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Adsense Targeting Tip

by InitialEffort
21 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Just thought I'd share this, but the page title has a significant impact on what ads display. For example, Baby (too broad) Baby Toys (product niche) Fisher Price Baby Toys (micro niche). So if you run a search on Google for your keyword and then use that title in your homepage, more relevant ads will display.

This may be trivial for some, but it certainly a nice way to increase revenue.
#adsense #targeting #tip
  • Profile picture of the author Jeff McGehee
    Good tip.

    If you want to laser target your adsense to the higher paying keywords in your niche even when ranking for the long tail (and perhaps less $) keywords you can use section targeting.

    Since I cannot post links yet, I am unable to link directly to this in adsense help, so I will paste some of it directly.

    To implement section targeting, you'll need to add a set of special HTML comment tags to your code. These tags will mark the beginning and end of whichever section(s) you'd like to emphasize or de-emphasize for ad targeting.
    The HTML tags to emphasize a page section take the following format:
    <!-- google_ad_section_start -->

    <!-- google_ad_section_end -->

    You can also designate sections you'd like to have ignored by adding a (weight=ignore) to the starting tag:
    <!-- google_ad_section_start(weight=ignore) -->
    Google does mention that you should include a significant portion of content in between the tags to ensure better ad targeting.

    So, for example, say I am optimizing my page to rank for something like "seo software tools". Google's keyword tool shows this as a 0.05 CPC, so I wouldn't expect to make much in adsense from it.

    However, if I use section targeting and write a couple of paragraphs sprinkled liberally with some of the following keywords, I could trigger much better paying ads.
    search engine optimization service $12.28
    search engine optimization cost $11.99
    natural search engine optimization $11.59
    search engine optimization consulting $11.31
    search engine optimization pricing $10.59
    high search engine ranking $10.45
    search engine optimization specalist $10.41
    search engine marketing $10.39
    search engine optimization services $10.09
    search engine optimization specialists $9.84
    internet search engine optimization $9.52
    website optimization $9.34
    professional search engine optimization $9.32
    cheap search engine optimization $9.14
    organic search engine optimization $9.07
    Now, I didn't bother checking competition, but it's easy to assume this is a difficult niche and the higher paying keywords are what everyone is going after.
    Well, now you can potentially sneak into the lower competition slot and get paid for the high dollar clicks.

    It's a good idea to also make sure you don't go overboard with this and are still getting relevant ads.
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  • Profile picture of the author InitialEffort
    I've noticed the targeting function takes a couple days to kick in, I also use this trick too.
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    • Profile picture of the author paulgl
      You are assuming it leads to a better CTR.

      Google does not need your help in discovering what your site is about.
      Targeting some content can be a futile effort.

      Problem is there are adwords customers who buy tons of keywords.
      You can never predict anything. I would never target certain content.
      You are painting yourself into a corner.

      My advice (for what it's worth) is to use all 3 ad blocks. Make one
      image/text and the rest just text. Put 2 near or at the top. The last
      one goes at the very end of your article.

      Putting adsense at the end kind of sounds like a waste of time. Until you
      read google's recommendations. They tell you to put one at the bottom.
      Why? Because when someone reads to the end, they are asking themselves,
      "Where do I go now?" Give em some links!

      Why do you also want to use all 3 blocks? Because sometimes the top ones
      are paid for by adwords biggies. They don't care what your keywords are
      and google doesn't check because they are high rollers. The last ones may
      actually be more targeted.

      Getting better ads takes patience. Over time, your ads will look better.

      Before you target a section, think long and hard.

      Paul
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      If you were disappointed in your results today, lower your standards tomorrow.

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      • Profile picture of the author Jacob Martus
        Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

        You are assuming it leads to a better CTR.

        Google does not need your help in discovering what your site is about.
        Targeting some content can be a futile effort.

        Problem is there are adwords customers who buy tons of keywords.
        You can never predict anything. I would never target certain content.
        You are painting yourself into a corner.

        My advice (for what it's worth) is to use all 3 ad blocks. Make one
        image/text and the rest just text. Put 2 near or at the top. The last
        one goes at the very end of your article.

