man that has everything!
                        Penicillin?

                        John
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  • Profile picture of the author hotlinkz
    I abandoned EZA some time ago. Terry H is right, you can do much better by posting the articles on your own websites. Times are hard and everybody is trying to squeeze as many pennies as possible. EZA is no different.

    Another point...has anyone checked the quality of many of the articles posted to EZA lately? Unimpressive to say the least!

    Calvin
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  • Profile picture of the author Ken Preuss
    They've made a business choice folks. They are allowed to do that.

    What everyone needs to remember is that for each person that hates the new format and leaves EZA, there will be a hundred who stay and a hundred more who submit.

    Might there be repercussions? It's possible. But on a large scale, not likely at all.

    The thing no one wants to say is that EZA is being smart. When you have that much web real estate and exposure, it makes total (Ad)sense (pardon the pun) to capitalize on it.

    My advice to everyone complaining: Stop worrying about their business choices and worry about yours.

    Ken
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    • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
      Originally Posted by Ken Preuss View Post

      They've made a business choice folks. They are allowed to do that.

      What everyone needs to remember is that for each person that hates the new format and leaves EZA, there will be a hundred who stay and a hundred more who submit.

      Might there be repercussions? It's possible. But on a large scale, not likely at all.

      The thing no one wants to say is that EZA is being smart. When you have that much web real estate and exposure, it makes total (Ad)sense (pardon the pun) to capitalize on it.

      My advice to everyone complaining: Stop worrying about their business choices and worry about yours.

      Ken

      Ken, you're absolutely right. I merely pointed this out so that people were
      aware of what is going on. I mean how many people go look at their
      own articles after they're posted. I never used to until I started putting
      them on my own blog, which was probably the smartest thing I ever did.

      But I don't think EZA is being smart about this IMHO. I think they will lose
      more authors than they gain if people stopping earning with them.

      Now so far, my CTR hasn't been affected but I have a theory on why
      that is. For now, I'll keep it to myself just in case things change down
      the road. But I think the average article marketer is going to be
      affected big time.

      And yes, relying on any 3rd party site for your profits is suicide. I have
      always known this but never thought that EZA (being as big as it is)
      would ever turn into a liability. At worst, I figured their submission
      standards would become more strict.

      But this?

      Never did I think they'd do something to directly affect writers like they
      have with this change. And make no mistake about it, it has to have
      some effect.
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    • Profile picture of the author Michael Oksa
      Originally Posted by Ken Preuss View Post

      They've made a business choice folks. They are allowed to do that.

      What everyone needs to remember is that for each person that hates the new format and leaves EZA, there will be a hundred who stay and a hundred more who submit.

      Might there be repercussions? It's possible. But on a large scale, not likely at all.

      The thing no one wants to say is that EZA is being smart. When you have that much web real estate and exposure, it makes total (Ad)sense (pardon the pun) to capitalize on it.

      My advice to everyone complaining: Stop worrying about their business choices and worry about yours.

      Ken
      I agree with most of your post, Ken.

      But...

      When you tell us to not worry about their business choices, keep in mind that their choices have a huge impact on many people.

      People that had no warning, had to discover this on their own, and until now may have been doing quite well by submitting to EZA.

      I have a handful of articles on EZA, and it is not a big part of my business model, but it still would be nice if EZA had done the right thing and let every current author know about the change. Heck, they could have even put the right spin on it to make it more palatable.

      As far as your prediction goes, I'm not so sure. It's not just about how many leave or stay, it's about the QUALITY of those who leave or stay.

      Yes, from a money perspective, in the short term, EZA may be being smart. I understand it could bring in a lot more money for them, and I do not fault them for that at all. However, as a long-term decision, I don't think it was all that smart.

      Anyway, you could be wrong, I could be wrong, who knows?

      Like you said, the only thing we have control over is our choices, and I know what my choice won't be from now on.

      All the best,
      Michael
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  • Profile picture of the author usfemail
    Thank goodness I stopped doing bum marketing several months ago. I now use Wordpress to make my affiliate sales with. I still submit some to EZA; however it is only for backlinks.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sylvia Meier
    Yikes, they look like those made for adsense sites now...which I guess is what they are becoming...really a shame.

    But like someone else mentioned..try Exclusive Article Marketing Community it is owned by a warrior and the page layout is much better, $10 a month is pennies compared to all the lost sales from the now bigger leak on the EZA site.

    I personally really like WA and have used it from the start...not to mention, I submit an article and most of the time its accepted that day, I expect that would change slightly with an influx of authors but still more than worth it.

    When things change, you've got to change or be left with the dent in your bottom line.

    Sylvia
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  • Profile picture of the author Wakunahum
    Looks like a Made For Adsense site now.
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    • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
      The other interesting point here is to look at this from a user's standpoint.

      Someone arriving at an EZA page from a Google keyword search may not be so impressed with the result.They could simply click away via an Adsense ad or just click away to look for a more user-friendly site.

      Either action is likely to impact on EZA's Google quality score.

      If that happens, it may not prove to have been such a shrewd business move.



      Frank
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      • Profile picture of the author Roy Carter
        Originally Posted by Frank Donovan View Post

        The other interesting point here is to look at this from a user's standpoint.

        Someone arriving at an EZA page from a Google keyword search may not be so impressed with the result.They could simply click away via an Adsense ad or just click away to look for a more user-friendly site.

        Either action is likely to impact on EZA's Google quality score.

        If that happens, it may not prove to have been such a shrewd business move.



        Frank
        That is a very good point Frank. I hope EZA are listening.
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  • Profile picture of the author captivereef
    you know what my hops at clickbank have decreased by at least 50% in the last few days. I have just under 600 articles driving traffic to my sales pages. I think this may have something to do with it. That sucks, but they are probably suffering from the recession as well and are doing whatever it takes to stay afloat.
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  • Profile picture of the author captivereef
    I bet they will offer a different layout to the premium authors very soon!
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    • Profile picture of the author steve39
      The only thing worse than this would be if they dropped an adsense block between the article body and resource box.
      Signature

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      • Profile picture of the author remodeler
        Originally Posted by steve39 View Post

        The only thing worse than this would be if they dropped an adsense block between the article body and resource box.
        You probably just gave them a new idea. LOL
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  • Profile picture of the author ECS Dave
    Without me going to look, what's the limit on ad units on a single page?
    Looks like EZA has at least 7 on their pages...

