Earnings have been dropping every month.

I currently use Google Adsense, Tribal Fusion and Echo Topics on my site.

My ad earnings have been dropping every month for the past 6 months, while my traffic has stayed about the same.

I have not changed anything in the past 6 months since setting up ads.

I feel it is time to start re-optimizing my ad positions, the ads that are showed etc. (or possibly look at a new ad network which offers more).

I really feel that ads are one of my biggest weaknesses. I just don't know how to optimize them from within adsense or Tribal fusion etc. to get the most out of them. I just keep everything default.

Some help and tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Matt

Hi Matt,

A key component to figuring out this issue is missing from your notes-- Has CTR or eCPM changed?

Ie, are the ads just paying less, or are your users clicking less?

I've seen a bit of a decline in ad prices over the past year. The economy is just forcing lower bids all around.

Here is a quick snapshot of how things have gone over time.

Tuesday, June 3, 2009 - Ad impressions (80,784), Clicks (77), Ad CTR (0.10%), Ad eCPM(A$0.15)

Friday, July 3, 2009 - Ad impressions (98,239), Clicks (105), Ad CTR (0.11%), Ad eCPM(A$0.20)

Monday, August 3, 2009 - Ad impressions (99,369), Clicks (162), Ad CTR (0.16%), Ad eCPM(A$0.15)

Thursday, September 3, 2009 - Ad impressions (82,577), Clicks (75), Ad CTR (0.09%), Ad eCPM(A$0.11)

Saturday, October 3, 2009 - Ad impressions (70,863), Clicks (73), Ad CTR (0.10%), Ad eCPM(A$0.16)

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 - Ad impressions (57,018), Clicks (74), Ad CTR (0.13%), Ad eCPM(A$0.11)

Thursday, December 3, 2009 - Ad impressions (57,693), Clicks (67), Ad CTR (0.12%), Ad eCPM(A$0.13)

Sunday, January 3, 2010 - Ad impressions (65,218), Clicks (35), Ad CTR (0.05%), Ad eCPM(A$0.05)

I would remove the footer ad. that likely ruins your eCPM value as it likely gets little if any clicks.

I would remove the bar that says 'advertisement'. on your nav bar ad. Put less emphais that its an ad as possible around it.

Alright I will do 1 of those this week and then see how it goes, and then do the other and see how it goes next week.

I think I might do the header (under my navbar) ad first. What is the best ad size to be displayed in the header and what is the best way to display it?

I've found the best is two 300x250's side by side for guests, 1 728 for members (or nothing at all, as they don't click.... i only show cpm ads to members)

Could you give me an example ad code to complete that. It would really help. Thanks.

I just use a basic table and basic if conditionals...


<div align="center">
<if condition="$show['guest']">
<table>
<tr><td>300 ad 1</td><td>300 ad 2</td></tr>
</table>
<else />
728 ad
</if>
</div>

Thanks!

1. where do you find it best positioned in the navbar template? (i'm running 3.8)

2.What is the if statement to not show the 728 to my 3 premium usergroups.

3. Do any ad companies find it bad to have 2 of the same ads running side by side? What is the benefit of having 2 of the same ads running side by side?

Thanks for all this help, it is much appreciated!

I use the ad_location template for the end of the nav bar.

you will need to use the is_member_of() function to specify groups.

<if condition="is_member_of($bbuserinfo, 6, 5, 22)">this will show to usergroups 6,5,and 22</if>


so, you probably want to do something like

Code:

<div align="center">
<if condition="$show['guest']">
<table>
<tr><td>300 ad 1</td><td>300 ad 2</td></tr>
</table>
<else />

<if condition="is_member_of($bbuserinfo, 6, 5, 22)">
<!-- no ad for these groups -->
<else />
728 ad
</if>
</if>
</div>

You will need to consult with your ad companies that you use and their TOS if they allow more than one ad unit per page.
I generally run one CPC on the left and one CPM on the right, tiered with back-fill.

Alright asking now,

Edit:

It does not look like I am allowed with Tribal Fusion.

1. The maximum number of Tribal Fusion ads that can appear on a page is 3: one horizontal ad (468x60 or 728x90), one skyscraper (120x600 or 160x600), and one rectangle (300x250 or 336x280).
2. Any Tribal Fusion horizontal ad (468x60 or 728x90) must appear above the fold and must be the only horizontal ad above the fold. You may have additional horizontal ads from other providers, as long as they appear below the fold.
3. A skyscraper (120x600 or 160x600) may appear anywhere on the page, but there cannot be more than one skyscraper, even from another provider. Please note that the higher on the page a skyscraper appears, the better it tends to perform, leading to higher revenue.
4. A rectangle (300x250, 336x280, 300x600, 425x600) may appear anywhere on the page, but there cannot be more than one rectangle, even from another provider. Rectangles usually perform better when integrated into content as much as possible.

I guess I will have to revert back to the leaderboard ad for everyone.

Could be a better solution to use google ad rectangle (300x250) under navbar and to use Tribal Fusion rectangle into content?

Well I just wanted to say the stats are not fully in as the 15th is only partial,

but these are my eCPM values from Tribal Fusion:
13th: $00.21
14th: $00.29
15th: $00.53

so it looks like removing some ads and removing GAB which had the words advertisement has increased the eCPM value.

I will keep track of this over the next few days, and then I might move my skyscrapper ad up higher on the page and see how that goes.

I was also thinking of putting a box ad within the 1st post content for my quests. Do you think this is a good position for one of those ads?

i ran a 1st post box for a couple weeks. didn't covert.

your community may differ.

Well the revenue that I have earned today has doubled so far (and still rising) very pleased with the results so far!

Thanks for all the advise!