There’s something to be said for monopolies. Obviously, they’re great when you own one but they have another advantage too.
They make life easier.
They don’t make life better. But they do make life easier.
Just think how much time you’d save if you were to walk into a supermarket and find only one type of bread and one brand of laundry powder and one sort of breakfast cereal. The bread might taste like chalk, the laundry powder might make your clothes dirty and the breakfast cereal might be made of sawdust... but at least it would be easy to decide what to buy.
It doesn’t sound good, does it? Competition might create work for consumers who have to make informed choices but it’s worth it.
That’s as true about contextual ad systems as it is about anything else.
Although Google is still miles ahead of anyone else, it’s not the only company that can put contextualized ads on your website. For the moment I wouldn’t swap AdSense for anything else... but that doesn’t mean I haven’t considered it.
In fact, I consider it all the time. I’m always stopping by at YPN to see what Yahoo! is up to. I make it a habit to look in at Kontera and Chitika to see if they’ve got any new products.
When Intellitxt started putting videos in contextualized ad balloons, my eyes lit up and I rushed over to see what they were doing.
And as soon as eBay and Microsoft started their contextualized ad Betas, I was reading around the Web to find out what they were paying and whether AdSense was about to have a fight on its hands.
So far, I haven’t seen anything to persuade me that I can earn more money with Google’s competition. But I am glad they’ve got some and I make it my business to be certain that every time I decide to stay with Google, that decision is an informed one.
You should do the same thing.
Keep an eye on Google’s competition. Know who they are, follow what they’re doing and understand what they might be able to do for you. It’s possible that one day you might have to make a real choice about your ad supplier.
It's Del.icio.us!
Furl It!
December 11, 2006 11:27 AM
Hi Joel- As a monthly subscriber to your service, I count on you to be my adsense guru--instead of me exploring for myself--I count on you to save me the time and hardship and count on you to lead the way for me to follow. I am not as versed in adsense, contextual ads etc. as you and instead of exploring it on my own since I am a newbie--I would rather have you show me the way and tell me what I need to know.
December 11, 2006 11:36 AM
We tried out YPN a few months ago and the ads were not relevant enough so we changed back to AdSense. Compared to AdSense, the CTR was many times lower but the CPC was a lot better. If YPN ads become more relevant, it may be worth giving them a try again. Anyone have similar experiences?
December 11, 2006 12:38 PM
as a newbie i honestly dont understand what you are talking about or how to follow up on the competetion. i trust that i will be able to cottegt that as i follow you. i would say am greatfulk foe the free blogging gift. keep up what you are doing.
December 11, 2006 02:36 PM
I got a sex education site and google does not allow ads on it. Does anyone know if there are any other networks that allow this.
Thanks
mt
December 11, 2006 06:09 PM
Like Ben, I worked with YPN in the summer for a short period. There were not enough relevant ads showing up. I couldn't afford to continue the test as I was loosing too much money by turning off Adsense and over to Yahoo.
December 11, 2006 06:20 PM
I'm still pretty PO'ed at Adsense for cancelling my account after I began to earn money and not offering any specific reason for doing so. I even appealled and got the same answer 100's of others got. I'd be okay about it if I weren't so careful to avoid any of the no-nos they specified. I can only assume someone violated my site causing the inappropriate clicks. However, Google HAS TO KNOW the IP where those inappropriate clicks originated and on what dates. That should be part of the information they provide to substantiate their dismissal of me. So far they are the most arrogant and rude company I've dealt with in my 40 years in the business world!
December 11, 2006 10:24 PM
Why wouldn't you want to use all the ad sources?
I guess I just do not understand why you cannot use them all.
Patrick
December 12, 2006 11:14 AM
Thanks joel for all the write-up you have been putting out. As it is described, I am a real newbie in this business(internet marketing) and I am soaking up all the teaching from well-grounded practitioners like you. The truth is that I am yet to attain that critical level of knowledge(theoretical and practical) to engage in a credible form of critique of what people like you are saying.
Please, keep up the good work and eventually we will be there and commence participation in the discourse.
December 12, 2006 07:44 PM
What is your opinion of the CPA networks that were really pushed by the "Death of Adsense" promotion? As I understand it, CPA's are (usually) paying a far higher rate than Google Adsense contextual ads. Especially now that they've restructured their fee structure. Or am I missing (or not being told) something?
March 25, 2008 11:09 AM
Google Adsense still does not show related ads on my site. I have a site for South Asians. Ads for Black, East Asian, Greek, Italian, Lesbian and other unrelated ads are displayed.