Archive for Google
March 11, 2008 at 10:05 pm · Filed under Search Engines, Technology, Money, Google, Miscellaneous
Over the past few days I have noticed some major changes in the rankings of several of my websites. Typically, a google update may move my rankings around slightly however these recent changes were drastic.
One of my sites which has been ranked #5 for it’s best keyword for over 6 months, suddenly dropped to the 10th page. Conversely, one of my sites which didn’t rank in the top 10 pages for it’s best keyword suddenly jumped to the top of the second page.
This is just an example of what some of my sites have done over the past 2 days. Others have remained in their same position but these are mainly sites which are ranked in the top 1-3 positions.
I am hoping this is not in fact the “new” google algorithm in action but just a small hiccup. If it is the algorithm change then my better quality sites are in trouble as the site which was dropped to page 10 is a very informative, well coded, well optimized site with unique content while the one which rose in position is very new and has few quality back links.
Now, if it were only my sites seeing changes then we could just write it off as an error on our part however there are more and more threads appearing at the major webmaster forums including forums.digitalpoint.com and sitepoint.com.
There are a lot of theories floating around as to how the algorithm has changed or if the algorithm has changed. I believe it has but only google knows.
I am trying to compile as much information as possible from those who have been effected either positively or negatively. If you have seen some changes in ranking please comment.
March 3, 2007 at 4:19 am · Filed under Adsense, Google, Miscellaneous
The sheer number of MFA (made for Adsense) sites has been causing a rapid decline in adsense earnings for the rest of us for some time.
The problem isn;t that these pseudo sites exist it’s the PPC advertising using Adwords which is influencing the EPC in a large number of niches and growing.
If you don’t understand here is a brief summary of how this is negatively impacting EPC.
Lets use truck parts as the niche.
MFA site is set up with articles and/or information about truck parts and uses adsense for monetization.
MFA owner then sets up an adsense campaign for search and content.
Advertiser bids $.01 - $.05 per click for a large list of keywords. Higher bids depending on the ROI.
Advertisers ads appear on sites in the same genre.
MFA site makes money from the adwords traffic.
EPC drops for legitimate sites monetizing using adsense.
At some point this tactic is going to run it’s course and the methods used to increase an MFA’s adsense revenue is going to cause their own sites to suffer.
Using the blacklist feature in your adsense account can help to prevent some of these sites from showing up however the MFA’s have already figured out ways around the filters by changing the URLs of their sites on a regular basis or even rotating the urls.
Since the blacklist feature only allows for 200 urls there is no way to blacklist every new MFA site.
Is it time for Google Adwords to increase the minimum bid to $.05? This would get rid of a lot of MFA advertisers and at least guarantee a couple of cents per click as opposed to those penny a click ads.
December 24, 2006 at 10:36 pm · Filed under Adsense, Digg, Blogging, Google, Miscellaneous
No this is not a new e-book I am publishing. This is free information I am providing to my readers to help them learn how to make more via Yahoo Publisher Network and Adsense.
The first thing I want to make clear is that this blog does not have much to do with my earnings. In fact it is a very small percentage. Although some of the information I am about to present can be applied to blogs it is not specific to blogs.
I have been using Adsense since 2003 and YPN for the past year. I made a lot of mistakes in the begining as I’m sure most have but through trial and error everything has fallen into place.
Let’s get started.
First, there are certain tools within adsense which many people are not familiar with so I will begin by touching on these and how you can immediately increase revenue in a couple of short steps.
Competitive ad filer
Google provides a tool within your adsense account called the “competitive ad filter”. This is where you can add the URLs of your competitors so that their ads will not appear on your site. This can also be used to add sites which display RON (Run of Network) ads. These are the ads which pay out ridiculously low amounts per click. In many cases these low paying ads lead to MFA (Made For Adsense) sites. In a perfect world we would be able to click a radio button and opt out of these low paying ads or even request that Adsense not publish ads with a RPM (Revenue Per Click) of less than an amount we select however this probably will never happen.
So how do you figure out which ads to filter? How do you know if the ads being published on your site are leading to MFA sites?
If you are using IE6 there is a preview tool which you can install on your toolbar. Don’t click on the ads to find out where they resolve. You can right click on the link and see where the ad leads. Then strip out all of the code leaving you with the sites url. This is the old school way of doing it but now there are a bunch of sites updating the newest low paying URLs. One that I use is Ads Blacklist. It is definitely a great resource.
Now you know how to get rid of some of the lower paying ads. Now let’s talk about where to place them.
Ad Placement
Obviously, you want your visitors to notice your ads. If they don’t then odds are they won’t click on them. Until recently publishers used small images near or next to Adwords ads attract attention. Google has now amended their terms and have disallowed this practice.
