Ad banners used to be a good source of income. That's not as true these days, but you can still easily cover basic hosting costs for a small forum with careful attention to your banners.
It takes more than slapping a banner in your header template. It takes a bit of time, patience and effort on your part to achieve optimal banner placement.
Luckily, if you use Google Adsense banners, you have some tools that can help.
The first is a very good document that shows where ad banners generally are the most effective:
The second is the ability for you to control the color of your ad banners. Colors can be used to make the ad banners appear like part of the content. Or, they can be used to make the ad pop out of the page.
The third option is the wide variety of sizes that you can use. Having more choices than typical 468x60 banner ads means that you can work relevant ads into your content without looking like a banner farm.
The fourth option allows you to use alternate ads instead of google's public service banners. Why show ads for free?
Finally, Google gives you the ability to create custom channels. These channels will help you monitor the performance of each ad banner on the page.
Ad Placement
I have found that ads are vital in 2 places.
1. On the archive pages. Most of my guest traffic hits my archives first. If they don't find what they are looking for at my site, the google banner often gives them another viable site to check out. So, they click the ad and away they go.
2. In the postbit template of the first post on the page. (Ideally, the banner should be in the postbit of the LAST post on the page. More readers see the last post than the first. But, putting a banner there causes all sorts of grief for firefox and opera users if they try to use the quick reply box.)
What works for me, might not work for you
That's where custom channels come in.
Google allows you to create custom channels. I have several created - one for each placement of an ad banner in a template. Some examples of channel names are: postbit, header, archiveside, archivebottom, forumdisplay, etc.
After you create your custom channel, get the ad code based on that channel and place it in the proper template.
For example, in my forumdisplay, I use a link-type banner. I set that banner to my forumdisplay channel, then grab the code and paste it in my forumdisplay template.
I can now track the impressions banners on my forumdisplay pages receive and how many times they are clicked. Based on those numbers, I can adjust placement of the ad, colors of the ad, or even the size of the ad.
Google helps take the guesswork out of earning money from banners. I have found that using the tips outlined above, my google revenue has gone up 3,000 percent! Yes, 3,000 percent. Before I started working with google's placement tools, I earned pennies every month. Now, I am covering my hosting costs.
It is well worth any effort you will expend.
Amy
Fascinating... I must tell you I have traditional banners on a site running since 2000 with 6400+ members (growing every day). My hosting is only $25 a month and our income is roughly $1200-1500/month.
Here it is if you want to check it out.
http://www.GM-Diesel.com
Honestly I have been in college since 2000 (graduated a few months ago) and unable to give the site much attention. Now that I am free of the bonds of education I am in the process of doing some mods to the site including the VB Advanced CMPS on the front page as well as Google AdSense. I am not proud of the site other than the amount of income it is bringing me for the minute amount of effort I actually put into it.
Google actually contacted me about doing AdSense and I am trying to work the technical aspects of it this weekend. Thanks for your posts and insight!
Fascinating... I must tell you I have traditional banners on a site running since 2000 with 6400+ members (growing every day). My hosting is only $25 a month and our income is roughly $1200-1500/month.
Here it is if you want to check it out.
http://www.GM-Diesel.com
Honestly I have been in college since 2000 (graduated a few months ago) and unable to give the site much attention. Now that I am free of the bonds of education I am in the process of doing some mods to the site including the VB Advanced CMPS on the front page as well as Google AdSense. I am not proud of the site other than the amount of income it is bringing me for the minute amount of effort I actually put into it.
Google actually contacted me about doing AdSense and I am trying to work the technical aspects of it this weekend. Thanks for your posts and insight!
oh thats a big number what i hear.How many Ad Filters did you add into your google AdSense?
very impressive numbers, Matt! :) how long did it take for your site to get that much traffic? (i have my own automotive forums, it is still relatively new, but i plan on making some money off of it... www.auto-labs.com) Any tips/suggestions? Much appreciated,
Are you making $1500 just from adsense or from your sponsors and adsense?