        Putting adsense at the end kind of sounds like a waste of time. Until you
        read google's recommendations. They tell you to put one at the bottom.
        Why? Because when someone reads to the end, they are asking themselves,
        "Where do I go now?" Give em some links!

        Why do you also want to use all 3 blocks? Because sometimes the top ones
        are paid for by adwords biggies. They don't care what your keywords are
        and google doesn't check because they are high rollers. The last ones may
        actually be more targeted.

        Getting better ads takes patience. Over time, your ads will look better.

        Before you target a section, think long and hard.

        Paul
        Putting an ad block at the bottom of my content created a huge improvement in my adsense income from two sites.

        "Some people" are looking for something else to read after they finish your article. What better than to send them to an advertiser. Ads at the bottom don't always pay that much, but if the ad wasn't there, it would be lost income rather than income at all.

        I never use section targeting. It's never seemed to change much for the relevance or ads that show on my sites. I do however use the competitive ad filter to get rid of irrelevant ads.
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        • Profile picture of the author paulgl
          Yeah I stumbled on that from google by accident.
          I never was one for the search box. But guess where I have them now?

          Paul
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          If you were disappointed in your results today, lower your standards tomorrow.

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      • Profile picture of the author Jeff McGehee
        Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

        You are assuming it leads to a better CTR.
        Not sure who you're responding to, but I don't see anything above regarding CTR.

        Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

        Google does not need your help in discovering what your site is about.
        Targeting some content can be a futile effort.

        I would never target certain content.
        You are painting yourself into a corner.

        Before you target a section, think long and hard.

        Paul
        ...and test...which I have. I can say in some niches it makes no difference. I can also tell you from my experience; in some niches those sites are making almost double. CTR hasn't really changed, but the eCPM has.
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        • Profile picture of the author paulgl
          The whole idea is to improve CTR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

          You think if you are getting 1 low paying click out of 100, then getting
          1 higher paying click out of 100 is an improvement? It's not. You want a good CTR.
          It shows google that your page is spot-on. A spot-on page, over time,
          gets the adsense juice. Patience is a virtue here.

          The whole question is about improving clicks.....via the old relevant ads question.

          The only thing you can really test is placement. The rest is decided by google.

          You have to take what ads you think google gives you and go with it.
          As stated above, you cannot force google to show ads YOU think are relevant.

          I do use the ad filter, but sparingly. For some of the ads, you block 1 and 5 more
          pop up in its place.

          Remember that google places ads not only for content, but the visitor. Those are
          not necessarily in tandem or at war.

          I decided long ago to just sit back and let google choose. Obviously, they have
          done all the research, algorithms, etc. that go into what ads to show. Google
          chooses the ads that get the highest probability of getting a click. What looks
          irrelevant to us, may make perfect sense to a visitor. I tweak the content as
          much as possible.

          You need patience. Which, believe it or not, google tells you. You can monkey
          yourself into oblivion. Your page title should be spot on for your page. Not
          adsense.

          Paul
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          If you were disappointed in your results today, lower your standards tomorrow.

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          • Profile picture of the author Jeff McGehee
            Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

            You think if you are getting 1 low paying click out of 100, then getting
            1 higher paying click out of 100 is an improvement? It's not. You want a good CTR.
            It shows google that your page is spot-on. A spot-on page, over time,
            gets the adsense juice. Patience is a virtue here.
            You assume too much. I am no noob to this, and have tested extensively. So if I have a good CTR and still want to improve earnings I have tried section targeting and it worked for me. But, as I said; it's not in every niche. Is it fiddly? Yes...very...

            One other thing that I do agree with you on fully is that the adsense bot will completely ignore irrelevant section targeting, so you can end up with counterproductive results or no change at all.

            Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

            You need patience. Which, believe it or not, google tells you. You can monkey
            yourself into oblivion. Your page title should be spot on for your page. Not
            adsense.
            Great advice for the noobs. Patience is also required to take the time to test different strategies. You can read forums and blogs all day long, and still not truly know what works and what doesn't. Sorry for giving out advanced tips that have worked for some of my sites, but my low post count shouldn't be mistaken for lack of experience.:p
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          • Profile picture of the author yukon
            Banned
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            • Profile picture of the author paulgl
              Then you actually agree with me and my whole premise of skewing
              this thread. In fact, your post is in direct contradiction to the
              thread-starter.

