According to this release today, sent to Adsense publishers, Google is experimenting with different formats for ads. I think this is good news...
...for advertisers and publishers - anything that calls attention to the ads is helping both.
See the release below, and below that, the detail they reference:
Readers with sharp eyes will notice that on some rare occasions, your ads may appear or act slightly differently than what youre accustomed to. Rest assured that this is normal behavior that results from our efforts to improve the experience for all members of the advertising ecosystem. (You may have noticed a similar post about our search results on the official Google blog.)
One way in which we achieve this is by making continued tweaks and innovations to the user behavior and appearance of our ads. In the past, these experiments have included changes to the font styling, coloring, spacing, and other aesthetic components. More specifically, changes such as redesigned ad units and arrows to show additional ads have stemmed from these tests. The purpose of these tests is to identify changes to our product that can bring long-term benefits to our publishers, your sites visitors, and advertisers.
Before rolling out a change to our ads, we test performance for a limited number of ad impressions, which may not apply to all publishers. Although we dont notify publishers of these specific changes in order to prevent bias, we closely monitor the performance of these tests. We also welcome feedback from publishers, users, and advertisers, so feel free to drop us an email.
A fresh, new look for AdSense ads
You may have noticed that some of your ad units have started to look a little different lately " were happy to announce that, just in time for spring, weve given our standard ad units a fresh makeover. After extensive testing and research, weve found that the new formats are not only visually appealing to users, but they also perform even better for publishers and advertisers. Were in the process of rolling out this change to all ad units, and you should see that your ad units are automatically updated over the next few days. But, before you rush to make sure all of your ad units still match your site, please be assured that the fonts and colors of your ads wont be changed.
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10:54 PM
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EVER experienced going from one house to another, or from one office to another, just to offer whatever item you want to sell? Wouldn't it be good if you will be able to sell your wares with just a click?
Davaosale.com brains Hermes Diomela, Mark Wendel dela Cruz, and Valentine Apostol encountered the same trouble back in their college days at the Ateneo de Davao University that prompted them to think of a solution.
Get updates and join Dabawenyos Kadayawan 2008 celebration
The three are best of friends in college and were all working as student assistants. Being chat addicts, they are not new to the power of the Internet in bringing messages across continents. They first tapped MiRC chat as a venue for them to go into buy-and-sell.
"Pero ang problema namin is madali mawala yung posts namin sa MiRC. Kaya we thought of another way to post our products. We came across the software PHPBB. Ito yung ginamit naming sa pag-create ng gaming website na davaosale.com," Diomela said.
Each of the three invested P700 for them to be able to buy an Internet domain worth P600 and fee for a one-year hosting worth P1,400. Davaosale.com was officially launched on March 15, 2004.
Diomela said they started inviting their chatmates and friends to visit their website, www.davaosale.com, and slowly they gained followers.
One year after their launch, davaosale.com averages at least 5,000 hits per day or 150,000 per month.
Diomela said that from the hits, they are paid by Google for their use of the American company's Adsense software. They receive about P15,000 per month from Google for using Adsense in their website.
Davaosale also earns from the premium membership fees of P500 per year. He said premium members of their website are given the priority to post their products on the website.
Majority of their income are, however, generated from banner ads. They charge monthly fee for the banner ads. Though refusing to divulge how much they averagely earn from the website, Diomela said it is just enough for them to live a decent life.
A visit at the website showed that there are a number of categories for viewers to select to depending on the items they are wanting to buy or sell. The categories range from automobile, agriculture, apartments, beauty and fragrances, books, magazines, cameras, computers and its accessories, clothing, gift items, food and wine, game consoles, health and fitness, jewelries, medical equipments, pets, toys and even human services.
Diomela said the items banned from their website are sex services, drugs, and fake items. He admitted though that some customers were still able to post fake items for sale in their website.
Website moderators are however at hand to address and delete posting of banned items.