    Be Well!
    ECS Dave
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    • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
      Originally Posted by ECS Dave View Post

      Without me going to look, what's the limit on ad units on a single page?
      Looks like EZA has at least 7 on their pages...

      Be Well!
      ECS Dave
      Yeah, I have no idea how they're getting away with all those ad blocks but
      that's another can of worms altogether.
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  • Profile picture of the author morwanneg
    Oh goodness, thanks for this notice. Now, i need to keep an eye on my stats.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fabian Tan
    The Adsense block after the title has definitely become bigger after the latest change. The article doesn't start until more than halfway down the page! Bad bad bad.

    To be realistic, EZA will probably earn more in the coming months. They will get more clicks. Over the years, this will be a bad strategic move if it is not corrected soon.

    One thing's for sure: the articles, as the way they look now, will drive more people away from not just our sites, but EZA's as well.

    Just goes to show...DON'T put all your eggs in one basket.

    Fabian
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  • Profile picture of the author Nicola Lane
    I have stumbled Stevens article - and twittered about it - and drawn the #HAHD community attention to it!
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  • Profile picture of the author Fabian Tan
    To expand on the the above post, I do get more than 30% of my traffic from EZA. Judging from the recent change, I expect a drop to at least 20%, meaning you may have to divert your time, energy and money into the other traffic sources that are working for you NOW.

    Here are the list of things I will be expanding on:

    1. Do more JV's

    2. Expand PPC campaigns

    3. Submit articles to other article directories

    4. Put Video Marketing's SEO power to use

    5. Expand Blog Marketing and SEO

    6. Expand Banner Advertising

    7. Take part in more giveaway events

    In a nutshell, spend less time or money on article marketing and use those resources on other tactics that are working and expand on them.

    You are probably not taking part in as many giveaway events as you can.

    Your PPC keyword list is probably not as big as it can be.

    You have probably not submitted your articles to as many directories or authority sites (think Associate Programs for affiliate marketing articles or even Evan Carmichael's site) as you can.

    Now's the time to do all these things.

    Failing that, you can always start a petition and hope for the best. I know I will take things into MY own hands.

    Fabian
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    • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
      Originally Posted by Fabian Tan View Post

      To expand on the the above post, I do get more than 30% of my traffic from EZA. Judging from the recent change, I expect a drop to at least 20%, meaning you may have to divert your time, energy and money into the other traffic sources that are working for you NOW.

      Here are the list of things I will be expanding on:

      1. Do more JV's

      2. Expand PPC campaigns

      3. Submit articles to other article directories

      4. Put Video Marketing's SEO power to use

      5. Expand Blog Marketing and SEO

      6. Expand Banner Advertising

      7. Take part in more giveaway events

      In a nutshell, spend less time or money on article marketing and use those resources on other tactics that are working and expand on them.

      You are probably not taking part in as many giveaway events as you can.

      Your PPC keyword list is probably not as big as it can be.

      You have probably not submitted your articles to as many directories or authority sites (think Associate Programs for affiliate marketing articles or even Evan Carmichael's site) as you can.

      Now's the time to do all these things.

      Failing that, you can always start a petition and hope for the best. I know I will take things into MY own hands.

      Fabian

      Fabian, excellent tips if I have to say so myself.

      I'm also going to have to rethink some of the things that I do.
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  • Profile picture of the author steve39
    Well, for me, this is a real wakeup call. While I'm making decent money writing ezine articles, I know deep down that I'm not building anything for myself. And I'm certainly not creating passive income by ignoring my own virtual real estate. If I take a few days off from writing articles, my clickbank earnings tank. So really, I've just created a job for myself.

    Working for article directories and web 2.0 sites may get you some cash in the short term, but you pay a price for it - and you'll never build any monentum that will produce residual income. Don't get me wrong, I value the traffic I can get from places like ezine, but lately it just seems as though I'm working twice as hard and making less money.

    So from this moment on, I'm going to concentrate on my own websites, get back to creating content, grass-roots seo, backlinking, and so forth. I don't feel as though I have much choice.

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author JNFerree
    This is an interesting thread on EZA.

    Does anybody think this move will this add some energy to the eHow site?
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  • Profile picture of the author chrisknight
    Well, we didn't anticipate this reaction, but I will respond to some of the issues.

    First, Steven... Maybe you never noticed before, but directly below the WORD COUNT, we had a 468 AdSense ad panel that included 2 vertical text ads within it. That's been below the word count and above the article body for more than a year now. It's not new.

    The change we made is we went from 2 vertical text ads in that 468 spot to 3 horizontal text ads. Net effect is 1 additional text ad was added to the existing 2 text ads.

    At any given time, we're running hundreds of tests. Always have. Most of the time, you don't notice them because they are subtle. This time, I think you noticed it because it forced the article body down a half inch lower on the page and some very low resolution monitors may not have as good of a user experience as those running 1024x768 or greater.

    End-user experience is very important to us and something we're constantly evaluating.

    Second, most marketers would say that a good CTR to receive on any ad campaign is between .5 to 1% CTR.

    Our members CONSISTENTLY see 2-12% and most warriors see even higher CTR's. What I find odd is that some have come to expect us to deliver 20-30% CTR's and then cry foul if they get a measly 9-12% CTR. As competition continues to climb, expect overall CTR's to lower but I'd expect them to continue to beat normal direct mail campaigns: ie: Better than 1% CTR. This is not a promise as there are too many variables that effect CTR.

    Keep in mind one of our top internal goals:

    To be your HIGHEST non-search engine referrer of traffic.

    Third, sorry... we didn't think this change would have a material impact on the traffic you receive from us. If we believed that, we'd have at least put a blog entry up about the test.

    Fourth, we did lower the total ads being displayed on long word count articles by up to 3 less ads; but this change most likely won't impact the under 1000 word count article that most submit.

