Comments on: Is Personalized Search Killing AdSense Publishers?

By: Dan Abbamont

Dan Abbamont — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 17:55:50 +0000

I’ve gotten into this discussion on forums before. A lot of the posting was tinfoil hat type stuff, but people really are worried about their positions dropping. Like I told them, if you have a site that people are clicking on, especially repeatedly it will probably help you. If someone repeatedly ignores your site, in that particular case you will lose some exposure.

All in all, people were a bit panicked about what to do about all this, but it all goes back to just creating quality content and a usable site. This update really shouldn’t force you to change your technique.
.-= Dan Abbamont´s last blog ..Just wrote a quick and dirty blog post finder =-.

By: SearchBliss

SearchBliss — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 18:35:36 +0000

I’m seeing a huge downturn in CTR, CPC, and general traffic as a result of these changes…and they weren’t great to begin with. Google is shooting themselves in the foot and taking publishers with them. I am contemplating switching to Yahoo or Bing for publishing ads, but my main hesitation is loyalty…which I am not seeing from Google at the momment.

By: Jordan McCollum

Jordan McCollum — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:23:46 +0000

Yeah, that’s why I’m not 100% sure the theory holds true and I’d need more data. At first glance, that’s what I’d think.

By: kelvin newman

kelvin newman — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 09:04:29 +0000

Maybe I'm missing something but if Google are personalising the adsense ads that will make people more likely to click no? .-= kelvin newman´s last blog ..The 12 Internet Marketing Tools of Christmas – Internet Marketing Podcast Episode #56 =-.

By: MNWBlogger

MNWBlogger — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:47:45 +0000

As a search user, personalization is a great thing. As a publisher, I'm really not sure what to think at this point. But I have to believe what is good for the customer is always good for the long term health of the business? .-= MNWBlogger´s last blog ..Wordpress Blog Web Hosting =-.

By: Jaan Kanellis

Jaan Kanellis — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:15:48 +0000

Kill one the golden gooses eggs? Doubtful. Protect it and make it make sense for all advertisers using it right? yes?

By: Jordan McCollum

Jordan McCollum — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:57:56 +0000

@Gennice—I believe more of their revenue comes from AdWords (on Google.com), since AdSense allegedly has lower CTRs than AdWords, though you’re right that long-term ill-effects for publishers wouldn’t be good. If it’s even happening, it could be an experiment—if they didn’t try it, they’d never know if they were leaving money on the table. (On the other hand, they also changed the definition of a valid click, making it much narrower—which means fewer clicks and less revenue, but probably better quality traffic for advertisers, so money isn’t the only factor.)

By: Michael Martinez

Michael Martinez — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:45:54 +0000

I have no way of knowing if personalized search is affecting my AdSense revenues but they are up (which is normal for this time of year). Take that for what it's worth. .-= Michael Martinez´s last blog ..Keep blogging =-.

By: Gennice

Gennice — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:34:08 +0000

If it’s killing the Adsense publishers, then it’s killing Google itself too (much more than publishers).

Google gets most of their revenue specifically through Adsense ads and if they drop off… Too bad for Google.

So I guess, if that what you’re talking about is true… Google would definitely do their best to fix the problem.
.-= Gennice´s last blog ..Make Windows XP Boot-Up Faster With A Quick Registry Tweak =-.