Monday, August 11, 2008

How Google Matches the Ads to Your Site's Content

How Google Matches the Ads to Your Site's Content
One of the main reasons this program is so successful is because the ads that are displayed closely match the content of your website. This increases the chances that someone will click on the ads.

Here's how Google accomplishes the content match...

"...We go beyond simple keyword matching to understand the context and content of web pages. Based on an algorithm that includes such factors as keyword analysis, word frequency, font size, and the overall link structure of the web, we know what a page is about, and can precisely match Google ads to each page."

So let's say you have an information website about yoga. Once you join AdSense and paste their ad code into your site, Google's technology will determine the topic of the pages by scanning for keyword repeats, page title, etc.

If successful, you will see ads that relate to yoga displayed on your web pages. Of course, the more related the ads are to your site's content, the better the click-thru.

Keep in mind, the ads may not be an exact match because it depends on the ads inside Google's database. So instead of seeing yoga ads, you may see more generic ads like exercise, healthy eating, etc. This is not a bad thing because these are topics your visitors will likely be interested in as well.

Why I Believe AdSense Works So Well
For years, website owners have tried to make money from their sites by putting up banner ads in hopes of visitors clicking them. The problem with banner ads is that the Internet audience is so immune to them, people do not click on them anymore.

When's the last time you clicked a banner ad?

...Exactly!

Second, in order for the web site owner to earn money from that banner ad, usually the web surfer that clicks has to purchase something. With AdSense, your visitors just have to click the ads. They don't have to purchase a single thing.

Third, most people that use banner ads do not do a good job of matching the ads to the website's content so the click thru percentages are dismal.

With Google's AdSense, not only are you displaying text ads, (which tend to receive a much higher click-thru rate than banner ads), but you are displaying contextual ads that match your website's content....thanks to Google's advanced technology.

Lots of times people think the ads are part of your site's content so they click because the information is relevant to your site. Whereas with banner ads, they often have little relevance and people tend to ignore them no matter how much they flash and fly across the page.

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