Is Google AdSense testing out new formats again? Folks at Technospot spotted a different AdSense block on the blog and this time, it’s nothing to do with positioning, instead, it’s a different font.

We all know AdSense allows ads customization. Publishers get to change the ad text colors but never the font type. A large rectangular AdSense block with Comic Sans font type was displayed earlier in Technospot today. Comic Sans is amongst standard font type that most platforms will have. Other examples of font type that can be properly displayed cross platforms are Arial, Helvetica, Georgia, Century Gothic, etc.

Is this a sign that Google AdSense will allow font type customization in future? Well, if they do it’d certainly be something really interesting. Imagine a blog using Georgia throughout with AdSense blocks using Georgia font type – a perfect blend. There’s no news yet from folks at Google AdSense, but we’ll be watching.

We know most of the AdSense earnings usually came from contributed by organic (search engine) visitors. So will AdSense in feeds help and how likely will regular feed readers click on Ads? I think it’s definitely a new source for income, but doubt it will contribute much.

As I was running through some old articles, I noticed my AdSense large rectangular unit showing something rather odd. There’s total of 4 ads in grid of 2×2 format. It looks weird at first, but if Google were to confirm this format, I think there’s a lot of potential of blending this style. Notice that the ‘Ads by Google’ on only appears on the bottom right; that makes the 1 column’s ad units look really like content. With good placement, this unit can certainly blend well.

I’ve personally confirmed with few bloggers and they all are experiencing the same delay in statistics. And thanks to Jeetblog for showing me the Jensense report on this matter.

Updates #1

There have been an update to the statistics, but I don’t think it’s the latest. Anyway, Google’s Help Center reports that the engineers are aware and working on it. Earnings will not be affected. Thanks Kay.

When Google acquires Feedburner, the first good news they brought was turning Feedburner Pro free but the other good news bloggers all been waiting for – Google AdSense in feeds was nowhere near. There are rumors about webmasters getting invitation to test AdSense in RSS feeds, but we weren’t sure if those were real. Official Feedburner blog wrote an entry recently and it is kinda hinting that Google AdSense in feeds will be likely to happen soon.

One of the paragraph wrote something like this:

Following on the footsteps of this account migration, FeedBurner will start to look and feel more like a set of Google services, and we will be completing much tighter integration into other Google services such as Google AdSense. (If you are a feed advertiser, don’t worry: we have some happy surprises coming for you as well, and if you are an advertiser who is not yet a feed advertiser, you too shall be blessed with good fortune.)

If this happens, it’s certainly another source of income, particularly for blogs with large feed readership. However I doubt it’ll be a good conversion rate. I mean, if regular readers don’t click on the AdSense on your blog, what makes a feed reader will? IMHO, CPM ads will be far more interesting :-)

The acquisition on Feedburner by Google first make the feeds counter service totally free, then comes the anticipated Google AdSense in feeds. The function had been announced single-sided from Feedburner since November 2007, but has it likely implemented?

Lilian’s recent post somehow reminded me, and come to think of it I’ve haven really seen any AdSense on feeds yet. This Feedburner feature only allows publishers to insert Google AdSense in between blog post with Feedburner, but for inserting Google Adsense in feed, still no luck. It really seems kinda weird because as a family of the Google products, Feedburner is only opening an option for us to add AdSense between blog post (which I can easily handled with Wordpress’s index.php).

Will there be Google AdSense on Feeds?

I’d certainly think so. Here’s a reply Jazer of Feedburner team gave to a user who complained about no AdSense on blog feed:

Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2008 12:57 pm

I’m sorry for any trouble you’re having with our initial AdSense integration. Just to be clear, at this point the service is only for AdSense ads on your web site. We can’t currently insert AdSense ads into your feed. But we’re working on it :-)

Folks at AdSense is probably trying out something new on AdSense again. Moments ago, there were these 2 tiny button (up, down) at the bottom of my AdSense block. On click, it swaps the entire block with fresh new set of ads, AJAX style.

I also noticed 2 different button styles here on hongkiat.com; white arrows with a background, as well as colored arrows with no background.

Here’s something new about Google AdSense according to blogoscoped – Google has just redefined the clickable areas within an AdSense block. Current clickable areas of AdSense will now be shrink down to only areas very near to the ad title and URL, behaving very much like text hyperlinks instead of the large rectangular clickable area.

