We've been listening to your comments on our new ad management feature, and so we're excited to tell you about a few updates that stem directly from your requests:

• You can now view the ID number associated with a specific custom channel by visiting the 'Channels' link under the 'AdSense Setup' tab. Many of you told us that you needed these channel ID numbers for ad management programs you're using. We've added this information to your account since it no longer appears in your ad code.

• Any ad units generated within the last 7 days that haven't yet received any impressions will now be listed as 'New', rather than 'Active', in your status column. This should help avoid confusion about your newest ad units and those already appearing on your pages.
  
  
• You can now view the most recent date when each of your ad units was updated. Please note that these dates aren't retroactive, so any ad units you generated or edited before this display change will show a last-edited date of November 1st, 2007.
  
  
• We're starting to slowly roll out the manage ads feature for your referral units. Just as with AdSense for content units, you'll soon be prompted to enter names for your newly generated referral units. If you'd like to make changes to your referral units at a later time, you can visit the 'Manage Ads' page. In the 'Content' column of this page, your referral units will display 'Referrals:' followed by the products or category of products being referred.

It doesn't end here, though -- we've got a few more enhancements planned for the Manage Ads feature in the next few weeks, so keep checking back for more updates. In the meantime, please continue sending your suggestions our way.

After months of testing, we've just updated our text ad format to include 'next' and 'previous' arrow buttons for cost-per-click (CPC) ads. When a user clicks on the 'next' button, an entirely new group of ads will appear in the ad unit, giving your users greater control over the ads they see and click.

While the ads the user initially sees may be relevant to a publisher's content, they may not be precisely what the user is seeking -- for example, a user may see ads about cheddar and brie cheese but would prefer more information about Swiss cheese. With the 'next' and 'previous' buttons, users can view more cheese ads until a Swiss cheese ad appears.


You won't generate earnings for clicks on the 'next' and 'previous' buttons, but these buttons will help improve both advertiser value and your potential revenue. When users click on the buttons, they begin interacting with the ads and are more likely to find the specific offering they're looking for, which can lead to higher earnings for you.

Is it even possible to see any legitimate trends in your Adsense reports? I was just thinking about this after reading another blog entry about Adsense fluctuations. That article pointed out the huge differences us publishers see on a DAILY basis!

I mean, if you just start out and make a few cents a day, you’ll see an upward trend if you add 100 more good sites. And if you get banned from Google, well, you’ll sure see an abrupt downward trend! But for the most part, it seems like Google gives us random figures!

I’m not exactly complaining about Adsense, but doesn’t it just make you wonder?

We think it's important for all publishers, both new and veteran, to understand the role they play in our ad network ecosystem. While AdSense is designed for publishers to monetize their websites with Google ads, it's also designed to extend the reach for our AdWords advertisers, providing them with ad real estate whose value is close to that on Google Search results.

If your website performs well for advertisers, there may be increased competition among them to fill your ad spaces. This means we'd have a wider variety of possible ads to display, so the ads you see on your site may be more relevant to your site content and your users' interests. This may lead to more clicks from your users, more placement-targeted campaigns geared towards your site, and increased advertiser bids. Overall, you're likely to earn more revenue with your site if advertisers are generating conversions and receiving quality leads from your site.

On the other hand, if your website performs poorly for advertisers, they may be less inclined to display on your site. This means that the ads our system displays on your site may not be as relevant to your site content and your users' interests, leading to fewer clicks and decreased advertiser bids. As a result, you're likely to earn less revenue with your site if advertisers are performing poorly.

To maximize the value for advertisers displaying on your site, we recommend focusing on developing a high-quality site with original content that's valuable to your users. For more information, please consult our program policies and Webmaster Quality Guidelines for reference.

The latest news from Google Adsense is that you should NOT be aggressively blending your ads.

They give you a couple examples, and it goes without saying that some Adsense placements I’ve shown you before fall under these restrictions!

But as long as you aren’t using these tactics, you should be fine.

[Via WhyDoWork]

P.S. Make sure your Privacy Policy is updated, too.

I totally forgot to mention this crap that if you run Adsense, you have to add a long Privacy Policy to your site or else you’ll be breaking Google’s TOS. Instead of complying with these new terms, I decided to remove Adsense from quite a few of my sites…

But if you want to keep Adsense and be in compliance, here are a few good links:

www.jensense.com/2008/02/26/tracked…adsense/

www.jensense.com/2008/03/05/adsense…use/

http://techtites.com/2008/03/08/privacy-policy/

http://www.techspikes.com/privacy-policy/

“Do you still think it’s possible to make living on Adsense?”

“It sure is!” says Jay Young, who put together a package of adsense background images, aptly named Adsense Backgrounds. They are claimed to be a “click thru booster,” and they quite possibly could be.

Yeah, they could be, but why is this such a big deal? I’ve seen this technique used before, and it is pretty sweet, but it’s not a miracle. I’ll go as far as to say I like the idea. But I don’t care for the idea of selling a huge package of these images like you see at adsensebackgrounds.com.

Why not?

Because once people have them, they will become extremely annoying. You will start seeing the same images on all sorts of sites. So for any publishers who have been doing this for a while, they will get screwed. All so this Jay Young guy can make some money.

The concept is great, but not this execution. People will soon become immune to these images just like they became immune to banner ads.

Remember, give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime. (In other words, don’t give out the background images, just share the concept behind them.)

