Connected Internet

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Google Adsense Now Permits 3 Ad Link Units

June 11th, 2007 • Related • Filed Under

Google Adsense may be many bloggers’ best friend, but their communication is pretty poor. I’ve been using Google Adsense for nearly 2 years now, and I’ve never received a newsletter or an update.Â Instead, I have to rely on the blogosphere for news.

The latest change to Google Adsense’s TOS is that 3 Ad Link units can now be used on one page rather than one (no changes to the number of normal Adsense units that can be used). I don’t currently use any Ad Link units, but I might give them another go.

I removed mine when I started removing Adsense units when I first learnt about Smart Pricing, although I’m not sure if Adsense Ad Link units are included as part of the Smart Pricing calculations. I’m guessing not, so I’m going to add a test unit this week.

Does anyone generate a significant proportion of their adsense income through Ad Link units? Any suggestions as to where to add one to Connected Internet?

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About the Author

Everton is based in London and has worked in the internet and mobile space for over ten years now, and before that worked in corporate strategy and consulting. He has a degree in Economics from Cambridge University, and currently runs the Portal and online operations for one of the largest ISPs in the UK. He also writes for Windows 7 News.

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There Are 8 Responses So Far. »

#1

Comment by Eric Giguere on 11 June 2007:

Yes, it’s one thing Google could probably do better. They have a messages feature in the AdSense console now, but you really have to pay attention to the Inside AdSense blog to learn about the important stuff.
#2

Comment by km on 11 June 2007:

Putting a lot of ads Link unit will effect the value cost of the link.
#3

Comment by km on 11 June 2007:

Does the value of the ads link will be decrease if putting a lot of the ads link in one pages
#4

Comment by TechBharat on 11 June 2007:

Link Units have never been my favorites because of the following reasons:-
1) Placing it on the header - may appear to be ‘tricking’
2) Needs 2 real clicks to monetize
3) Some users when shown a Link filled page after the first unit-link click, may consider the site to be spammy.
4) Can act as a major exit-point for visitors.
#5

Comment by Yael on 11 June 2007:

From my experience in other sites the link units perform poorly (eCPM wise) compared to the normal adsense ads.
#6

Comment by Geert Wilders on 11 June 2007:

IMO Google Ad Link Units aren’t very profitable. I mean when people even click on them, they have to click on a Google ad again (which most users will exit soon) to let the webmaster make some money.
#7

Comment by Eric Giguere on 11 June 2007:

Do link units descrease in value the way ad units do? That’s a good question and I need to investigate that. I suspect the answer is “no” because there’s no explicit ordering in the link units like there is in the ad units.

As for whether or not link units perform well, it really depends on the site. In general, though, I’ve found horizontal link units to vastly outperform the vertical ones. So you need to try different things and see what works for your site/layout.
#8

Comment by Everton on 11 June 2007:

That wasn’t the actual question I was asking Eric, but it’s a valid one. I’m guessing probably not as link units don’t actually link directly to ads, but to matching keywords that then display pages of ads.

I removed my link unit because it was doing thousands of impressions with no clicks and I didn’t want to risk that it was bringing down the CPM of my high CTR units because of Smart Pricing.