    Lastly: Zeus66, you are right. We are constantly evaluating terabytes of data combined with member and user sentiment to figure out the right balance of getting every stakeholders needs met.

    Everyone can be assured their voice is being heard and we'll be weighing your input, our members/users input along with our data/analytics to determine where to go from here.
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    • Profile picture of the author Steven Wagenheim
      Originally Posted by chrisknight View Post

      Well, we didn't anticipate this reaction, but I will respond to some of the issues.

      First, Steven... Maybe you never noticed before, but directly below the WORD COUNT, we had a 468 AdSense ad panel that included 2 vertical text ads within it. That's been below the word count and above the article body for more than a year now. It's not new.

      The change we made is we went from 2 vertical text ads in that 468 spot to 3 horizontal text ads. Net effect is 1 additional text ad was added to the existing 2 text ads.

      At any given time, we're running hundreds of tests. Always have. Most of the time, you don't notice them because they are subtle. This time, I think you noticed it because it forced the article body down a half inch lower on the page and some very low resolution monitors may not have as good of a user experience as those running 1024x768 or greater.

      End-user experience is very important to us and something we're constantly evaluating.

      Second, most marketers would say that a good CTR to receive on any ad campaign is between .5 to 1% CTR.

      Our members CONSISTENTLY see 2-12% and most warriors see even higher CTR's. What I find odd is that some have come to expect us to deliver 20-30% CTR's and then cry foul if they get a measly 9-12% CTR. As competition continues to climb, expect overall CTR's to lower but I'd expect them to continue to beat normal direct mail campaigns: ie: Better than 1% CTR. This is not a promise as there are too many variables that effect CTR.

      Keep in mind one of our top internal goals:

      To be your HIGHEST non-search engine referrer of traffic.

      Third, sorry... we didn't think this change would have a material impact on the traffic you receive from us. If we believed that, we'd have at least put a blog entry up about the test.

      Fourth, we did lower the total ads being displayed on long word count articles by up to 3 less ads; but this change most likely won't impact the under 1000 word count article that most submit.

      Lastly: Zeus66, you are right. We are constantly evaluating terabytes of data combined with member and user sentiment to figure out the right balance of getting every stakeholders needs met.

      Everyone can be assured their voice is being heard and we'll be weighing your input, our members/users input along with our data/analytics to determine where to go from here.

      Thanks Chris. That's all anybody can ask for. So far, I personally have
      not seen a change, but that may be because I have so many regular
      readers or have a bit of a name. But some people have already reported
      a drastic decrease in CTR, and these are people I trust implicitly. These
      are usually the first folks to tell me when I'm overreacting and being a
      drama queen. So if they're annoyed, concerned or whatever, then there
      must be a very good reason.

      I have been using EZA to submit my articles to exclusively since I
      started article marketing with just a few articles posted to other
      directories. The only other article posting I do is either to my own
      blog or other blogs as a guest author. I have been one of your biggest
      supporters since day 1 and basically tell folks that they either conform
      to EZA's rules and regulations (your attempt to have just quality content)
      or go elsewhere.

      But this change can not lead to anything but poorer results for article
      marketers, regardless of what CTR is considered good, bad or whatever.

      If the average marketer sees a drop from 20% to 10% consistently across
      the board, then the bottom line will simply be that they will go elsewhere
      if, and this is a big if, somebody else can bring them better results.

      We can speculate the reasons for your recent change, one that is quite
      noticeable, but the reasons don't matter. I'll be the first to defend your
      choice to run your business the way you want to run it. But me? The
      last thing I would want to do is make a change that could very well lead
      to a mass exodus from my service.

      Will that happen? I don't think anybody has the answer to that. But if the
      reaction I'm getting from my personal list and established article marketers
      who are known for their expertise is any indication, the fallout isn't going
      to be good.

      In the end, I am sure you'll do the right thing by you, your company and
      the writers who you service.

      Thank you for responding to this thread. You are, and have always been,
      a class act.
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      • Profile picture of the author Zacman
        I can't see it making much difference to most.

        First, your title and description should have perked the curiosity of your would be reader.

        Second, unless your topic fits adsense like a glove, click throughs to ads is normally so miniscule it wouldn't lower your CTR anywhere near 1%.

        If it does then your article sucks and should be on a page you can benefit from the adsense revenue poor content will normally deliver.


        Much to do about nothing IMO.

        Cheers,
        Zac
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        • Profile picture of the author Fabian Tan
          Originally Posted by Zacman View Post

          click throughs to ads is normally so miniscule it wouldn't lower your CTR anywhere near 1%.
          As a rule, the more clear and visible outbound links you have on a page, the lower your click-through rates will be.

          Having more ads on a page only makes it worse, it can't make the situation better.

          In a nutshell, doing without it is better having it there, wouldn't you agree?

          Fabian
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          • Profile picture of the author Zacman
            Originally Posted by Fabian Tan View Post

            As a rule, the more clear and visible outbound links you have on a page, the lower your click-through rates will be.

            Having more ads on a page only makes it worse, it can't make the situation better.

            In a nutshell, doing without it is better having it there, wouldn't you agree?

            Fabian
            Of course, but then why would EZA exist?

            My point is the article will live or die on it's own strength. The Ad changes won't effect the CTRs much in most cases.

            Hense, much to do about nothing.

            Cheers,
            Zac
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            • Profile picture of the author mrdomains
              Apart from everything else... I don´t like the new submission interface
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            • Profile picture of the author Fabian Tan
              Originally Posted by Zacman View Post

              Of course, but then why would EZA exist?

              My point is the article will live or die on it's own strength. The Ad changes won't effect the CTRs much in most cases.

              Hense, much to do about nothing.

              Cheers,
              Zac
              Erm, I think you missed the point.

              By starting the article further down the page, that can only be detrimental, not positive.

              Fabian
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              • Profile picture of the author entry
                [DELETED]
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                • Profile picture of the author entry
                  Originally Posted by Fabian Tan View Post

                  Erm, I think you missed the point.

                  By starting the article further down the page, that can only be detrimental, not positive.

