Increase Your AdSense CTR By Putting Little Icons Next To Your Ads
Here is a method that is helping AdSense publishers increase their click-thru rate (CTR), and ultimately generating more revenue. If you have not seen this technique yet, then you can view a live example on one of my websites that I use for testing Adsense theories.
I am not allowed to release my exact CTR numbers, but after adding these icons next to my Large Rectangle (336×280) ads, I saw an increase in my CTR percentage by 4-6 perecent. The reason for the large variation in the percentages is that, like with most sites, certain days of the week result in more or less traffic. Either way, even an increase of 2% would be something to talk about.
The important thing you should know about these icons is there is a fine line you are walking. Some people have reported that adding icons has resulted in account termination, while others have had continued success with them, and even had Google approve of them.
There is an important factor that you must consider about these icons as well. Depending on the type of visitors that come to your website, you might want to randomize the icons so the user does not catch on and start ignoring the ads.
Luckily for me, the majority of my traffic is first-time visitors, so it is not as important for me to randomize my icons or even have a stash of them that can be cycled. I use the same four icons in the same order on every page, though I am planning to randomize the icons to see if that will result in a performance increase.
Regardless of what type of visitors you get, the following PHP script will do all the work for you, randomizing your 50×50 icons and placing them next to your AdSense ads. All you need to do is create your icons, place them in a specific directory, and number then starting with one, like 1.jpg. The script will do its best to not duplicate the same icon.
<?php
function adsense_icons() {
$repeat = 4;
$folder = "images";
$images = array();
$file_list = array();
$file_ext = array();
$file_ext['gif'] = "image/gif";
$file_ext['jpg'] = "image/jpeg";
$file_ext['png'] = "image/png";
if (substr($folder, -1) != "/") {
$folder = $folder."/";
}
$handle = opendir($folder);
while (false !== ($file = readdir($handle))) {
$file_info = pathinfo($file);
if (isset($file_ext[strtolower($file_info['extension'])])) {
$file_list[] = $file;
}
}
closedir($handle);
while (count($images) < $repeat) {
$random = mt_rand(1, count($file_list));
if (!in_array($random, $images)) {
$images[] = $random;
echo "<img src=\"$folder$random.jpg\" width=\"50\" height=\"50\" alt=\"\" />";
}
}
}
?>
Now that we have the PHP code for randomizing the images, we need to setup the HTML and CSS. For the purpose of this demonstration, we’re going to use the Large Rectangle (336×280) ad unit.
<style type="text/css">
#ad-336×280 {
margin:0 0 19px 0;
}
#ad-336×280 #icons {
float:left;
width:50px;
margin:0 5px 0 0;
}
#ad-336×280 #icons img {
margin:15px 0 0 0;
}
#ad-336×280 #ad {
float:left;
width:336px;
height:280px;
}
</style>
<div id="ad-336×280">
<div id="icons"><?php adsense_icons(); ?></div>
<div id="ad">
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
google_ad_client = "YOUR_PUBLISHER_ID";
google_ad_width = 336;
google_ad_height = 280;
google_ad_format = "336×280_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script>
</div>
</div>
Of course, you’ll need to replace YOUR_PUBLISHER_ID with your actual publisher ID. And that’s it, you’re done! You can format the icons and spacing any way you want, that’s just the code I used for the website I referenced. Enjoy!
November 3rd, 2006 at 12:05 pm
[…] « Increase Your AdSense CTR By Putting Little Icons Next To Your Ads […]
November 18th, 2006 at 12:58 pm
I actually did this too, for a dog website, but I was told if you have a border around the photos then it won’t be considered interfearing with the ads. The photos still grab your attention with a border ;-)
November 18th, 2006 at 01:08 pm
See, I was going to put borders around the images, but I’ve had such a bitch of time with WordPress: not being able to execute PHP code in my posts; and when I do enable the plugin, then it ruins my posts where I do want PHP code enabled; I have my own script for rotating icons next to ads, and I couldn’t use it on here because of the way it parsed. This “adsenseBeautifer” is alright, except one major problem: it uses a background image for the “icons” down the side, instead of grabbing four random icons!
November 28th, 2006 at 09:56 am
@ Kyle
You can still put multiple sets of 4 icons in the appropriate beautifier folder. So at least you will get some rotation.
You can see it in action here:
http://www.joshkaufmanblog.com
Just refresh a few times and you’ll see what I am talking about.
Furthermore, I highly suggest that if you haven’t done so already, to check out the google adsense deluxe plugin found here:
http://www.acmetech.com/blog/adsense-deluxe/
@Divspace
I added you to my blogroll. this is a great site. look forward to the redesign. Wouldn’t want you to get banned from Digg:)
November 28th, 2006 at 10:28 am
Josh,
Yeah, the problem with that is the image has to include the four single icons grouped together as one image. I prefer to have it pull out four random icons and parse each one individually. It’s a bitch to have to make 20 “icon sets” when I could have just left them all as single icons.