Here's the complete list of their prohibited items:
1. Any item that is harmful to minors, obscene or otherwise objectionable.
2. Sales or promotion of certain weapons, such as firearms, ammunition, balisongs, butterfly knives, and brass knuckles.
3. Explosive device.
4. Cigarettes.
5. Illicit drugs and drug paraphernalia
6. Prescription drugs.
7. Unauthorized copies of software, music, video games, photos or other media.
8. Stolen items.
9. Endangered animals.
10. Any items used for hacking.
11. Bodies, body parts, bodily fluids.
12. Fake ID's.
13. Gambling or casino-related content.
14. Any form of prostitution, pornography, adult, or mature content.
15. Items that will aid in theft or violence.
16. Any other content that promotes illegal activity or infringes on the legal rights of others
17. Sales or promotion of beer or hard alcohol.
18. Sales or promotion of tobacco or tobacco-related products.
19. Sales or promotion of prescription drugs
20. Sales or promotion of products that are replicas or imitations of designer goods.
21. Sale of smuggled goods.
In some instances, there are customers who complain of being victimized by "scammers" who posted their wares at Davaosale.
Diomela said they usually monitor customers who are being complained about and if there is enough ground to the complaints, they are banned from the website.
Diomela, however, clarified that they are in no way involved in the transactions between Davaosale customers, thus they are not liable for anything. A disclaimer posted at their website states such.
Davaosale mostly cater to the 18-27 age brackets and middle-income earners and students.
So what's next for Davaosale? Diomela said they are planning to create another website that would cater to jobseekers and companies looking for workers. He however did not give details since they are still planning it out.
Davaosale is also printing a monthly magazine that they give to their "offline" customers. In the magazine are found the different items that being posted at the website. The magazine is by the way for free.
Diomela said many of their customers give good feedbacks and are thankful that Davaosale helped them find a safer and faster venue to sell their products. All for free, well mostly. Talk about Dabawenyo style of selling. (BOT)
Davaosale.com brains Hermes Diomela, Mark Wendel dela Cruz, and Valentine Apostol encountered the same trouble back in their college days at the Ateneo de Davao University that prompted them to think of a solution.
Get updates and join Dabawenyos Kadayawan 2008 celebration
The three are best of friends in college and were all working as student assistants. Being chat addicts, they are not new to the power of the Internet in bringing messages across continents. They first tapped MiRC chat as a venue for them to go into buy-and-sell.
"Pero ang problema namin is madali mawala yung posts namin sa MiRC. Kaya we thought of another way to post our products. We came across the software PHPBB. Ito yung ginamit naming sa pag-create ng gaming website na davaosale.com," Diomela said.
Each of the three invested P700 for them to be able to buy an Internet domain worth P600 and fee for a one-year hosting worth P1,400. Davaosale.com was officially launched on March 15, 2004.
Diomela said they started inviting their chatmates and friends to visit their website, www.davaosale.com, and slowly they gained followers.
One year after their launch, davaosale.com averages at least 5,000 hits per day or 150,000 per month.
Diomela said that from the hits, they are paid by Google for their use of the American company's Adsense software. They receive about P15,000 per month from Google for using Adsense in their website.
Davaosale also earns from the premium membership fees of P500 per year. He said premium members of their website are given the priority to post their products on the website.
Majority of their income are, however, generated from banner ads. They charge monthly fee for the banner ads. Though refusing to divulge how much they averagely earn from the website, Diomela said it is just enough for them to live a decent life.
A visit at the website showed that there are a number of categories for viewers to select to depending on the items they are wanting to buy or sell. The categories range from automobile, agriculture, apartments, beauty and fragrances, books, magazines, cameras, computers and its accessories, clothing, gift items, food and wine, game consoles, health and fitness, jewelries, medical equipments, pets, toys and even human services.
Diomela said the items banned from their website are sex services, drugs, and fake items. He admitted though that some customers were still able to post fake items for sale in their website.
Website moderators are however at hand to address and delete posting of banned items.