                  Fabian
                  i was gona post that too,
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                  I Have to say a Massive...THANK YOU to every Warrior who has helped me, and thanks to every warrior who helps me in the future...
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      • Profile picture of the author Kent F
        Frustrating - wonder why they would mess with a good thing?
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        • Profile picture of the author entry
          Originally Posted by Kent F View Post

          Frustrating - wonder why they would mess with a good thing?
          The thing is, if more and more people realize this (which they will), especially the experts, they will start to move their articles to other sites such as
          -articlealley,
          -isnare
          -goarticles

          etc.

          so if slowly frustrated authors start to move their articles, and submit less on EZA, then eza will lose valuable customers (even paying premium ones).

          This will affect eza as the best authors can possibly transfer ezine directories, aswel as the average authors. It might be left with just some basic article authors, which will affect eza's article base.

          Its just like politics, they make wrong decisions, the public don't like the outcome, and then they go and do their own thing, away from the politicians agenda(as they are angry).

          To cut a long story short:
          This change EZA has made, can have a Negative impact on eza in the long term (if angry authros leave to other directories). They have to look at the Long term affects of this change- not just short term /profits
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        • Profile picture of the author Vanquish
          Originally Posted by Kent F View Post

          Frustrating - wonder why they would mess with a good thing?
          Agreed the advertising is a bit too overbearing and takes away from the article. Us marketers will know that we have to click the hoplink to get access to the product but most internet users will opt for clicking one of the ads instead.
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          Nothing to sell, only value to give and new knowledge to learn.
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      • Profile picture of the author SeanIM
        A prime example why you should be more diversified at platforms in which to dominate Google traffic.

        2c
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        • Profile picture of the author chrisknight
          I'd encourage everyone to watch and see your real numbers before jumping to false conclusions.

          Last month, we delivered 5,406,167 clicks to our members website(s).

          Since so many were worried about losing traffic, we created some new internal tools to show us exactly what effect, if any, the 3rd text ad above the fold had vs. just the 2.

          Yesterday, with 3 text ads, we still delivered 213,025 total clicks to our members websites. That's 18.2% GREATER than our average for April.

          My point: While individual author performance varies greatly, overall as a whole our members are not suffering because of this ad layout.

          A member emailed me privately to say they were extremely upset that their CTR went down to 26%! Geez, that's crazy considering the average member experiences a 2-12% CTR. In my mind, anything beyond 8-12% CTR is already beating the market averages.

          One reality that we are not impervious to just like all of our members: Each year, it takes more articles to attract the same traffic level that fewer articles attracted just years ago. Most likely has to do with an increasing content supply in the marketplace while the number of humans online growth rate is slowing.

          In conclusion, it's still our goal to be your highest non-search engine referrer of traffic and I expect us to continue to deliver solid traffic in exchange for your best unique/original article submissions.
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    • Profile picture of the author entry
      Originally Posted by chrisknight View Post

      Well, we didn't anticipate this reaction, but I will respond to some of the issues.

      First, Steven... Maybe you never noticed before, but directly below the WORD COUNT, we had a 468 AdSense ad panel that included 2 vertical text ads within it. That's been below the word count and above the article body for more than a year now. It's not new.

      The change we made is we went from 2 vertical text ads in that 468 spot to 3 horizontal text ads. Net effect is 1 additional text ad was added to the existing 2 text ads.

      At any given time, we're running hundreds of tests. Always have. Most of the time, you don't notice them because they are subtle. This time, I think you noticed it because it forced the article body down a half inch lower on the page and some very low resolution monitors may not have as good of a user experience as those running 1024x768 or greater.

      End-user experience is very important to us and something we're constantly evaluating.

      Second, most marketers would say that a good CTR to receive on any ad campaign is between .5 to 1% CTR.

      Our members CONSISTENTLY see 2-12% and most warriors see even higher CTR's. What I find odd is that some have come to expect us to deliver 20-30% CTR's and then cry foul if they get a measly 9-12% CTR. As competition continues to climb, expect overall CTR's to lower but I'd expect them to continue to beat normal direct mail campaigns: ie: Better than 1% CTR. This is not a promise as there are too many variables that effect CTR.

      Keep in mind one of our top internal goals:

      To be your HIGHEST non-search engine referrer of traffic.

      Third, sorry... we didn't think this change would have a material impact on the traffic you receive from us. If we believed that, we'd have at least put a blog entry up about the test.

      Fourth, we did lower the total ads being displayed on long word count articles by up to 3 less ads; but this change most likely won't impact the under 1000 word count article that most submit.

      Lastly: Zeus66, you are right. We are constantly evaluating terabytes of data combined with member and user sentiment to figure out the right balance of getting every stakeholders needs met.

      Everyone can be assured their voice is being heard and we'll be weighing your input, our members/users input along with our data/analytics to determine where to go from here.
      Is it something you are testing? and can go back on- reverse on?
      as you did say that: "End-user experience is very important to us and something we're constantly evaluating"

      The original change, which i have highlighted in red- the vertical ad being below the word count, and above the body- i think that had a better impact on authors clickthrough rates,.......

      ..if you say you are testing this, is it something you can reverse/ go back on? or does it only depend on how big an impact it has on those adsense clicks (from an eza adsense profit point of view)
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  • Profile picture of the author Nicola Lane
    Thanks Chris for your response - and your willingness to engage us here.

    I was getting a bit worried!
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  • Profile picture of the author timpears
    I was seeing this a few days ago and wondering. I have read, more than once, that Adsense TOS will only allow three ads on a page. Yet, I see way more than that on EZA. What gives. I guess they must be special or something. But I didn't think anyone was big enough to get special treatment from Google. And I know that EZA isn't that big of a deal, is it?
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    Tim Pears

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  • Profile picture of the author captivereef
    EZA is a pretty big deal and they do get special treatment from google
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  • Profile picture of the author Allen Graves
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
      Hi captivereef

      Originally Posted by captivereef View Post

      EZA is a pretty big deal and they do get special treatment from google
      Do you have any actual evidence of this? If not, I refer you to this recent thread: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...rily-fact.html



      Hi Chris

      Originally Posted by chrisknight View Post

      Second, most marketers would say that a good CTR to receive on any ad campaign is between .5 to 1% CTR.

