{"id":2511,"date":"2016-08-02T22:17:48","date_gmt":"2016-08-02T22:17:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nativeadbuzz.com\/blog\/?p=2511"},"modified":"2020-09-11T02:28:21","modified_gmt":"2020-09-11T02:28:21","slug":"10-arbitrage-diary-adsense-testing-adsense-to-gladsense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nativeadbuzz.com\/blog\/10-arbitrage-diary-adsense-testing-adsense-to-gladsense\/","title":{"rendered":"#10 Arbitrage Diary – AdSense Testing: ADSense to GLADSense!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey!<\/p>\n

Thank you for checking back in for my Arbitrage Diary – it really means a lot that you\u2019ve been reading and following this story!<\/p>\n

Dan\u2019s smashing it in France this weekend with his other love – his band. Do I feel cheated? Not at all! Why? I get to bring you the blog!<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to be talking about AdSense optimisations today, to keep us on track with our schedule of variables and the best ways to optimise them:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
As Publishers<\/b><\/td>\nVariable\/Metric<\/b><\/td>\nAiming for?<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
AdSense\/Content.Ad<\/span><\/td>\nWidget Placement and Size<\/span><\/td>\n(depends)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
AdSense\/Content.Ad<\/span><\/td>\nText or Image? Text\/Border Colours<\/span><\/td>\n(depends)<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Guess what? AdSense testing is super easy. And SUPER worthwhile!<\/p>\n

Google does all the hard work for you, so once you know why and how to get testing, it\u2019s a case of sit back and enjoy (sort of)!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Why test?<\/b><\/p>\n

AdSense testing is A\/B testing of your adsense ad units, and can apply to really general variables (e.g. whether your ad unit serves up text ads or image ads), or to really, really specific variables (e.g. which shade of neon green text works best for your text-only ad units).<\/p>\n

FYI, if you haven\u2019t realised\/weren\u2019t aware (I hadn\u2019t, before we started this project…), this is the difference between image and text ad units:<\/span><\/p>\n

Text<\/p>\n

\"blog<\/p>\n

Image<\/span><\/p>\n

[Haha even now, with a screenshot on google docs, i\u2019m avoiding accidentally clicking on them at all costs – kind of feels like Big Brother is watching…][Also, a later article will focus on arrows, how to live without them\/ how to get them back\/ our general experiences\/ so stay tuned for that!]<\/span><\/p>\n

Testing constantly creates improvements, and you can run tests non-stop. You can have one per unit running at all times – 3 units, max of 1 big one per page [though we are also just starting to experiment with adding link units <\/span>https:\/\/support.google.com\/adsense\/answer\/15817?hl=en-GB<\/span><\/a> \u00a0\u00a0– more details in a later blog!], so 3 tests on the go all the time. The variations of tests help reduce banner blindness, so in of itself the process is beneficial. The clear improvements and financial gains make it all the better!<\/span><\/p>\n

Google takes the test you want to run, then runs equal amounts of your traffic to each of the two variables you are going to test (no chance of coordinating that without Google\u2019s help!). Once you let it run for a few days, you\u2019ll have clear-cut feedback as to what\u2019s happening and why. All very easy to understand! The main metric success is measured in is $$$$, which is what we are here for, so it\u2019s obvious from the get-go what is being gained.<\/p>\n

In the couple of months we\u2019ve been doing this, there has been no more immediate and verifiable a way to make effective gains to our site\u2019s ability to earn than AdSense testing, and it should be exactly the same for you too. Other things can make bigger differences (content, traffic sources etc), but they take time, and some deep trawling of analytics. AdSense testing is quick and easy to implement, with clear % gains. It\u2019s stupid to ignore – you\u2019re leaving money on the table if you don\u2019t start asap!) Big swing example:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

Actually, when we got started with our site, I spent almost all of my time pouring through the specific Google Analytics site pages to see our AdSense stats to scope out relevant Adsense stats like CTRs, revenue, ads clicked, impressions, and adsense ecpm, rather than looking at the AdSense site itself. However, it is full of very useful and specific info that can be drilled down into, so if you\u2019ve neglected to snoop around the resources on there, do take the time to have a look at what\u2019s what. Get on your AdSense page and get stuck in!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How to test<\/b><\/p>\n

In Blog 5 we went through setting up AdSense units (<\/span>https:\/\/www.nativeadbuzz.com\/blog\/setting-up-adsense-and-content-ad-adverts-on-your-site\/<\/span><\/a>), so you should be ready to roll with testing.<\/span><\/p>\n

For today, what matters is the Optimization tab:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

You\u2019ll first see Google\u2019s suggestions for quick and easy experiments to run for your site, based on what the data your users is telling them. It\u2019s an easy place to start!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"blog<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Under the Opportunities tab, choose Experiments:<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"blog<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

      \n
    1. From there, you\u2019ve got the option to test either Ad Unit Settings, or Allow\/Block ads.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Ad unit settings is what we test almost exclusively – it is more \u2018layout\u2019 based, and we find it the easiest to start with. Allow\/Block ads is more specific content-related stuff – i.e. if your site\u2019s niche is about veganism, it would make sense to block ads from Fast Food restaurants etc\u2026 [we\u2019ve only recently started running these tests ourselves, but seeing some positive improvements already – 11% increase in RPM by blocking \u2018Home + Garden\u2019 ads. Who knew\u2026!]<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      \"blog<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

        \n
      1. So, choose \u2018Ad unit settings\u2019. You\u2019ll come to this screen. The AdSense business end:<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

         <\/p>\n

        \"blog<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Pick which of your three units you\u2019d like to test, name the test (we recommend an easily repeated naming system – you\u2019ll be running a lot of tests so it\u2019s good to be able to easily track <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          them all). Proof of pure obsession with testing? Here you go:<\/span><\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Next, pick the experiment setting. For this example, i\u2019m doing a Text ad style – a test on a text ad unit variating the colours and font. Click create, and you\u2019re up and running. Simple as that!<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Worth starting with are some of the tests we have had really good success with:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n