Here's the complete list of their prohibited items:
1. Any item that is harmful to minors, obscene or otherwise objectionable.
2. Sales or promotion of certain weapons, such as firearms, ammunition, balisongs, butterfly knives, and brass knuckles.
3. Explosive device.
4. Cigarettes.
5. Illicit drugs and drug paraphernalia
6. Prescription drugs.
7. Unauthorized copies of software, music, video games, photos or other media.
8. Stolen items.
9. Endangered animals.
10. Any items used for hacking.
11. Bodies, body parts, bodily fluids.
12. Fake ID's.
13. Gambling or casino-related content.
14. Any form of prostitution, pornography, adult, or mature content.
15. Items that will aid in theft or violence.
16. Any other content that promotes illegal activity or infringes on the legal rights of others
17. Sales or promotion of beer or hard alcohol.
18. Sales or promotion of tobacco or tobacco-related products.
19. Sales or promotion of prescription drugs
20. Sales or promotion of products that are replicas or imitations of designer goods.
21. Sale of smuggled goods.
In some instances, there are customers who complain of being victimized by "scammers" who posted their wares at Davaosale.
Diomela said they usually monitor customers who are being complained about and if there is enough ground to the complaints, they are banned from the website.
Diomela, however, clarified that they are in no way involved in the transactions between Davaosale customers, thus they are not liable for anything. A disclaimer posted at their website states such.
Davaosale mostly cater to the 18-27 age brackets and middle-income earners and students.
So what's next for Davaosale? Diomela said they are planning to create another website that would cater to jobseekers and companies looking for workers. He however did not give details since they are still planning it out.
Davaosale is also printing a monthly magazine that they give to their "offline" customers. In the magazine are found the different items that being posted at the website. The magazine is by the way for free.
Diomela said many of their customers give good feedbacks and are thankful that Davaosale helped them find a safer and faster venue to sell their products. All for free, well mostly. Talk about Dabawenyo style of selling. (BOT)
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7:35 PM
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Google Operating System reported they are now seeing the Google AdSense for Feeds option in their AdSense account set up screen. I noted at the Search Engine Roundtable that many folks are buzzing about the new feature at several discussion forums. It appears to me that this beta offering is now open to all, if not most Google AdSense publishers.
In short, Google AdSense for Feeds allows publishers to add AdSense ads within their RSS feed distribution. In fact, Google has been making it easier for those with FeedBurner accounts to easily integrate AdSense for Feeds in their published RSS feeds. The other day, I broke the news at the Search Engine Roundtable that FeedBurner is not accepting new publishers into the FeedBurner Ad Network. A few days after that, Google pushes out the AdSense for Feeds to virtually all AdSense publishers.
In short, Google AdSense for Feeds allows publishers to add AdSense ads within their RSS feed distribution. In fact, Google has been making it easier for those with FeedBurner accounts to easily integrate AdSense for Feeds in their published RSS feeds. The other day, I broke the news at the Search Engine Roundtable that FeedBurner is not accepting new publishers into the FeedBurner Ad Network. A few days after that, Google pushes out the AdSense for Feeds to virtually all AdSense publishers.
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7:35 PM
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Some blog sites are reporting that Google has added the Adsense for feeds option in their Adsense accounts’ Setup menu. Checking out my Adsense account validated these reports. Right after the Adsense for Content and Adsense for Search options in the Adsense Setup menu is a new option labeled “Adsense for Feeds”. Google says it allows users to place relevant ads in feeds Google manages for them.
With the lack of official announcement yet from the Inside Adsense blog, I log-in to my Adsense account and saw the new option to create Adsense for blog feeds. Why you choose this option the Adsense account manager brings you to Adsense for feeds set-up screen. (Note: You are allowed only to set up one Adsense for Feeds ad unit) Once you’ve used up your single option, clicking on the link to Adsense for Feeds will just bring you to a blank page.