              What you call testing, I would call content or other tweaking.
              Some stuff we just shut up about.

              I agree that it is up to us to figure out how to get better targeted
              ads. But, again, "better" ads do not lead to a better CTR nor
              revenue. That in and of itself is misleading to state. It takes a whole
              lot more. Maybe you can let us in on some of what you are trying.

              Or just a tease.

              On one domain/subpages that gets huge targeted ads, I actually get HUGE targeted
              traffic. And I use the same title on each page, even though each article is
              on one topic. Using the same title actually goes against G's recommendations, but
              does not destroy the "title" per se, as what each page is really dealing with.

              I don't believe in BH as a label anyway.

              Paul
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              If you were disappointed in your results today, lower your standards tomorrow.

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            • Profile picture of the author Fraggler
              Originally Posted by yukon View Post

              I've done my own testing, & I'm getting the exact Adsense Ad over all pages on my site (that I targeted), without any keywords in the Title tag..
              Don't forget that advertisers can target individual domains and pages. Any good Adwords advertiser will do this and if your site is converting well with a high CTR, the advertiser will make sure they get as much traffic as possible from your site.

              If you can get advertisers directly targeting your site your CTR and eCPM will sky rocket. This is another reason for having a great site that doesn't just funnel visitors off through the first link they see.

              The last thing you want is high paying advertisers blocking your domain from their ads...
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              - Stop Wasting Time & Money on Traffic!
              - You Can't Improve What You Don't Measure
              - Why You Should Create Separate Desktop and Mobile Google Adwords Campaigns
              Connect with me on LinkedIn
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              • Profile picture of the author Jacob Martus
                Originally Posted by Fraggler View Post

                Don't forget that advertisers can target individual domains and pages. Any good Adwords advertiser will do this and if your site is converting well with a high CTR, the advertiser will make sure they get as much traffic as possible from your site.

                If you can get advertisers directly targeting your site your CTR and eCPM will sky rocket. This is another reason for having a great site that doesn't just funnel visitors off through the first link they see.

                The last thing you want is high paying advertisers blocking your domain from their ads...
                Placement targeted ads are very hit or miss in my experience. On one of my sites *cough*, I regularly get placement targeted ads and they almost never get clicks. In fact, looking back over 2000 placement targeted adsense impressions, the placement targeted ads got a grand total of 11 clicks.

                They do pay very very well though, in one case over $2.00.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fraggler
    Jakob Nielsen's site is great for getting your ads in the right spot

    Alertbox: Jakob Nielsen's Newsletter on Web Usability (if you aren't already aware of it).
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    - Stop Wasting Time & Money on Traffic!
    - You Can't Improve What You Don't Measure
    - Why You Should Create Separate Desktop and Mobile Google Adwords Campaigns
    Connect with me on LinkedIn
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  • Profile picture of the author Rashvin
    competitive ad filter to get rid of irrelevant ads. - how do you use it? Any additional tool?
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    [EXPOSED] Craziest WSO Deal EVER! <<< WTF?!
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  • Profile picture of the author InitialEffort
    I use CAD to get rid of ads, sometimes whether through it's your browsing history or just an odd high bidder you get some irrelevant ads. I then just copy the main domain displayed in the ad to get rid of it. This doesn't always work for all the ads because they don't all display a URL.
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  • Profile picture of the author InitialEffort
    Another thing we should maybe lay down is a standard CTR. What exactly do people think is a good CTR? I usually average 10-15% on most sites over a long period of time. My upper limits are usually about 20%.

    *Yes, you can even achieve this on autoblogs. I've bought some autoblogs that have had 1% or less CTR and then turned them to 10%+ with just a template change.

    ----

    On a side note for autobloggers, another important thing is to create a few money pages and try to drive visitors to that page. For example if your website is about Widgets, make a page Best Widgets and then actually take the time to have good content on this page. You'll find that 20-40% of visitors coming into autoblogs will click to this page if you make navigation easy.
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