Google has made a small change to AdSense that may make a big difference in cutting out errant clicks and even your AdSense revenue. They’ve redefined the clickable region for Google AdSense from the entire boxed region, to just the text link. Google Blogoscoped has a mock-up of the difference in the regions.
Although Google has filters to detect outright click fraud, unintentionally clicking on an ad region may be a less insidious yet hard to detect cause of wasted ad dollars. Last year, Google and Yahoo got into hot water over allegations of click fraud and eventually agreed to an independent audit. Google also wound up paying $90 million in a settlement, a small fraction of any potential earnings from fraud, but a wake up call for them nonetheless.
Never even knew the area of the ads was that large. Guessing revenue might go up not down as ads will cost more $$
If google does not want to count such areas, why even have them clickable? That is totally ridiculous from a publisher’s point of view.
As a google user, I am now used to just clicking in the general area of the ad when I want to visit the site being advertised.
This means publishers will be losing money from legitimate clicks. Going from one extreme to another usually only causes more problems. I’m sure google knows.
The “Old Way” as defined by Blogoscoped 1) definitely generated more revenue for Google as there was a larger volume of area to be clicked and 2) likely accounts for such poor results for advertisers on the Google Content Network as people accidentally click on the white space.
My guess is that Google recognized that future lawsuits simply look bad, and they are making far more from search marketing ( Adwords ) then from clicks in their Content Network.
Bottom line: Wise move.
@2 – I believe they will disable the rest of the clickable area…so only the link will be clickable…at least I hope so…if not, you’re right.
Very smart move on Google’s part.
So google is now going to lose a ton of cash because of this…not that smart
Looks like google’s popularity index is reacting at least a little.. http://www.tren...n/trends/google
nice move…
I don’t see the big deal from a publishers standpoint that does use Adsense. If the user was going to click on an add, they would have to simply click the URL… now if you are one of those publishers putting ads mixed in with your text in the hopes of tricking a user into clicking (making you money) then I see what you are bitching about and you deserve to get hit in the wallet.
This is only good news for ethical adsense users, google and both of our bottom lines as their rep goes up and so does the $/click
Jon
Looks like a good move on Google’s part. I cannot see how it affects me as an advertiser though.
Wow, changing the area that is clickable..
Who else can engineer such a fantastic solution? Google does it again! Brilliant, the best minds in the Valley!
Your headline is completely misleading Nick. There is a big difference between an accidental click and FRAUD.
I agree w/ #2…
Why is the whole area clickable? If the only legitimate clicks are the ones made on the underlined text link, why the hell don’t they make the copy unclickable? This is stupid.
Since apparently #2 and #13 cannot grasp what’s going on, I’ll spell it out in more detail.
The area that is clickable is what’s changing. Right now everything is clickable and thus everything counts as a click. The change will make only a small part of the ad clickable and thus only clicks on those areas will do anything OR count as a click.
@14
This post makes it sound like the changes have already been made. Quit being a douche nozzle.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Google did NOT do this out on their own. This was originally suggested to Google by a very controversial post on one of their High Profile SEO blogs.
Interestingly, this is only the latest in about 20 changes that have resulted from certain in your face posts that drilled home the urgency.
Read this entire thread. You will also find the link to the original blog post where the idea originated
http://blogosco...rum/114161.html
Bottom line – the changes will have little to no effect on overall advertising dollars for anyone involved.
Why? Because Google uses an algorithm called SmartPricing, which discounts the click price to advertiser if there the trends suggest the clicks are not valid or convert poorly, both of which are affected by accidental clicks.
When this is implemented
1) fewer clicks, but clicks become more valid
2) click prices will go up for advertisers as SmartPricing determines the increased conversion rates
3) overall revenue stays the same
This is actually very timely. I’ve noticed my CTRs going down precipitously over the last two weeks. Terrible. I’m not sure this is good for either publishers or advertisers. Google, then, may get the worst of it.
This may be a double edged sword… for google and publishers. Lowering click fraud is good for both google and publishers but the revenue may or may not go up.
I guess this will lose some targeted visitors actually. I wrote a review about the new system at my blog please check.
I shared my personal experience how do I click the ads..
http://www.blog...aking-no-sense/
I wonder how much lost revenue this will cost them. I’d say accidental clicks are at least 20% of my clicks (on content sites as opposed to when I am searching).
Makes no difference to me, I just run the ads. I never know whom to feel more sorry for, the desperate shmucks who click on the ads and end up at useless websites, or the people desperate for traffic from click-happy 12-year olds, competitors, etc.
It is positive move to minimize the chances of fraud clicks, I hope they will also innovate ways to reduce chances of fraud clicks especially which are generated with wrong intention by someone.
Wait a minute. If accidental though non-fraudulent clicks go down, and nothing changes with fraudulent clicks, actually, the percentage of fraudulent clicks vs total clicks will go up.
Interesting news, but TechCrunch got the headline backwards!
So how are Google and Yahoo doing with the promise of an independent audit you mention? “Bogatin reports that both John Slade from Yahoo and Shuman Ghosemajumder from Google committed to independent audits in the future.”
I have yet to see either open up to an audit. This change is immaterial and will ultimately have a negative effect on CPC’s for advertisers. Recall the recent algorithm change. Like spam, click fraud is getting worse, not better. Accidental clicks are not the issue, it is the undetected intentional ones Google should worry about.
We’ve been hammered by this change, the CTRs have dropped by more than 70%. Our bottom line is losing hundreds of dollars per day from this change. I really wish they would find some middle ground on this.
here is one good FLAW to their FRAUD SYSTEM..
WHAT IF SOMEONE in another part of the world HAD KEPT ON CLICKING THE GOOGLE AD on someone’s website. Whatever the reason is its not the owners fault but due to google’s monopoly..they will tag it as invalid CLICK and ultimately lock your account and not pay you for it
ISNT THAT A GREY AREA GOOGLE IS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF!!! DAMN!