Adsense or Yahoo Publisher?


by Chuck Crawford - Date: 2006-01-02 - Word Count: 619 Share This!

Lately many of my customers have been asking me this question:

"Which program is better? Adsense or Yahoo Publisher?"

It sounds simple, but the answer is not. The reason being isthat both programs work well, but both also have differentplaces when considering whether or not to use them for aspecific website.

Here's why.

Adsense has been around for a while now, and at the moment hasthe lion's share of the market in the PPC (Pay Per Click) game.But anyone who has been promoting them on their websites willtell you that the payouts have also gotten gradually smaller astime has gone on. Why? Well it's easy, they are still the bestgame in town, so they aren't worried about losing theirpublishers to another PPC.

But then came Yahoo Publisher. Which unless you've been livingunder a rock for the past ten years, you already know the name,and know how big that company is. And with the purchase ofOverture, Yahoo is coming into the game well equipped and readyfor a fight.

So, what's the difference between the two?

Here is what I've been able to learn from my own websites.Yahoo, overall, is paying more per click then Adsense. Butbefore you jump from this article and start changing your code,read on a bit more.

Yahoo Publisher seems to be paying more then Adsense on similarcontent, BUT... Their ads are not nearly as contextuallytargeted as Adsense. So this can present a problem for websiteowners. For example, if you have a website that it's primarytopic is 'HOME MORTGAGES', Adsense will display ads that onlylink to mortgage sites. But that's not true with YahooPublisher. Yahoo Publisher might display some mortgage ads, butalso might display a Payday Loan ad (BTW if you need a paydayloan, check out this page http://www.thegiftedone.com ), Vonageads (Vonage must pay them some big money, as they seem to be thedefault when the script doesn't know what to do), or some otherad that does not relate to the content of your website.

How do you choose which program is right for your site? Thisdepends on the site itself and the type of surfers that frequentit. If you have a site that is highly targeted for a certainkeyword, then I would suggest you stay with Adsense. This willkeep the ads focused and targeted to your customers, presentingthem with content that they will click. If they came to readabout cooking recipes, they probably won't click the Vonage ad.Here's an example of a content targeted website:http://voip.magicanswers.com

However, if your site is more of a surfer hangout, where peoplego when they are bored, or if your site covers a multitude oftopics, then you might be better off loading it up with YahooPublisher ads. This type of surfer is more likely to click an adthat's off topic, which in turn would pay you better.

At this point what it comes down to is the click thru ratio. Ifmonitored closely, you can determine what your surfers like andwhat they don't like. What they click and what they don't click.If one program is not performing well for you, then try theother.

I'm sure that as time goes on, Yahoo Publisher will become moretargeted, and surely will be more competitive. With Google'sAdsense as an adversary they have quite a fight on their hands.My advice to you is this. If you have one website, then optimizeyour PPC links for YOUR website surfers. If you have many,optimize each site accordingly, but do take the time to testeach program. Find out which one will pay you more. Whether youown a giant corporation with hundreds of websites, or a homebased business branching out to the internet, the bottom line isalways the bottom line. Which comes down to the paycheck. Asimple test might lead you to more money, which is always thegoal.

Till next time, Chuck Crawford http://www.magicanswers.com



Chuck Crawford is an established expert in web design, trafficdevelopment and website financial analysis. He has been helpingpeople design and develop their internet business since 1996.

This article may be reprinted freely as long as all links remainactive.

http://www.affiliatewebsitedesign.comhttp://www.magicanswers.com http://www.thegiftedone.com

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