Other ways to get your ads noticed are to place them where the visitors are pre disposed to look. The top left of a page, where websites traditionally have there navigation is a great start.
In content is the next place you should have ads. As visitors make their way through your content there is a good chance they will be interested in the topical ads contained therein.
The middle of the right column of a page usually won’t perform as well as the aforementioned positions however depending on your sites layout this is another option.
These are just examples of ad placement and it truly depends on your sites layout. It takes a little time but I highly recommend trying the ads in different places. It can make a HUGE difference in your earnings.
Presentation
Next the ad presentation is important. Blending the ads so they look like they belong on your site is a good idea. Keep the colors inline with the sites design and the size of the ads similar to other images or content.
If you have a site with a lot of images it is a good idea to use image ads. If you have video test out googles video ads. If you have a lot of links use google link units.
Ok so we have most of the basics out of the way so now lets get to the good stuff.
Statistics and Tracking
Let’s assume you have determined where your ads need to be to receive the best CTR. Now we need to get people to your site to generate some clicks and some revenue.
First get all of your statistical information together. Find the following in your adsense account: Your average CTR, the EPC (earnings per click) and eCPM (earnings per thousand page views).
Then check your sites stats to see the average number of page views per unique visitor.
If you find that you are earning 50 cents per click and your eCPM is $16 and you average 5 page views per unique visitor we know that you need 12.5 unique visitors on average to earn $1 in revenue. (1000/eCPM/pageviews = Uniques needed per $). This is some good preliminary information.
Now we need to find some targeted traffic.
Finding Targeted Traffic
Acquiring “natural” traffic through organic links in search engines, directories and through link exchanges is the best way to get traffic. Let’s face it it’s relatively inexpensive and the quality is excellent. Although this is the best way to get traffic it can also be very time consuming and time is money. I do suggest though that you build links and submit to directories and search engines. It will help you in the long run if not sooner.
So we need to start generating traffic via other methods to increase the revenue.
The first and most logical place to start our search is PPC advertising programs and we’ll begin with Google Adwords.
If you don’t already have an account register at Adwords and set one up.
Make a list of all of the keywords associated with your site. Add all of the keywords into your account.
Now it is time to set your maximum bid per keyword. Since we know it will take 12.5 unique visitors on average to generate $1 in revenue we need to set the keyword maximum bids so that we are making, not losing money.
Using the example the maximum we can pay per click is $.08 to break even. Of course we don’t want to break even so we will cut it in half and set the maximum bids to $.04.
You will notice that with the keywords and the low bids it looks like there won’t be much traffic. So we need to add some more keywords. Don’t worry they will be just as targeted.
Finding “other” keywords
Typos are a fantastic source of inexpensive, targeted Adwords traffic. The traffic is just as good as that of the typo’d keyword. For instance someone is attempting to search google for “widgets” and accidently types in “wdgets”. The cost of your Adwords per click for the typo will be less than that of the intended keyword.
You can try and brainstorm potential typos but to make it easy here is a site which will return typos for words you enter, sTypo. Once you have your list of typos add them into your Adwords account and bid on them.
Other Advertising Networks
Adwords is a good place to start however YPN is another great place to advertise as well as MSN’s new program. There are also a ton of ad networks floating around the net including Adbrite among others.
Back to Tracking
I know the tracking part is boring but it is the most important part of any advertising campaign. You need to know that you are in fact making money and you need to know immediately!
Compare your advertising campaigns against your earnings. Be sure your revenue outweighs your advertising expenses. If your revenue is at least 20% more you are on the right track and you need to think about increasing your advertising budget. The bottom line is the more you spend the more you will earn. The increased traffic may also help your site in other ways including alexa rank and page rank.
Once you have realized a positive cash flow you have unlocked the secret to earning a ridiculous amount of money.
In Closing
I wanted to talk a little about my earnings. To some it may seem like a large amount but truly my revenue is tiny compared to that of my peers. I have more than one associate making over $1000 per day. It seems almost impossible but it is not. In fact it is more or less common sense and a good knowledge of how Adsense and YPN work combined with some marketing knowledge.
Anyone who’s making good money with adsense and has a good eCPM can increase their earnings significantly. I am proof of that.
Even the smallest site is a potential goldmine!
I wish I had the time to go into further detail but I figured I’d start with the most importan principles. I will post more info as I have time so stay tuned.
Good luck and feel free to post some of your success stories!
December 21, 2006 at 11:53 pm · Filed under Digg, Adsense, Blogging, Geek Tech, Google, Miscellaneous
googles change in the TOC sends showckwaves through the publisher community!