      Our members CONSISTENTLY see 2-12% and most warriors see even higher CTR's. What I find odd is that some have come to expect us to deliver 20-30% CTR's and then cry foul if they get a measly 9-12% CTR. As competition continues to climb, expect overall CTR's to lower but I'd expect them to continue to beat normal direct mail campaigns: ie: Better than 1% CTR.
      Comparing a general direct marketing campaign CTR to an article signature CTR isn't really fair. In a typical ad campaign, where a 1% response may be acceptable, the respondent is asked to commit to a purchase or subsequent action.

      Where an article reader is just asked to click on a link, with no commitment to purchase or even submit any details, the CTR could reasonably be expected to fall somewhere between a campaign CTR and a standard opt-in page CTR i.e. around 12-25% depending on the target readership and type of niche.

      Of course, the counter argument is that it costs a marketer nothing (other than time and skill) to use the facility of EZA, whereas an ad campaign usually carries some financial risk.

      Other than that, you're comparing apples and oranges.


      Frank
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  • Profile picture of the author captivereef
    i meant special adsense treatment not search engine results treatment. The top publishers get alot more options then the guy with a few niche sites. More ad blocks and different sizes then what is the standard.
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    • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
      Originally Posted by captivereef View Post

      i meant special adsense treatment not search engine results treatment. The top publishers get alot more options then the guy with a few niche sites. More ad blocks and different sizes then what is the standard.
      OK. Thanks for clarifying.



      Frank
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      • Profile picture of the author Fabian Tan
        Anyone noticing a change in their stats?

        I've been observing that my page views for articles has decreased although my article output has increased, since January 2009. It could be because of greater competition (more writers, more articles), EZA getting less traffic overall, the recession, or simply because I need to update my tactics lol

        That's a little piece of news from my end.

        The fact is although I'm still a big fan of EZA and still use them a lot, I'm expanding more effort and resources in other traffic generation sources rather relying on EZA entirely (ie I'm depending less and less on EZA as time goes on although I still use them...)

        Fabian
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  • Profile picture of the author activetrader
    WOW that's what the problem is about... I recently submitted a new set of articles - 10 articles on EZ and since then they have been steadily making me $50+ every single day. Suddenly $0. I haven't checked that EZ account as it is only a drop in the sea, but was wondering what happened. Your suggestion explains it all!
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  • Profile picture of the author Allen Graves
    I think that the results being shared by intermediate to advanced article marketers in this thread tell the whole story...at least the story on which this particular thread is based.

    I guess when you don't have 8,000,000,000 authors and 40 trillion articles to manage and compete with, the world is a MUCH better place!

    Allen Graves
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    • Profile picture of the author chrisknight
      Thanks Paul.

      We're seeking to create value and have a positive massive impact on millions of people who use our site. Unfortunately, we're never able to please everyone.

      If I had to sum up what I think some are feeling here is that whenever we take any action to define who is an ideal member for us; those who are on the receiving end of not being an ideal member feel like we're "playing king" when the reality is that's not it at all.

      YVES: We never guaranteed earnings, ever. It's never been in any of our marketing materials. Some have built businesses on us I'm aware, but that was never our focus despite that we're pleased to be part of their revenue ecosystem. Authors get TRAFFIC for their hard work. That's always been our give back.

      You are out of line if you think we have little concern for our members.
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      • Profile picture of the author yves
        Originally Posted by chrisknight View Post

        Thanks Paul.

        We're seeking to create value and have a positive massive impact on millions of people who use our site. Unfortunately, we're never able to please everyone.

        If I had to sum up what I think some are feeling here is that whenever we take any action to define who is an ideal member for us; those who are on the receiving end of not being an ideal member feel like we're "playing king" when the reality is that's not it at all.

        YVES: We never guaranteed earnings, ever. It's never been in any of our marketing materials. Some have built businesses on us I'm aware, but that was never our focus despite that we're pleased to be part of their revenue ecosystem. Authors get TRAFFIC for their hard work. That's always been our give back.

        You are out of line if you think we have little concern for our members.
        Hi Chris

        Just to clarify, I was actually meaning traffic and a user friendly site when I said awarded for their hard work, which was always the case before, no one can expect ezine to guarantee earnings.

        However, with the current changes that have been made recently with ezine, that I stated, it would seem that authors (many who have been part of the directory for many years) are being negatively effected on quite a big scale. And many are frustrated as nothing has been done to help and things just seem to get worse.

        Of course Ezine isn't obliged to do anything to help out their authors other than just publish the articles at their convenience but just to be considered in the scheme of things seeing as how the authors are quite a crucial part would be nice.

        Personally, I don't use Ezine on a big scale and I'm not even saying this because I am massively effected myself but was just discussing this as is our want on this forum, about the downside of the above changes etc. Hopefully there will be a happy ending to all this.

        When something is given then taken away, it is usually harder to handle I suppose.

        I really don't think I was out of line.

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        • Profile picture of the author steve39
          3 Days after the change and I'm not seeing a significant fluctuation in my CTR (submitting avg of 12 articles per day). So maybe this isn't going to affect us as much as we think.
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          • Profile picture of the author TimG
            Originally Posted by steve39 View Post

            3 Days after the change and I'm not seeing a significant fluctuation in my CTR (submitting avg of 12 articles per day). So maybe this isn't going to affect us as much as we think.
            I've noticed the same thing. I've personally not been affected by the recent change at Ezinearticles.com. I am going off my online earnings as they have not dropped at all. However, they have also not increased but that could be because I took the last few weeks off from submitting articles in order to focus on other aspects of the business and to recover from a serious illness (not swine flu).

            I like to believe that my own methods continue to work because I base them around creating quality articles with eye-catching titles and effective resource boxes. Of course, Steven and Fabian practice the same sound strategies so not sure of that is why I have not seen any negative results.