By shrinking down the clickable region, it is definitely going to reduce a lot of accidental clicks. Folks at AdSense no longer need to analyst that much of accidental-click reports submitted by publishers. Also expect a slight decrease in earnings after this is implemented, so far it’s still showing the AdSense with old large rectangular clickable area here in hongkiat.com

AdSense blog mentioned about Referral 2.0 28th June 2007 but it wasn’t really make available for me until yesterday. First impression on Referral 2.0, a lot of referral ads!

Here are the key benefits of Referral 2.0 directly pull from google’s blog.

• Expanded product inventory: While many of you have had success referring one of our Google products, some of you weren’t able to find a product that fit the context of your site. Referrals 2.0 offers products from thousands of AdWords advertisers, so you can find the right ads for your sites.
• Category and keyword targeting: With thousands of products available, it can be difficult to decide which ads will perform best on your site. That’s why we give you the option to refer products by category and keyword. You can narrow down the types of ads you want to display and let AdSense figure out which ones will perform best on your site. Whether you want ads for a specific category, advertiser, or product, referrals 2.0 will give you the control to decide.
• Ad unit optimization: It can be tricky picking the best ads for your site, so we’ve included ad unit optimization for referrals. When you create a new referral ad unit, simply select the Pick best performing ads option. We’ll then compare your selected ads to other relevant ads, and serve the ads we expect to perform best on your site.
• Better targeting for pages with multiple themes: With standard contextual targeting, ads may not match up directly with the text around them if there are a number of themes on the page. With referrals, you can select unique “keywords” for each ad unit to narrow the targeting directly to the theme you want. Better targeting means higher earnings for your site.
• Greater compensation for high-quality traffic: Since referrals are paid on a cost-per-action (CPA) basis, your traffic matters. If the traffic you send to advertisers is more likely to turn into a completed sale or lead, you will earn more with referrals.
• Add your seal of approval: Unlike AdSense for content ads, our program policies allow you to make specific references to referral ads on your site. If you endorse the product that you are referring, feel free to let your users know. By adding your personal review of the products you refer, you can help your users make more informed choices.

Insert Referrals 2.0 into blog/websites

Google made Referral 2.0 navigates like a shopping cart, so it is really easy to understand even for a first timer. There are tones of categories to choose from, it advisable to gran only those that matches your niche and add category to cart.

Click on view product if you would like to see what these products are. Take a look at Performance on Network on the right side. It gives you ideas which amongst are performing good and likely to convert traffic for money. Chances are you will see most as NEW! Since Referral 2.0 is new.

Click on the product itself to see what ads you are getting and how much you are getting paid for each action. You can even make sure only some specific ads shows on your website but it will not always work if you have the Pick best performing ads checkbox clicked.

Click continue until you get the codes and have them inserted inside your website and you are done.

Here’s how a referral ad will look like:

Verdict

Referral 2.0 gives publishers a lot of option; from choosing categories of ads until optimizing to choose which performs best and display them on websites. Its also contextual, therefore from my point of view, its more likely to convert to clicks compare to images.

However Referral 2.0 is still CPA (Cost per Action) ads. It requires actions (which likely to be purchasing) before one can earn from it. Unlike CPC ads, you earn per click but of course not as much as CPA. I’ve scanned through some of the payouts of these different referral products, they pay are not bad. Say if you earn 10cent from CPC, you probably earn 100x more from a successful CPA.

I think I already have enough ads on my page. The tricky part now is how give referral 2.0 a good spot yet don’t kill user experience.

Squared Corners

Slightly Rounder Corners

Very Rounded Corners

You can tweak these styles under Corner Styles in AdSense Setup tab. Borders with rounded corners definitely gives the ad a fresher look. It might help increase CTR too, depending on where you placed them on your site. As for me, I’ll prefer to stick with borderless. It does best for me. Read more about these formats here.

Publishers to ensure good user experience

Joining Adwords advertisers, AdSense publishers now need to follow the Page Quality Guidelines to maintain good user experience navigating your website. Here’s a quote from AdSense blog:

However you advertise your site, it can always benefit from significant and relevant content, clear navigation, and the other points in our quality guidelines.

AdSense allows 3 link units per page

It was one, now AdSense allows 3. This should be an exciting news for publishers. Now you need to see how you can add more ads, but still maintain good user experience.

