New google ads

[Tyler Allison]

Is it just me or is the new placement of the "Ads by Google" highly annoying?

I liked them where they were before.

[PaulChambers]

At first I thought it was part of the selections, like LogIn and Memberlist!!

[Tim Vasquez]

We're running an experiment; it may go back to where it was in a few days.

[rdale]

Firefox + AdBlock = No Problems ;>

[Tyler Allison]

Originally posted by PaulChambers
At first I thought it was part of the selections, like LogIn and Memberlist!!

That's what I thought :)

[Skip Talbot]

Originally posted by rdale
Firefox + AdBlock = No Problems ;>

Niiice... took me awhile to figure out you have to lob half the URL off though

[Robert Dewey]

I hate the new ad layout.

[Andrew Khan]

Originally posted by rdewey
I hate the new ad layout.

Likewise...it takes away from a bunch of things...

[Jeff Snyder]

Originally posted by Andrew Khan+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Andrew Khan)</div><!--QuoteBegin-rdewey
I hate the new ad layout.

Likewise...it takes away from a bunch of things...[/b]

Are we talking about the change from a text-block that was to the right of the "Stormtrack" title on the top of the page to the more horizontally-aligned "Ads by Google" that's under the Profile / "PM" / Log Out "menu" now? It's a little more distracting I suppose, but how does it take away from a bunch of things?

[Greg Campbell]

I liked the 'old' random ad panel. It was easy to click on, and appeared to have ST specific information embeded in the link; hopefily giving ST a few hit credits and a few pennies per visit.

-Greg

[Andrew Khan]

Originally posted by Jeff Snyder+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jeff Snyder)</div>Originally posted by Andrew Khan@
<!--QuoteBegin-rdewey
I hate the new ad layout.

Likewise...it takes away from a bunch of things...

Are we talking about the change from a text-block that was to the right of the "Stormtrack" title on the top of the page to the more horizontally-aligned "Ads by Google" that's under the Profile / "PM" / Log Out "menu" now? It's a little more distracting I suppose, but how does it take away from a bunch of things?[/b]

It just seems like it makes things feel different....like to much space between the originating text and the websites frames.

[Robert Dewey]

Yeah, the old "block style" was better. The new layout just looks wierd and doesn't "feel right" for some reason.

[Mike Hollingshead]

Hmmm this seems odd to me. The block takes up more space and stands out more than a thin line of text links going horizontally. It looks less like there are actually ads on the site when you get rid of that big box. One thing seems certain is you'll get more clicks on the links the other way(horizontal line). And a free site does need some means to help offset time and expenses so I'd want whatever works the best at getting actual clicks. If you aren't going to get clicks there isn't much sense in having them on at all.

Google recommends they run horizontally. So, if it looks less annoying(imo the new way did) and gets more clicks I'd say use it that way. I do not get how a thin line of a few text links takes anymore away from the site than the big box in the corner. But hey I don't get alot of things, lol.

I offered the idea to Tim after giving him the numbers I'm getting with mine. It seemed like google's suggestion of running them horizontally is correct. I don't even run the words with the link, like can be seen on the ONE ad in the upper corner. I run 5 horizontally, that take up the same space as that one box and it stands out less......and most importantly....it gets more clicks. When I see the big box I think advertisement and don't even bother reading it, let alone considering to click on it. When I see one or two word text links I am alot more apt to click on it to check it out.

[Tim Vasquez]

During the 12 or so hours we had the horizontal bar up, the click rates dropped to almost zero... so the old format seems to be the way to go for us. I'm not sure why we get differing results. Personally I like the block ad because it's a neatly-packed block of information (kind of like a station plot), while the horizontal bar is like mystery meat and doesn't indicate very clearly where the link is going to go. That's all I can figure. It was worth trying, though.

Tim

[Mike Hollingshead]

During the 12 or so hours we had the horizontal bar up, the click rates dropped to almost zero... so the old format seems to be the way to go for us.

Hmmm, I'm not sure how good a test that is when it looked to be started at night into the morning and only for 12 hours or so. During that time frame and only that long I can't see "almost zero" being a big for sure signal...but maybe. Also, part of that I noticed it wasn't even a link bar but a search bar, which could also not help that short trial.

Here is what I am getting with the horizontal bar method.

From mid-day Saturday January 7 through mid-day today.

Page impressions: 6,957
Clicks: 204
Page CTR: 2.9%
$28.70

For that many days 204 is not a big number when it comes down to per day(20/day). I bet the majority of those aren't coming in the overnight and pre-noon hours.

Also, that block keeps going to and from the mystery meat way as it is right now.

[Robert Dewey]

Mike...

Your ads blend in right with your site and look good. They don't get in the way of any important links and fit right in under your photos symmetrically.

The Google bar that was at the top of the ST page looked almost identical to the ST control toolbar just above it, and was obtrusive looking - almost like it was trying to "fool you" into clicking on it instead of the ST toolbar. The "block" style might be bigger, but it's tucked away in the upper right hand corner out of the way of the website navigation toolbar. I have gotten used to the spacing difference between the forum boarder and the ST navigation toolbar, and the Google ad bar interfered with that...

Other than that, I don't really know how to explain what I mean by "it doesn't feel right".

[Mike Hollingshead]

The Google bar that was at the top of the ST page looked almost identical to the ST control toolbar just above it, and was obtrusive looking - almost like it was trying to "fool you" into clicking on it instead of the ST toolbar.

Well I put them on my site because I wanted people to click on them. I think that is the goal, getting clicks on them. If someone gets fooled they can simply click back and note the text at the left end of them--"ads by google". The site with lots of free content will still be there when they click back. But, the link text obviously said something they were interested in, so maybe they will find something more interesting.

There is nothing pretty or real nice about them no matter where they are. It is still a better option than asking for donations and whatnot(which many sites do).

But I agree, they do look tricky that way and on my site also look like my links. But at the same time they are less obvious in that format and seem to take away less than the typical google ads box that I don't think many bother clicking on anyway.

I figured it is making around $3 a day with 1000 visitors. During the Aurora image e-mail chain thing in November of 2004 there were 2 weekend days with about 70,000 each. That is $210 each day. I'd be a fool not to get something up that gets clicked on.....and the less distracting format does that on mine. I just figured I'd tell Tim about the outcome and what it says on the adsense tips page. It doesn't matter how they are on here what-so-ever to me. I don't get too distracted, but just note them and move on. Thought maybe the other way would get Tim more funds for his troubles. I was wrong.