Google Adsense Deactivated
By Barry Ritholtz - November 11th, 2008, 9:00AM
Yes, I hear you.
In response to the many reader complaints, I have removed all of the Google Adsense ads for RSS Feeds. They were wildly inappropriate for the site.
Hopefully, the Google Adsense algos will start in with more suitable ads down the road — but for now, I am killing all RSS ads until a better solution can be found. . .
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Google (GOOG), 1 Year Chart
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Down 51% . . .
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Previously:
Google Destroyed Feedburner (October 2008)
http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2008/10/google-destroye.html
November 11th, 2008 at 9:28 am
As a temporary measure, have you considered manual links? Some blogs I subscribe to have a footer with links to books or merchandise the author recommends — on sites which give a kick-back, of course. Because I know the author has recommended them personally, I’m very likely to click on them and consider making a purchase — as opposed to auto-banners, for which I’ve developed a certain blindness.
Here’s an example:
http://www.bikecommuters.com/
(ads only visible in RSS feed)
November 11th, 2008 at 9:30 am
That was dumb — I shouldn’t make you do work. The relevant RSS footer this week on the link I had above reads as follows:
[Click here] for affordable singlespeed bikes. [Beautifully designed, affordably priced canvas and leather bicycle bags.]
Both are items of interest to the blog’s readers. I’ve explored both sites, and am considering a purchase from the latter. Well targeted.
November 11th, 2008 at 10:01 am
How do you insert those ADS as RSS only ?
November 11th, 2008 at 10:37 am
“Gee, why aren’t you folks reading TBP clicking on payday loan ads and mortgage broker leads?”
Maybe Google Adsense thinks you’re a FOX News affiliate?
November 11th, 2008 at 10:58 am
I’m not a WordPress user, but in my CMS customizing the RSS templates is fairly straightforward. WordPress seems similar:
http://codex.wordpress.org/Customizing_Feeds
You probably don’t want to edit the files by hand every time, so it might be easiest to set some page as the “feeder” for all the feeds — eg, append a second page with a permanent URL at the end of every entry, and just update that page every time you want to change the content. Or something like that. Or ask a savvy reader to do it for you.
Or easier yet — there seem to be free plug-ins available:
http://www.blogclout.com/blog/goodies/feed-footer-plugin/
(not an endorsement — just the first one to come up on a Google search).
November 11th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Were people actually seeing ads in the RSS readers? Guess I’m using the wrong one. Been using RSSowl for couple of months and haven’t noticed any. Been getting feeds through:
http://feedproxy.google.com/TheBigPicture
November 11th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Barry, a bit off topic, but did you end up keeping your iPhone?
November 11th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
BTW, I find iPhone’s Wordpress app (free, from opensource devs) was pretty decent, though iPhone’s limitations regarding photo uploads annoy the poop out of me.. And, of course, no cut&paste of links on iPhone :/
November 11th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
The problem is that Google uses the content of the page rather than the meta-tags. They’ve been forced into this because of people posting sites on all kinds of crap with meta-tags to drive ads for the highest paying keywords (think a video games site with debt consolidation ads).
Google has no concept of which sites they “trust” to be responsible with it’s tags, so that is their blanket solution. If Google were aware that the “The Big Picture can be considered a trusted site and is about investment and the economy” they would be in a much better position to serve relevant ads. But, well, they don’t.
November 12th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Hey Barry. Is that Amazon banner at the main page of The Big Picture producing for ya? No specifics necessary in your reply – just a thumbs up, down, or sideways will suffice.
I’ve deactivated AdSense on my own site and am looking for something else – thanks!