After this, you’ll be prompted to specify your blog’s url or feed url. Once you’ve done this you can start customizing your Adsense for Feed unit. However, if Google could not find a valid feed in you site, it will ask you to verify your Adsense for Feeds ad units and what its verified you can start serving your Adsense units to your blog/site’s RSS feeds.
If the system could not find a valid RSS feeds on your site, you will be asked to generate one right within your site to enable you to serve Google adsense units .
This is a welcome development for those Adsense publishers who are still earning a lot of money from their blog/sites Adsense units. While those who don’t want to go throuh the process of verifying their blog/sites will be asked to create their blog/sites’ Adsense units for Feed.
As for me, I might give this new Adsense feature a try.
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9:44 PM
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Behavioural targeting of ads is the in-thing on the internet right now. It's when an ad company serves advertisement based on a profile they have created of you. You might have noticed something similar on Facebook, which serves future-ads based on your feedback on the current ads: it's a system that learns what to serve based on your personal interest, which is in turn based on inferences drawn from either your declared personal information ('I like this band') or your actions online ('I bought this CD').
It is obviously a grey moral area, as it involves tracking you over the internet, as well as tracking your purchase and/or behaviour as a potential or active consumer. Most of this happens unknown to us.
The practice raises privacy concerns -- how many of us know that we are under such scrutiny and surveillance? Is our privacy too much to expect while surfing the internet from our own homes?These concerns have caught the attention of the U.S. Congress and the Federal Trade Commission; steps have been taken to investigate these doings. Senator Daniel K. Inouye, in a congressional hearing expressed his concerns over behavioural targeting stating that "privacy is a treasured right, but it is also a right that seems to come under regular attack." He also added concern that people "assume they are in the privacy of their own home and that this privacy will be respected. Unfortunately, this is not always the case."
These hearings seemed to have made some impact on the ad policies of at least two major online players. Google yesterday, through a blog post titled "New enhancements on the Google content network" slipped in an opt-out option for cookies that serve both AdSense and DoubleClick ads. A cookie is what does the behavioural tracking mentioned earlier. Now that Google has acquired ad-network DoubleClick, the company will place an additional DoubleClick cookie on our browsers. This will allow advertisers to leverage Google's existing Adsense network to push more display ads. But at least now, we can opt-out of the ad-Blitzkrieg.
Yahoo, took a similar stance. This other giant in our online room will also allow you to opt-out of 'customized' ads on Yahoo.com. Yahoo already allows you to opt-out of such served ads served on third party networks.
Customized, here, is just a euphemism for behaviourial targeting.
What these announcements amount to is a skirting of the issue. How many of us will take the time to opt-out of a service? How many are even aware that there is an issue here? Do we need to click on a button, or fill a form to actively defend what should be an obvious right to privacy?
During the congressional hearing, Facebook pointed out [PDF] that "receiving information that is likely to be relevant... leads to a better online experience". The issue here is the word likely, and the steps taken to refine that likelihood. It would be an even better online experience if we had the option to opt-in to these services, rather than opt-out.
You can opt-out of Yahoo's cookies here, and Google's here.
It is obviously a grey moral area, as it involves tracking you over the internet, as well as tracking your purchase and/or behaviour as a potential or active consumer. Most of this happens unknown to us.
The practice raises privacy concerns -- how many of us know that we are under such scrutiny and surveillance? Is our privacy too much to expect while surfing the internet from our own homes?These concerns have caught the attention of the U.S. Congress and the Federal Trade Commission; steps have been taken to investigate these doings. Senator Daniel K. Inouye, in a congressional hearing expressed his concerns over behavioural targeting stating that "privacy is a treasured right, but it is also a right that seems to come under regular attack." He also added concern that people "assume they are in the privacy of their own home and that this privacy will be respected. Unfortunately, this is not always the case."