My automotive message board is much bigger and more active yet my adsense earnings are quite a bit less than $1500 a month.
I have never been able to get adsense to run ads relative to my site. I run a motorcycle forum and it posts ads about tee shirts.
Have you tried filtering out the "bad" ads? When I first started I was getting nothing, but ads for bulletin board software, bulletin boards at office supply stores etc... I had to filter about 20 sites before I started getting a steady stream of relavant hits.
No rick how do I do that?
Okay I figured it out thanx, I will try it out.
use your Google id in your links (as in view more) put this in an article on a blog. Then syndicate it.
I have found that using the tips outlined above, my google revenue has gone up 3,000 percent! Yes, 3,000 percent. Before I started working with google's placement tools, I earned pennies every month. Now, I am covering my hosting costs.
Hello, please can you explain what do you mena by this?
I'm not sure what needs explaining? (I'm not going to name actual dollar amounts)
Are you making $1500 just from adsense or from your sponsors and adsense?
My automotive message board is much bigger and more active yet my adsense earnings are quite a bit less than $1500 a month.
I do about that much on adsense on one of my forums
I do about that much on adsense on one of my forums
I bring in low $xx,xxx a month between adsense and ypn now amongst my forums. The key is placement and testing. Spending hours in "research" on what works best WILL pay off in the long run. :)
Amy,
fantastic advice! Thanks I have added this to my site www.BeautUtes.com but ...
1. On the archive pages. Most of my guest traffic hits my archives first. If they don't find what they are looking for at my site, the google banner often gives them another viable site to check out. So, they click the ad and away they go.
How to I add adsense to my archive?
Cheers
Billy
Here you go: http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?p=814771#post814771
I threw my plugins into a product for you. Tweak as needed.
Amy
Thanks Amy ... I'll be getting that for sure!
Finally, Google gives you the ability to create custom channels. These channels will help you monitor the performance of each ad banner on the page.
Amy regarding Channels, can you answer this for me please or someone else anser for me.
This may sound stupid, but since reading Amy's post (this one), I created 200 channels and I have noticed there is now two reports I can look at....
1. Aggregate data and
2. Channel data
Example Only! I wont tell you how much I make. :nervous:
Looking at the amount of money made at each for the last 7days Aggregate data says I have made $20 and Channel data says I have made $40 (example only)
(example only) Normally I make $20 a week, now I am making $60
Please tell me if this is correct.
So does this mean I get paid extra for the Channel data on top of the Aggregate data giving me a total of $60
No. It's just different ways of looking at your earnings.
Very useful: Amykhar
What I decided to do was use "Text only Banners" and then adjust the border and background colours so they look like part of the page text. This way people don't see them as regular banners and avoid them like the plague, but instead see text links with no background colour.
I 've also placed my Google adds in the Archive and Easy Mod archive, as well as using a hack over from vBulletin.com that allows me to display a text banner after every last thread. Nowhere on my site will you see a Banner (only text adds) made to look as much like part of the site as possible.
On you site, one clever thing I see you have done it move you site links at the very top and then added the adsence banner right below them. I've seen this used before where this is done to try and get mistaken clicks on banner instead of site links by putting the adsence very close to site page links.
No. It's just different ways of looking at your earnings.
Thats kinda confusing I reckon.
The only thing I dislike about displaying the full banner image with no background colour to blend in is this. Everybody now knows what a google adsence regular banner looks like and I would image most will avoid clicking it. I mean I know I do when I see a regular adsence banner on a site.
The only ones I've ever clicked is when people blend the background in and place them very near content which catches you off guard click them by mistake. One site did this very well and got two clicks out of me by pure hidding them in content.
I actually like google ads. I have found many interesting and relative sites by clicking the banners.
I actually like google ads. I have found many interesting and relative sites by clicking the banners.