I actually have that plugin running because of the headache involved with trying to get my PHP and XHTML to run right after the “Read More” comment you put into posts. I can enable PHP in posts, but then it actually runs posts where I want to show the code, and then it parses the XHTML all weird, so I finally went with this.
WordPress definately isn’t made for coders, which is why I’ll most likely be writing my own system.
Also, thanks for the add, once I finish up the redesign I’ll have a section for links and I’ll be sure to add you to it.
November 28th, 2006 at 01:47 pm
Hi, I have found a few wordpress - made for adsense templates. I am looking for one that is more “successful”, even if its not made for wordpress (I can convert it).
Can someone point me into that direction. Trying to speed up my contextual sites.
here are what I found (if one you recommend is on this list, just tell me.).
http://www.sapiensbryan.com/index.php/my-wordpress-theme-ads-minded/
http://pilkster.com/wordpress-themes-for-adsense/
Anything else?
I also can take a look at sights that have successful ctr adsense templates (But unless you want it public, please PM me it.)
OK I Just realized I mispelled Wordpress in the title, Man I am an Idiot.!
Ok now I am a bigger idiot for not realizing the “go to advance” edit. so i fixed my misspelling.
November 28th, 2006 at 01:58 pm
Jeffery,
It’s really hard to make a successful template for AdSense, because it all boils down to the content on your website and what type of visitors you attract. For example, on another website I run that’s not a blog, I have an incredibly CTR rate somewhere between 8-12 percent (can’t give exact numbers, hence the range). The kind of people that visit that site are already in the buying mood, and they’re looking for information on a product before they buy it. AdSense does wonderful there because of this.
Now, divspace is the exact opposite. The majority, if not all, of the visitors to this site are not coming here to buy something, they want information and information only. Also, visitors here tend to be in the non-clicker group. We know what ads are, we see them all the time, and we avoid them. We’ve had our “ad blinders” on for quite some time. Granted, you will get people clicking on ads, but don’t expect a very high CTR rate.
I have to admit, divspace does better than average in terms of its CTR, with the average being somewhere in the 0.50 to 0.65% range. You would be happy, with a site like this, to see an average CTR between 0.90 and 2.35 percent. Could it be better? I would say no.
After I finish the redesign, I’ll do a comparison between the current design that I whipped in a couple of hours, and the actual redesign, which will be much more thought out and optimized for ad delivery. If I do notice an increase, you’ll be hearing about it for sure and what you can do to increase yours (beyond doing the basics laid out in this and other AdSense articles on divspace).
I will also be looking at other ways to monetize the site, but there’s certainly a very, very fine line between “just right” and “too much” when it comes to your ads, what colors you pick, where you place them, etc.
More importantly is the fact that CTR numbers are deceiving sometimes, and they shouldn’t be your prime focus. Content is the most important thing, the rest will fall into place.
One more thing, I looked at those themes that are supposedly optimized for AdSense, and I would say the templates are not that great. I’ve played around with AdSense for countless hours, with every different ad unit size, position, and color, and most of the things I see on there, are things I’ve tried and haven’t seen good results with. The link units especially are not worth the trouble.
December 6th, 2006 at 02:13 am
increase your height
Interesting post. I came across this blog by accident, but it was a good accident. I have now bookmarked your blog for future use. Best wishes. Adrianne Curry.
December 12th, 2006 at 10:13 pm
Does this code work on Blogger Beta? Thanks! Paula at http://paulamooney.blogspot.com/
December 19th, 2006 at 06:21 pm
[…] From this tutorial on how to implement images next to Adsense units. […]
December 20th, 2006 at 01:29 pm
It seems that this is indeed a violation of Google’s TOS. Check it here:
http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2006/12/19/adsense-and-image-placement/
December 20th, 2006 at 01:41 pm
I’m still unsure about it, because I saw this TOS a while back, and it’s not any more clear than before:
“We ask that publishers not line up images and ads in a way that suggests a relationship between the images and the ads.”
Ok, so they aren’t saying that you can’t have images next to your ads, but that they can’t have any relationship to the ads.
So, if anyone reading thinks they’re going to get a nonexistent techy-web-icon when they click on an ad, you won’t :)
Google’s rule on this bothers me actually, I thought the point of a good designer and developer was to attract attention to certain areas, and if that so happens to be an ad, what’s the problem? That’s the whole point of advertising, we’ve been banging our heads against the wall trying to figure out where to best place an ad to get the most clicks. Now, I can see why Google is saying this, because some sites have very misleading images, which is why I’m not going to remove my images unless Google directly tells me. I don’t feel I’m violating their TOS, because my images are not suggestion any relationship to the ads whatsoever.
We’ll just have to wait and see though, right?