These hearings seemed to have made some impact on the ad policies of at least two major online players. Google yesterday, through a blog post titled "New enhancements on the Google content network" slipped in an opt-out option for cookies that serve both AdSense and DoubleClick ads. A cookie is what does the behavioural tracking mentioned earlier. Now that Google has acquired ad-network DoubleClick, the company will place an additional DoubleClick cookie on our browsers. This will allow advertisers to leverage Google's existing Adsense network to push more display ads. But at least now, we can opt-out of the ad-Blitzkrieg.
Yahoo, took a similar stance. This other giant in our online room will also allow you to opt-out of 'customized' ads on Yahoo.com. Yahoo already allows you to opt-out of such served ads served on third party networks.
Customized, here, is just a euphemism for behaviourial targeting.
What these announcements amount to is a skirting of the issue. How many of us will take the time to opt-out of a service? How many are even aware that there is an issue here? Do we need to click on a button, or fill a form to actively defend what should be an obvious right to privacy?
During the congressional hearing, Facebook pointed out [PDF] that "receiving information that is likely to be relevant... leads to a better online experience". The issue here is the word likely, and the steps taken to refine that likelihood. It would be an even better online experience if we had the option to opt-in to these services, rather than opt-out.
You can opt-out of Yahoo's cookies here, and Google's here.
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9:44 PM
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Google is doubling down on cookies. I like cookies as much as the next guy; I've got a box of linzer tarts next to me as I write this. But when a company as powerful as Google starts force feeding you with tracking agents, some might see that as unpalatable.
Much of Google's revenue is based on targeted advertising based on the browsing habits of searches of its Web database. This was accomplished through its AdSense network, which places a cookie on the systems of anyone visiting a site in its AdSense network. Now, Google will place aDoubleClick cookie too, as it integrates that Web pattern tracker's network with its own. The strategy was announced in a Thursday post on The Official Google Blog:
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Today we're announcing some key enhancements on the Google content network (partner sites for which we provide advertising) that will offer a better experience for users and better value for advertisers and publishers.
Some of the capabilities to be enabled "in the coming months" according to the blog include frequency capping and reporting, which allow advertisers to control the number of times a user sees a particular ad and access pertinent reports. Advertisers also will have access to "view-through" data, which helps show ad effectiveness by reporting how often people visited their sites after seeing an ad. Google also claims improved ad performance of its content network.
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We are enabling this functionality by implementing a DoubleClick ad-serving cookie across the Google content network. Using the DoubleClick cookie means that DoubleClick advertisers and publishers don't have to make any changes on their websites as we continue our integration efforts and offer additional enhancements.
To be fair, Google's opt out policy permits users to choose not to accept the cookies with a single click. Personally, I don't really care if my Web patterns are tracked; I have nothing to hide. Hey, you might even benefit from being shown stuff you didn't know you needed.
Much of Google's revenue is based on targeted advertising based on the browsing habits of searches of its Web database. This was accomplished through its AdSense network, which places a cookie on the systems of anyone visiting a site in its AdSense network. Now, Google will place aDoubleClick cookie too, as it integrates that Web pattern tracker's network with its own. The strategy was announced in a Thursday post on The Official Google Blog:
•
•
•
•
Today we're announcing some key enhancements on the Google content network (partner sites for which we provide advertising) that will offer a better experience for users and better value for advertisers and publishers.
Some of the capabilities to be enabled "in the coming months" according to the blog include frequency capping and reporting, which allow advertisers to control the number of times a user sees a particular ad and access pertinent reports. Advertisers also will have access to "view-through" data, which helps show ad effectiveness by reporting how often people visited their sites after seeing an ad. Google also claims improved ad performance of its content network.
•
•
•
•
We are enabling this functionality by implementing a DoubleClick ad-serving cookie across the Google content network. Using the DoubleClick cookie means that DoubleClick advertisers and publishers don't have to make any changes on their websites as we continue our integration efforts and offer additional enhancements.
To be fair, Google's opt out policy permits users to choose not to accept the cookies with a single click. Personally, I don't really care if my Web patterns are tracked; I have nothing to hide. Hey, you might even benefit from being shown stuff you didn't know you needed.
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