            If anything the new changes at EZA ensure that the person arriving on my site is more targeted for my offer because they didn't get distracted or sidetracked by the adsense ads they were previously shown while reading my article at Ezinearticles.com

            Respectfully,
            Tim
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        • Profile picture of the author entry
          Originally Posted by yves View Post

          Hi Chris

          Just to clarify, I was actually meaning traffic and a user friendly site when I said awarded for their hard work, which was always the case before, no one can expect ezine to guarantee earnings.

          However, with the current changes that have been made recently with ezine, that I stated, it would seem that authors (many who have been part of the directory for many years) are being negatively effected on quite a big scale. And many are frustrated as nothing has been done to help and things just seem to get worse.

          Of course Ezine isn't obliged to do anything to help out their authors other than just publish the articles at their convenience but just to be considered in the scheme of things seeing as how the authors are quite a crucial part would be nice.

          Personally, I don't use Ezine on a big scale and I'm not even saying this because I am massively effected myself but was just discussing this as is our want on this forum, about the downside of the above changes etc. Hopefully there will be a happy ending to all this.

          When something is given then taken away, it is usually harder to handle I suppose.

          I really don't think I was out of line.

          This is true for many i think.

          I have noted a great reduction in my clickthru rate, by using the calculation, and traffic states on the page, which has decreased in the past week, noticabally.

          It is the same page directed to in the link, which was getting a large number of views, but now according to the views, it is getting less views (and this page only gets traffic from the EZA articles, there is no other source) so we cant blame any other traffic methods...

          I adsense reason is, when people read the article title, they are immediately directed to whats below them- the adsense ads,- so before reading the article they see the ads, and probably click them, so this redirects your targeted traffic to the adsense clicks, to somebody elses website.
          Hence, they most probabaly forget about your article and end up staying on the adsense one, which ==> Affects your article rate.

          If they hardly read your article, they are hardly going to click your sig link...
          so it might cause a reduction of clicks- it has for me.

          How about you guys?
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  • Profile picture of the author Jesus Perez
    Here's what I don't understand:

    Why don't they remove ads off the $97/mth account submissions?
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    • Profile picture of the author zerofill
      Originally Posted by BlueSquares View Post

      Here's what I don't understand:

      Why don't they remove ads off the $97/mth account submissions?
      You said it...

      Haha beat me too it...

      I would expect a premium account to not display adsense...

      But then again...that is why you use your content for your own sites and we rarely submit to EZA etc... anymore.

      EDIT: The internal linking structure EZA uses should be a dead giveaway to most people on how to get Google loving you with deep crawls... 8)
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    • Profile picture of the author Fabian Tan
      Originally Posted by BlueSquares View Post

      Here's what I don't understand:

      Why don't they remove ads off the $97/mth account submissions?
      I definitely wouldn't mind paying more to have the ads removed or at least rendered to the minimum.

      Compared to their Adsense earnings over a year, EZA may lose out compared to what I may pay, but they will get more author loyalty.

      Hey, if they earn on average $5 or even $10 per month from Adsense per author, I wouldn't mind paying that extra on top of the regular paid membership.

      EZA wins, and I win.

      I think it's a great idea.

      Fabian
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  • Profile picture of the author prosperpreneur
    Hi Steve,

    Thanks for the post.

    I think by looking at all these changes on test based content sites, I would focuf more on video and pod casting based content distribution to make more traffic for the time spent.

    Would u agree?

    I was thinking if it is possible for u put the link to the blogpost or video clip highlighting the same thing and share the link here.

    It will help us share the word in twitter as well as other social media sites.

    looking forward to hear back from you.

    Regards,
    -Gaj
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  • Profile picture of the author captivereef
    I have been submitting more to amazines now and seeing what happens. Approval time is quicker and they rank well for may articles anyways. I still will use ezinearticles because i think that they are still the best and continue to gve me the most traffic then any other article directory.

    Just seeing what happens if i diversify more.

    Of the 585 articles i have published my CTR has never been under 16.25% and i just went back and checked and its now at 16.4 %.

    Not great but hold steady, for me anyways.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fabian Tan
    Guys and girls, I noticed today that the number of ads at the top has dropped from 3 to 2. I'm not sure if it's for every article but that's what I'm noticing. That means the block is now smaller.

    Fabian
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  • Profile picture of the author entry
    Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

    The layout is terrible - and I agree with you Bryan. I've already begun a list of other sites to make regular submissions to (I don't mass submit articles).

    EZA is a service and as long as it's useful and productive, it is referred to as the "best". To me, these changes take it out of that category and will not use it or recommend it with the current format.

    I expect EZA will be hearing from many authors about this. If they hear from enough authors and see submissions decline, they may get the message.

    kay
    I Have AN IDEA People!.....

    On EZA where it asks for your feedback- it says says:

    What's on Your Mind?

    Please tell us how we should improve the EzineArticles membership interface

    ...Lets all Tell them how to improve by 'Not doing this new adsense format'- and going back to the old format:

    If enough of us complain, they might get the message and go back to the old style. This has worked in the past for other sites- not saying it wil work, but its worth a try.



    Just tell them that--
    1. when the word gets out about this new format,
    2. the best authors will not like this change
    3. These expert authors will change article directories to another one (article base for example)
    4. Leading ezine articles to slowly good publishers, which isnt a good idea for the long term creditability of Eza.
    What do you think of my idea people ?
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  • Profile picture of the author Floyd Fisher
    Originally Posted by ProductCreator View Post

    Anyone here ever thought of using Adwords to bid on the content network on ezinearticles.com

    I'm tempted to test it out, the clicks should be cheap.
    You can go right ahead and test that.

    I'll sit back and watch you get mad at all the fraudulent clicks coming your way from Google's content network.

    Seriously, it is Mike Knights site, and he can do what he wants. Problem is how long will it be before visitors get ticked off by it, and Google themselves drop the hammer?

    Is there a limit as to how much adsense you can have on a page?
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  • Profile picture of the author Randy Bheites
    These earth-shattering "changes" have been in place for a while now, I don't see a problem. People are getting "Adsense blindness" the same way they've developed "banner blindness".

