Google AdSense can also take the time and headaches out of negotiating with advertisers.

Just whacking a few AdSense ad blocks on your pages will probably generate some revenue for you, but by optimizing the blocks, it can significantly boost the amount of cash you make. A few years back I published some basic AdSense revenue tips and do's and don'ts.

The following is a way you may be able to make even more money from AdSense.

On one of my sites, I pretty much only run AdSense, just so I can focus more time on developing content. I get quite a few enquiries from advertisers wanting to buy ad space on that site, but at this point I just don't want the hassle of negotiating, setting up and invoicing.

Google AdSense used to offer a feature whereby you could direct merchants to a custom landing page that invited them to advertise on your site via the Google Adwords network. That feature disappeared a while back and was replaced with something similar called Placement Targeting.

AdSense Placement Targeting

AdSense Placement Targeting at the publisher end of things involves turning an ad unit into a custom channel, and then into a an ad placement that is targetable by advertisers.

Assuming you're using the new AdSense interface, here's what to do:

1. Click on "My Ads" in the top menu
2. Click on "Custom Channels" in the left hand menu
3. Click "new custom channel"
4. Give it a name, select an existing ad unit
5. Tick the option "Show this custom channel to advertisers as a targetable ad placement"
6. Enter a description for your channel; something that will appeal to advertisers and tells them a little about your site. If the ad unit appears "above the fold" on your site, meaning visible in the first screen when someone views your pages, be sure to signify this with the acronym "ATF" - the reason being is that this is primo ad space and will create more vigorous bidding says Google.
7. Complete the other fields, such as placement and positioning
8. Click 'Save channel'.

To direct advertisers, tell them to log into their Adwords account, then they should:

1. Click Reporting and tools
2. Select Placement tool
3. In the website box, enter the name of your site (example.com)
4. Click Search
5. The targeted placement options for your site will appear
6. Tick the placement they want
7. Click "add placements"

.. and from there they can select the campaign and ad unit currently in their account they wish to run, then place their bid for placement. Remember, their bid will need to provide better returns than what that block is generating now before Google will display it; so in that aspect, it's a way of making more from a particular slot - you really can't lose.

Of course, not every advertiser will have an Adwords account, but it's not a big task for them to set one up and get a basic campaign happening if they really want to advertise on your site.

I suggest setting up a page on your site linked in from your advertising (or similar) page explain the above steps to assist merchants wishing to run ads on your site.

Bear in mind too that after you set up targetable placements in your AdSense account interface, it also means that you can probably gain more visibility among potential advertisers who haven't yet visited your site when they use the placement tools to search for web sites that are related to whatever they are wanting to advertise.

Note: after setting up custom channels and advertising placement targeting in AdSense, it may take a day or two before they will appear to advertisers in their Adwords interface; so it's probably best to create the targetable ad placements and then wait a few days before announcing availability of the feature.


Michael Bloch
Taming the Beast
http://www.tamingthebeast.net
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