More on the Adsense Revenue Reduction
We recently posted about some publishers reporting a decrease in Google Adsense revenue. Well, it turns out that it may be due to Google’s own efforts to improve its Pay Per Click effectiveness.
Most people have been of the opinion that the reduction in CTR (click-through rate) was due to people clicking less on ads. However, today’s report by comScore on the issue reveals that the following:
The evidence suggests that the softness in Google’s paid click metrics is primarily a result of Google’s own quality initiatives that result in a reduction in the number of paid listings and, therefore, the opportunity for paid clicks to occur.
Meanwhile, in the post Google CTR Down Due To Click Area Changes, TechCrunch is claiming that Adsense revenue is dropping because of changes in the way that Google defines the click region for ads.
I guess we’ll be seeing more on this issue to come.
The Big Word Project: Good for SEO?
Paddy Donnelly and Lee Munroe, two masters students from Northern Ireland, have developed an experiment to explore what different words mean to different people and they are going to make some money at the same time. The have created a new site called The Big Word Project which is selling words for $1 per letter.
What’s the value? Well, when you buy a word you can “change the definition” by having the word link to your site. Sounds like a good deal to me.
So, does TBWP makes sense for Search Engine Optimization? Well, since you can only buy a single word and it must be in the dictionary it’s not going to help keyword optimization for most sites. However, TBWP may help increase your website traffic for the same reason that The Million Dollar Homepage could. Because of the uniqueness of the site and all the press attention it may get there will be a lot of curious visitors.
Now’s That’s What I Call “Pay Per Click”
Apparently there are operations set up in India that will click on your AdSense ads for a price. But these fraudulent clicks are being tracked.
Digital Inspiration reports on this trend in AdSense Click Fraud in India - How The Whole System Works.
Focus on the Content
From SEO to Social Media: Content is Still King posted over at Search Engine Land about how you should spend more time focusing on your website content than on tricks.
This quote says it all…
There was a time in social media, just as in search engine optimization (SEO), when everything was only about getting to the front page. Little attention was paid to what happened after you got there and for a while it seemed as if you could do it in your sleep.
Spend more of your time on building your web site and the quality of your content.
Some Report a Drop in Adsense Revenue
Search Engine Roundtable is reporting that 63% of Adsense Publishers have seen a decline revenue in 2008.