    Personally, I only use EZA and the like for backlinks. I never count on meaningful traffic streams from articles, if it comes, fine. I definitely ALWAYS post my articles on my own sites first, tweak them some, then post them on articles sites.
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    • Profile picture of the author entry
      When did they implement this adsense layout change?

      recently? what day ?
      Signature
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Kelsall
    I have not had any noticable differnece...

    This got brought up on our coaching site and I've been tracking it for 2 weeks now and have not noticed any changes to speak of in my CTR.
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  • Profile picture of the author captivereef
    bottom line is they are a business and if we don't like it we can use others like them. They can and will do what they want.

    Personally i have noticed a huge drop in my CTR and am looking for alternatives but until one comes along i will live with it. I have over 600 live articles there and looking at my stats i can say the last few weeks the CTR went into the toilet after being a steady 16.25% since 2007
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    • Profile picture of the author entry
      Originally Posted by captivereef View Post

      bottom line is they are a business and if we don't like it we can use others like them. They can and will do what they want.

      Personally i have noticed a huge drop in my CTR and am looking for alternatives but until one comes along i will live with it. I have over 600 live articles there and looking at my stats i can say the last few weeks the CTR went into the toilet after being a steady 16.25% since 2007
      16.25% since 2007, what is the new clickthru rate, after their adsense layout change ?
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  • Profile picture of the author captivereef
    bottom line is they are a business and if we don't like it we can use others like them. They can and will do what they want.

    Personally i have noticed a huge drop in my CTR and am looking for alternatives but until one comes along i will live with it. I have over 600 live articles there and looking at my stats i can say the last few weeks the CTR went into the toilet after being a steady 16.25% since 2007
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  • Profile picture of the author captivereef
    they are premium adsense publishers and have different adsense rules then the average person witha fe niche sites
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    • Profile picture of the author Jesus Perez
      Originally Posted by captivereef View Post

      they are premium adsense publishers and have different adsense rules then the average person witha fe niche sites
      I actually retracted my "TOS" question. It's within the TOS.

      Apparently, you can show up to 3 adlinks and 3 ad units.

      Still...that's plenty distractions.

      Allen's article site is looking better every day.
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  • Profile picture of the author captivereef
    i will check, but i use the same resource box for my niche and recently alot of articles have 50-60 views in the first day or two with 1 or 2 click throughs. That never happened before and it seems to have started a in the beginning of April

    Although i did start a new pen name account in a diferent niche and the ctr for that is account is just under 15 with 7 articles published. Its hard to get accurate numbers from only 7 articles though.
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    • Profile picture of the author theinfomaven
      Originally Posted by Fabian Tan View Post

      Well, it's back to 3 ad blocks at the top now. Sweet

      Fabian

      You beat me to it.
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  • Profile picture of the author theinfomaven
    Honestly if your article is of quality, intelligent readers have probably already programmed themselves to skip over or ignore ads and only look at the content.

    I know, losing any amount of sales isn't good, but ezine isn't going to die.

    If they lose authors they'll change it.

    This is the internet.
    There's always a workaround...
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  • Profile picture of the author WinsonYeung
    Quite sad about the new layout, It's becoming like a spam site with advertisement. I'm sure my CRT will be afffected because of this, but we have to move on because EZA is still currently the best article directories.
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  • Profile picture of the author James Schramko
    Why do people surrender control of their livelihood to third party platforms?

    Build Blogs, build lists, get backllinks, get traffic from MANY sources.
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  • Profile picture of the author DeanJames
    It's cool that Chris has contributed to this thread. Change or no change, EZA is still the don of article directories and Tim Gorman has confirmed no reduction in earnings recently which is a good barometer for the mere mortals submitting a few articles here and there Fabian also doesn't sound too stressed out. Ad layouts are going to change it's just another factor beyond control. I wouldn't say it's minutae as that ad block at the top of the page is an example of prime placement which I would expect has an impact reducing CTR for authors but it's not something that will keep me awake at night. I don't foresee a mass exodus to another directory at this stage and am still a big fan of EZA

    Dean
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  • Profile picture of the author blargins
    I can't say if my CTR has gone down because of this change as I have only recently started submitting articles.

    I will say, that I didn't even notice the ads there until I read this thread. I personally never click on any ads like that and always ignore and skim over them. I know I am not most people, but that sort of advertisment never works on me. I don't even read them. I hate them in fact.
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  • Profile picture of the author AfteraDream
    Is 1 hit in 6 reads low? Maybe you get a low CTR because your content is not up to par...
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    • Profile picture of the author Allen Graves
      Originally Posted by AfteraDream View Post

      Is 1 hit in 6 reads low? Maybe you get a low CTR because your content is not up to par...
      OR...

      maybe its because i get three, three word links out of seemingly hundreds of outbound, more descriptive links on my article page...

      I've found that articles with no other outbound links on the page get a HUGE CTR. Chris says that 2- 12% is average...but I consistently see 30% across the board, and much higher in many cases, when there are not a ton of ads and outbound links on the page.

      In comparison, on the same article directory with 3 adsense blocks on the page, the average CTR was about 5%.

      I'm sorry, but I cannot believe that an increase in outbound links (whether ads or other links), especially right in the middle of the Title and the article, won't lower the CTR of the author links. I just don't see it.

      If a marketer emailed me upset at a decrease in CTR to 26%, I wouldn't just call it crazy, I would see what I could do to get his CTR back up to what his average was...check out some of his articles and see what changed or what would help.

      EZA seems to me to have different outlooks and outcomes than other directories...probably because of the sheer amounts of traffic and members the have submitting articles. While EZA may be needing more articles to maintain the same levels of traffic, I am not seeing this at other directories. Authors at some directories I own and/or moderate are experiencing the same traffic levels, and in some cases more, and have not upped their submission counts at all.

      I'd be very interested to hear the EOM click-through data compared to April. Seems a greater % of posters here are losing clicks since the changes were made. Could be because those who aren't losing clicks don't bother posting...but a solid month or two of data would be much better to compare than a single Tuesday in May.

      AL
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      • Profile picture of the author AfteraDream
        Originally Posted by Allen Graves View Post

        OR...

        maybe its because i get three, three word links out of seemingly hundreds of outbound, more descriptive links on my article page...