Thats not me being selfish, it's justs because I know the sole purpose of the banner on a site, thats all. So I just don't click them. Nothing personal with peoples sites, just the way I am personally. To be honest I don't even look at the content in a banner.
This is most probably why I prefer text only adds
I have a problem. On my site, even in postbit only webhosting ads are displayed, which are not relevant to the content of a site. Any idea why and how to get rid of it or change it? Also which is better to use good text ads or image ads?
I have a problem. On my site, even in postbit only webhosting ads are displayed, which are not relevant to the content of a site. Any idea why and how to get rid of it or change it? Also which is better to use good text ads or image ads?
I've had the same problem with Google adds at times. For example I have a member called Bulldog. Everytime he creates a thread the adsence banner displays links about Bulldogs as though it takes the links from his name rather than thread content.
Strange
I've had the same problem with Google adds at times. For example I have a member called Bulldog. Everytime he creates a thread the adsence banner displays links about Bulldogs as though it takes the links from his name rather than thread content.
Strange
did you fix that problem somehow?
did you fix that problem somehow?
no I never really looked into fixing it to be honest
did you fix that problem somehow?
Have you looked at Section targeting?
http://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/answer.py?answer=23168
For example, you can downplay the area in your postbit that affects your contextual ads by doing something like this:
Adding the code tells google media bot to ignore this area when matching ads to your site's content. (in this case the username)
You can also emphasize the message area of the postbit to help with the ads.
I know how to create channels, but it seems that when you create a channel and create the code for you web site on adsense that it only puts the channel that you selected. Is there any way to select multiple channels to put in that code that you put in your web site?
I know how to create channels, but it seems that when you create a channel and create the code for you web site on adsense that it only puts the channel that you selected. Is there any way to select multiple channels to put in that code that you put in your web site?I believe you can have 3 channels per page. Just create another channel and copy the code. I have 3 channels on my page.
I believe you can have 3 channels per page. Just create another channel and copy the code. I have 3 channels on my page.
I don't see what you mean unless you are refering to having three seperate banners. I have included a sample of the code from my web page but have changed the numbers to hide my information. Could you please explain how to and where to put the other two channels in it.
Adding the code tells google media bot to ignore this area when matching ads to your site's content. (in this case the username)
You can also emphasize the message area of the postbit to help with the ads.
THANK YOU! That pretty much did the trick! :up:
section targeting is usefull.. but i am not using weight=ignore
just adding <!-- google_ad_section_start --> and <!-- google_ad_section_end --> between the post on postbit template
A couple of questions.
1) on the newest adsense/archive plugin, it shows 3 ads. top, bottom and right column. It appears that my eCPM has gone down even though my impressions are up. Any thoughts?
2) Do I need to modify both the postbit and postbit legacy templates to display ads in my threads? If yes, can you explain.
Thanks
Here ya go - We just wrote a hack that can easily place ads in the 3.54 archive...
EZ Archive Ads System (http://www.vbulletin-faq.com/forum/showthread.php?t=163)
All nicely controlled via the admin cp
~
I know this is a really old topic, but I could use some help... (please?) :D
I've run phpBB forums for many years now, and I have just bought vBulletin and am going to combine 2 phpBB databases into one larger vBulletin forum for my site.
The main (old) phpBB site is located here: http://noated.net/forum/
As you can see, I have been using adwords and banners from the amazon affiliate program for many years. I have almost 20k registered users on the site, but am making only about $10/month from the ads. I have placed them in the topics, posts, redirect pages, etc... but no one ever seems to be clicking them. :o
As I switch over to vB I would like to know the BEST ways to increase my earnings. I've downloaded the mod to place ads in the archives (the one reccomended here), am creating channels to evaluate each ad, and would like some advice from you guys here on which other mods/methods are best? Or if I need to hardcode them in (that's fine too)? I have read the articles on google's site about placement, and will be making a few placement adjustments on the new site. What other advice can you guys who actually are making money give me?