Now I’m not necessarily saying not to buy them, I’m just saying it’s not the greatest way to spend $67. You’re probably better off doing what I plan to do…

And that is, just wait for these to get real popular, then make my own ad backgrounds that are different than the ones out there (from this package) used by hundreds of sites.

P.S. Did anyone catch the poor grammar in that first line I quoted?

These days, since Adsense no longer allows images beside ads, you have to innovate and put the images behind the ads! (I mentioned this before, but this is the real deal.)

Better do it now though, because you never know when Adsense will change their terms.

If you’re looking for free Adsense backgrounds, there is only one place to go - AdClustr. I almost hesitate to mention the site, just because I’d rather keep their advice all to myself!

I think AdClustr is the perfect example of Web 2.0 + Useful Information. One of the first times I’ve seen the two combined. The best part is obviously the free Adsense backgrounds. They give you the image, the XHTML and CSS code for your site, and the Adsense color scheme!

Want some examples? Try these:

http://adclustr.com/example/?i=29
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=298
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=251
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=226
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=289
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=292
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=192
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=194
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=196
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=210
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=187
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=180
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=179
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=161
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=163
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=169
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=116
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=92
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=71
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=81
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=106
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=112
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=45
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=35
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=43
http://adclustr.com/example/?i=14

Pretty nice, huh?

They even have some great posts, too, like Adsense placement reviews. My favorites were Ad Integration by CSSIMPORT.com and Ad Integration by GOODWIDGETS.com. And of course, Why Pay for Adsense Backgrounds?

Normally I wouldn’t give such a glowing review even if I got paid for it, but I just love this site! Take a look, you won’t regret it.

I found a blog entry from earlier this summer full of Adsense tips from someone who supposedly did very well with Adsense. The blog author apparently just stumbled into this mystery man who was very successful with Adsense and decided to share his tips. It could have been a “guru” or some random guy on the street, but he didn’t want his identity revealed.

However, he shared plenty of tips, so let’s dissect this article to see if he knows his stuff…

Adsense outperforms affiliate programs

The first thing we learn is that this dude sucks at promoting affiliate programs. If Adsense outperforms affiliate programs, sorry, but that’s pathetic. I guess it could depend on the site, but if you actually promote the affiliate program instead of using crappy banner ads, affiliate programs should outperform Adsense by far.

Ad placement

This sounds good. Put some rectangles in your content so the text wraps around it, yep, I do that a lot myself. Limit your ads, yep, you don’t want to display the cheap ads.

Ad design

Match the colors to your site, yep, pretty good here as well.

Alternating colors, yep, very good tip to prevent ad blindness.

Targeting ads

Mention the product on the page, yeah, basic stuff. How else are you going to target the ads?

However, I’ve never noticed improvements by using Google’s “ad section” crap.

Long-term strategy

This is definitely flawed…

If every page you make raises just $.04 per day from the time the page ranks and you put up 5 pages per day you’ll raise your income $.20 per day. With 365 days in a year you’ll make $73.00 more per day!

If a page makes 4 cents a day and you add 5 pages, you still make 4 cents. You won’t get 20 cents unless you bring in more traffic. That 4 cent click you got also meant that the visitor left your site…

Defense

Gotta disagree again here. Several “not much” sites will cause you to be overworked and annoyed and not get anywhere long term. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

You’re probably better off with a flagship site and defensible traffic.

Build a good site and don’t get too concerned about updates.

For example, how many big sites get wiped out all at once from some little update? I can’t think of any…

Squidoo got a spam penalty from Google recently. Whoopity doo, their Alexa rank is still under 500. I think they’re doing fine, maybe even better (since they’re cracking down on spammers.)

When Google puts more work into banning link exchanges, what will happen to all your puny sites that only got indexed thanks to link exchanges?

Don’t work with partners.

It’s true that working with partners can lead to disputes and trouble, but how many big businesses have only one person? Johnny Cupcakes is big and run mostly by John, but he still has help keeping things operating smoothly.

Link building

Get one way links. Really? That’s priceless advice. How do you suggest new little sites get lots of one-way links?

Maybe that can be the subject of your next article??

“Make a good helpful site: don’t pull tricks and you’ll get there.”

OK, that’s a good way for him to sum things up.

Overall the article is worth a read, especially if you’re new to Adsense. Even if you know your stuff, you might get an idea from it, but don’t expect much. Just don’t take this guy’s advice when it comes to affiliate marketing!

For each and every “how to make money with Adsense” ebook, there is some exorbitant earnings claim. Something like “I went from pennies a day to $500 a day with Adsense.” There has to be a claim like that, because not even a gullible newbie would buy Skyrocket Your Adsense Earnings From $0.03 to $0.05 In Just Six Months!

But what kind of techniques are these “gurus” teaching you?

Are they telling you to blend your Adsense ads?

Google recommends that you make the ads look nice and fit in with your color scheme, but they explicitly state that you cannot make the ads look like the site’s navigation. You also cannot label them anything other than “Sponsors” or “Advertisements.”

So I’m going to reveal the mystery guru behind that site I talked about…

It’s none other than Joel Comm, the Adsense guru himself. And the site is DealofDay.

It seems that the author of What Google Never Told You About Making Money with AdSense could also write What Google Never Told You About Enforcement of Adsense Policies. I guess either title makes sense, but I’ve never read the book, so I can’t say for sure.

But none of that matters, because today I’ll reveal the techniques used by this guru in real life. (Which might be the secrets that Google never told you… and chances are, Joel Comm never gave out these secrets either…)

Site 1: World Village
URL: http://worldvillage.com