        I've found that articles with no other outbound links on the page get a HUGE CTR. Chris says that 2- 12% is average...but I consistently see 30% across the board, and much higher in many cases, when there are not a ton of ads and outbound links on the page.

        In comparison, on the same article directory with 3 adsense blocks on the page, the average CTR was about 5%.

        I'm sorry, but I cannot believe that an increase in outbound links (whether ads or other links), especially right in the middle of the Title and the article, won't lower the CTR of the author links. I just don't see it.

        AL

        Honestly, I don't even notice ads... most people learned to ignore them probably too. The problem is the content is not griping enough..that's why people look at AdSense and not at content... If the content is great then no one will get their eyes off of it...

        Big mistake I think a lot of writers are doing is writing for keywords and freaking Google and baking 20 articles a day. Your article will suck if you spend 10 minutes writing it...
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  • Profile picture of the author DeanJames
    Honestly, I don't even notice ads
    Al,

    You don't notice them because your brain screams out "Adsense ad" as a result of being fully aware of what adsense is, what an ad looks like and being involved in IM ( etc ) but normal web surfers looking for information do so an ad block below a headline is going to lose some visitors clicking away in an area of prime placement. That's Life, as Esther would say.

    Dean
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    • Profile picture of the author Allen Lewis
      Originally Posted by DeanJames View Post

      Al,

      You don't notice them because your brain screams out "Adsense ad" as a result of being fully aware of what adsense is, what an ad looks like and being involved in IM ( etc ) but normal web surfers looking for information do so an ad block below a headline is going to lose some visitors clicking away in an area of prime placement. That's Life, as Esther would say.

      Dean
      I think some people can't grasp that if EZA is putting up one more additional ad at the top, it is a business move that is going to make them more money. Why? Because more people are going to click away from the articles on to the ads.

      Most people won't notice the ads, but even if you have a slight percentage increase of people who click away, that will result in a lot of difference across the board.

      And I think some of you guys may already have noticed the WHOLE right side is now filled with ads too.

      Allen
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  • Profile picture of the author BizBooks
    EZA should have a feature where the location of the articles are rotated randomly when the page is loaded.

    this keeps people from getting "blind" to the ads, which is the way EZA makes money.

    EZA, if they would ask me for advice, should be doing three things:

    1) allowing people to pay money to put more anchors in the text

    2) allowing people to pay a premium fee, monthly or per article, that their articles would come up without ads on them (to greatly increase click through rates)

    and,

    3) create a feature where they would "vouch" for the author of the article as a leval above the standard "expert author". levels based on article quality ....
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    • Profile picture of the author entry
      Originally Posted by BizBooks View Post

      EZA should have a feature where the location of the articles are rotated randomly when the page is loaded.

      this keeps people from getting "blind" to the ads, which is the way EZA makes money.

      EZA, if they would ask me for advice, should be doing three things:

      1) allowing people to pay money to put more anchors in the text

      2) allowing people to pay a premium fee, monthly or per article, that their articles would come up without ads on them (to greatly increase click through rates)

      and,

      3) create a feature where they would "vouch" for the author of the article as a leval above the standard "expert author". levels based on article quality ....
      That is a good idea, to rotate the ads so that we authors articles get varied
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  • Profile picture of the author Avidpoet
    Article Marketing sounded like a good idea 4yrs ago but with all these cut and past tools out here now. Its very easy to see your article on someone else's site with no credit to the original Author
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  • Profile picture of the author quiescen
    Well, I have to say I don't like it either. Just looked at one of my articles and 3 ads on top is a bit much. Sorry Chris but come on.
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    • Profile picture of the author entry
      Originally Posted by quiescen View Post

      Well, I have to say I don't like it either. Just looked at one of my articles and 3 ads on top is a bit much. Sorry Chris but come on.
      Yea, 3 is a bit too much, a bigger chance for the readers eyes to get directed and clicking the adesnse- and if that adsense site is good, they wont even bother going back to your article.

      The argument that your article should be written better is invalid, because they havnt even got to the article, as they first would click the adsense ad, and would ignore the article (in this example anyway)

      This is being proved by people complaining, like this poster.

      I understand that people like improving adsense clicks, but im sure they were making enough adsense clicks before they made this change, (considering as they get tonnes of viewers) or does profit come first, before users?
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      • Profile picture of the author Fabian Tan
        An update as I see the articles from my browser:

        The number of ads has gone up from 3 to 8 on the right hand side for most articles.

        At the top, the ad arrangement has gone from a horizontal rectangle to a vertical rectangle, and the number of ads has increased from 2 to 3.

        Fabian
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        • Profile picture of the author entry
          woah- from 3 to 8 is a pretty big change.
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Oksa
    Thank you, Chris.

    I believe other companies many of us use (we know who they are) would benefit by following your lead.

    All the best,
    Michael
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    • Profile picture of the author entry
      There shouldnt be 3 ads under the title, to distract the readers from the actual article the reader came on the site to see,
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve L
    Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim View Post

    I don't know if you've noticed, but the format your articles appears in has
    changed.

    It used to be:

    Title

    Content Adsense


    Adsense

    Now it's

    Title

    Adsense

    Content Adsense

    Adsense

    So now, you may not even get people to read your article because they
    are hit with Adsense right after the title.

    I'm not sure what effect this is going to have on views and click throughs
    but I am most certainly going to keep my eye on my stats.
    thanks for the heads up steve!
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    • Profile picture of the author entry
      Originally Posted by Steve Longoria View Post

      thanks for the heads up steve!
      Everyone should look at their stats, and report what changes in traffic from their articles cause (traffic that is being tracked of course)
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  • Profile picture of the author JJOrana
    It's always good to have a diversified and multiple source of traffic.

    Because of changes like this. Same with SE traffic.
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    • Profile picture of the author entry
      Originally Posted by JJOrana View Post

      It's always good to have a diversified and multiple source of traffic.

      Because of changes like this. Same with SE traffic.

      True, dont put all your eggs into one basket, but it affects the creditability of the company. It is about principle
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