Please help... One of my main goals for the site is to just have it pay for itself, that's the main reason for the switch to vB and a "subscription" model I will be implementing ($1/month for value-added services). Plus it's just better code. ;)
THANK YOU!
A while back, AdSense looked at our site (http://forum.voxilla.com) and made some optimization recommendations. You can take a look if you like, to get some ideas.
I'm using a Custom OpenAds for vBulletin module that I wrote to serve our ads, but we run a fair amount of AdSense ads and our revenue quadrupled after we made changes in position and color.
Google rule for ads is, On any given page, you're welcome to place up to three standard ad units and one ad unit.
Has anyone attempted to maximize output by adding adsense to the forum view or the thread view?
I'd love to know how to do this. And I'd really like to get some adunits displaying in the "topic view areas".
The only thing I dislike about displaying the full banner image with no background colour to blend in is this. Everybody now knows what a google adsence regular banner looks like and I would image most will avoid clicking it. I mean I know I do when I see a regular adsence banner on a site.
The only ones I've ever clicked is when people blend the background in and place them very near content which catches you off guard click them by mistake. One site did this very well and got two clicks out of me by pure hidding them in content.
Blending and dissolving, sometimes I think I'm wanting to make a dime by fooling my dear community members, who come not be fooled by clicking on the ads, but see our forum content. hmm. but there's a trade off.
There is an apt joke here: in an American school in usa a teacher once asked her pupils, who is the most influential figure on this planet ever? Right answer will get 10$ prize from me.
A hindu/Indian student quickly rose up, and said 'Jesus Christ'... teacher was elated, and the guy promptly grabbed the 10$ bill.
Then the teacher asked him the question," you're not even christian, still how did you know it so well."
The guy replied, 'In my heart I knew the correct answer was Lord Krishna, but business is business.'
So you get the moral, huh?
Finally, Google gives you the ability to create custom channels. These channels will help you monitor the performance of each ad banner on the page.
After you create your custom channel, get the ad code based on that channel and place it in the proper template.
For example, in my forumdisplay, I use a link-type banner. I set that banner to my forumdisplay channel, then grab the code and paste it in my forumdisplay template.
I can now track the impressions banners on my forumdisplay pages receive and how many times they are clicked. Based on those numbers, I can adjust placement of the ad, colors of the ad, or even the size of the ad.
Amy
Hi Amy and others,
I have been using for sometime now Custom Channels to track the performance of Google Ads displayed in my forums.
Recently, I implemented Google Ad Manager to display other network ads and Google ads (in the unsold inventory). So Google Ad Manager created its own custom channels for the ad slots where it would be displaying Google Ads for the unsold inventory.
Now, I'm seeing a discrepancy in the impressions shown for the custom channels created to track ads within the same page (say forumdisplay) but different slots.
For example, I have:
Channel 1 - created by me manually to track ads shown in slot 1 of forumdisplay page
Channel 2 - created by Ad Manager to track ads shown in slot 2 of the same forum display page
Ads in the forum display page tracked by channel 1 & 2 should have the same number of impressions. Because they are ads in the same page, both makes an impression when the page is viewed.
But I see a huge discrepancy in the ad impressions tracked by both the channels. Channel 1 created by me always shows less impressions for any day compared to Channel 2 created by Ad Manager. Why?
Ideally, Channel 1 created by me should show more impressions because that slot displays only Google Ads. Whereas Channel 2 created by Ad Manager alternates between Google Ads and other ads depending on the Geo-target audience, eCPM,etc. But still Channel 2 shows more ad impressions for Google Ads.
What could have gone wrong in the custom channel that I created? Please help.
Thanks.
Works as it should with 3.8, one tip is to set pub-id and create channel id to change in code before uploading to acp. :D
neat articles in here love reading them
the problem to put ads in Archive is that :
you can't specify a forum or some forums to show / not show the ads in it .