The image is an example of images used in violation of googles new rules. Among publishers the use of images next to google adsense ads is a well known method to increase CTR. The recent change was on every relevant forum within an hour.
How is this going to effect you and your earnings? For me it will certainly decrease the CTR on some of my sites. Will this mean a max exodus to the Yahoo! Publisher Network among US publishers? This is a distinct possibility.
Read about these changes on the google adsense blog
December 1, 2006 at 10:43 am · Filed under Blogging, Google
I’ve had a long week so please forgive me if this just comes out as some kind of cranky rant, but I need to get it off my shoulders.
StatCounter seems to have gone down the drain for me over the past two weeks. The stats are completely wrong and I’ve been able to prove it several times during the two weeks of frustration.
First, there are the discrepancies between Statcounter and other statistical tools. Now this is nothing new. We all know that tools like awstats and similar tools have had issues with being accurate, but the last two weeks have been extreme.
It started when Google analytics and awstats were showing close to the same thing, but Statcounter would be off by several hundred visits a day per site. I found this to be a bit odd, but at first I actually believed Statcounter over Google and awstats. According to Statcounter the traffic was significantly lower than what Google and awstats were showing.
I was faithful to Statcounter until last Monday when it became clear the stat counter just wasn’t doing its job. I used a political blog that doesn’t get a lot of traffic to run some tests on. Once again, Statcounter was off by about 120 unique IP’s.
Then, this morning I had four new registrations on another blog (I have a lot of subscribers on my political blogs) and Statcounter is showing that the site has received ZERO visits today. These registrations took place more than 8 hours ago, yet Statcounter shows nothing. How can that be?
I just don’t know what to believe anymore. It’s quite frustrating to be honest.
Anyone else having issues?
Technorati Tags: Google, Awstats, Statcounter, Traffic,
October 31, 2006 at 12:31 pm · Filed under Adsense, Plugins, Blogging, Google, Miscellaneous
Before we get started I want to make it clear that this is a method for dummies. There are no files to download, no big fancy template changes or anything. No, this is a simple php command that rotates the Google Adsense client ID.
If you’re on the hunt for a plugin to do this, you can try this one. The AdSense Sharing Revenue and Earnings System looked brilliant and from reading the features I was certain it was exactly what I needed. The problem is the download doesn’t seem to work. I followed the instructions perfectly and the plugin simply will not show up in the admin panel. Being a guy who doesn’t have a lot of time in life… I moved on. Read the rest of this entry »
October 28, 2006 at 8:32 am · Filed under Google, Miscellaneous
Apparently they do. While surfing through the Digg headlines this morning the title “FBI Says No Arrest of Boarding Pass Hacker” caught my attention. I clicked through and began reading, only to find a disconcerting revelation that Google Talk provided far more information to Wired News than I would EVER want them to provide had it been me.
Speaking of the hacker, Wired News says:
Soghoian’s computer still registers as being online according to Google chat, indicating that the feds have not probably not confiscated his computer.
When you want personal information on someone you just give Google Talk a ring or what? Who are they going to tell when I’m online.
It gets worse…
A transcript of the chat provided to Wired News shows that Soghoian said that the FBI was at his door at approximately 3:50 pm PST.
You can even get a transcript? This is almost unbelievable! What ever happened to privacy? I know I know… terms and conditions. But that doesn’t change the fact that they are clearly sharing personal and private information.
October 27, 2006 at 1:48 pm · Filed under YouTube, Money, Google, Miscellaneous
I first wrote about this back when the Lovelygirl13 event unfolded on YouTube. If you didn’t follow the story, and hopefully most of you didn’t, it was a marketing ploy put on by a couple guys who probably have dollar signs in their contact lenses. The cast was a girl who always looked… well… lonely. She led her fan base through a journey of her life via YouTube only to watch them fall flat on their faces when it was discovered that it was all a fake. Read the rest of this entry »
October 21, 2006 at 2:22 pm · Filed under Technorati, Technology, Blogging, Google, Miscellaneous
Not likely. Well… maybe a few disgruntled bloggers but I don’t think it goes too far beyond that. If you haven’t read the latest post at Technorati you might want to click on over and read the latest log by Adam Hertz.
The whole scenerio began unfolding a few weeks back when Brian Pinkerton of Technorati posted an excellent resource on Technorati link calculations. Brian used a blog that had significant link changes as an Read the rest of this entry »
October 20, 2006 at 8:47 pm · Filed under Gmail, Technology, Blogging, Geek Tech, Google, Miscellaneous
Google’s “Talkabout” blog contains a post asking users to send in stories that happened while using Google Talk.
Drop by and send them your story if you have a minute. 