Thanks for the heads up, Ashish

Here’s more reading on Google disabling arbitrage publishers

• Jensense – Google AdSense disabling arbitrage publisher accounts as of June 1st
• Labnol – Google AdSense Adwords Arbitrage
• Marketing Pilgrim – AdSense Disabling Arbitrage & MFA Accounts
• Shoemoney – AdSense Arbitrage – Just the Facts

Wednesday 25/04/2007: When I was logging into Google AdSense I notice a change in the interface. It looks more fresher and informative but my second login attempt probably few hours later, it was reverted back to its original. Is AdSense doing some testing again? Have you seen this page before?

Updates #1: Here’s the direct URL to new Google AdSense interface.

our system will automatically analyze your account and ad settings. Based on these findings, you’ll receive a notification each month in your AdSense account if there are changes you can make to improve your overall AdSense performance.

This is something really thoughtful of Adsense. IMO, if it’s a optimization tips from the house itself it won’t go wrong.

You may already be using AdSense referrals to direct your users to Google products like Google Pack (aff) or Google AdWords (aff) . Now, you can expand the earning potential of your website even further by directing users to products and services from our base of AdWords advertisers.

I scanned through a little and noticed that this is Cost per Action (CPA) ads. This means, you will have to direct readers to perform something before you can get paid. Here’s what Adsense says

With referrals, you’ll be paid when your visitors click through to an advertiser’s site and complete an action defined by your advertisers, such as a sale or sign up. Because these actions are often more involved than a simple click or impression, advertisers pay more for these referrals, which can translate into higher earnings for your site. Further, you’ll see the expected earnings and advertiser performance ahead of time, so you can make the best decisions about what to refer. You can also choose to target the keywords that will ensure you get the highest-paying referrals for your ad space.

And with a little graphic illustration from Adsense to understand AdSense Referrals (beta) better

This feature is currently available on a limited basis, so Sign up now! Read a more complete review on Adsense Referrals beta.

Thanks Ashish for alerting me on this. Saw your text the first in the morning. (I rush this entry before even brushing my teeth and stuff :P)

I’ve been receiving a lot of image ads in my Adsense (flash ads too!) lately. Image ads don’t really contribute much to CTR but if the image is as attractive as this one, chances are people will still click them. Do you have interesting image Adsense in your site lately?

Updates #01: Another cute ad from Aniboom, this time it appears as a video Google ads.

During the havoc that almost crashes my site a catchy banner caught my attention. Suddenly I realized I do not have such banners on my website. Initially I thought it was just a Adsense 468×60 Banners with graphics but it was actually more. Its a flash banners. I must confess this is my first time seeing Google Adsense 468×60 banner with Flash Ads. With Google Adsense continuously testing their ads display with italic text, shopping carts icons, I’m excited to see what’s more to come.

News from the Adsense crew today said they will be inserting the Google Shopping Cart icon alongside with Adsense. Ads with these icons means you can shop with the specific advertiser using Google Checkout.

Google Adsense Team has just revised the pricing for referrals in both Adsense and Adwords program, making these programs more rewarding.

Adsense Referrals

• When a publisher who signed up for Google AdSense through your referral earns their first $5 within 180 days of sign-up, you will be credited with $5.
• When that same publisher earns $100 within 180 days of sign-up and is eligible for payment, you will be credited with an additional $250.
• If, in any 180-day period, you refer 25 publishers who each earn more than $100 within 180 days of their respective sign-ups and are all eligible for payout, you will be awarded a $2,000 bonus (bonus payouts are limited to 1 per year).

Adwords Referrals

• When an advertiser you refer spends $5 within 90 days of sign-up (in addition to the $5 sign-up fee) you will be credited with $5.
• When that same advertiser spends $100 within 90 days of sign-up, you will be credited with an additional $40.
• If, in any 180 day period, you refer 20 advertisers who each spend more than $100 within 90 days of their respective sign-ups, you will be awarded a $600 bonus (bonus payments are limited to 1 per year).

Misc.

These rules will also apply to users that you have already referred but who have not yet reached one of the new earning/spend thresholds. For example, if you referred an AdSense publisher who has currently earned $2.00, you will be paid $5.00 if that publisher reaches the $5.00 mark. But, if you have referred an AdSense publisher who has already earned $10.00, you will not be paid $5.00 retroactively for that referral reaching the $5.00 mark. However, should that publisher eventually reach the $100.00 earnings mark within 180 days, you will be paid $250.00.

via inside adsense