Will AdSense Improve Given Competition?

[SMSConsult]

Great article on internet investment blog site:
http://www.internetstockblog.com/2005/05/yahoo_readies_p.html

I do however, question the assertion that:
"But Google is vulnerable in, because while Google has introduced products that should increase publishers' ad revenues (image ads, link units and CPM-based ads) it has also been taking an increasing percentage of ad revenue for itself."

Thats not vunerablity just the makings of a price (or pay-out as the case may be) war.

I believe I read on JenSense's site she thinks this(YPN) will push Google to release/improve products faster; I don't think they have been holding back in this regard.

[SMSConsult]

Me thinks I needs a higher rating. :) (and a spell checker for the title)

[Jenstar]

Google has definitely been releasing many more features, enhancements and new beta tests in the last few months, than in any similar time frame in the history of AdSense. And publishers are the ones to benefit from it.

Obviously, any company will look at their competitors, figure out the flaws in the system and what is sorely lacking, and then build those same things into their own system, to give them a one-up-manship over the competition. And Google obviously knows this and is looking to close those potential loopholes that competitors could exploit to gain some of the marketshare from them. It makes smart business sense.

it has also been taking an increasing percentage of ad revenue for itself.

There is no evidence of this. There are so many variables of what can make it seem like this is happening, and for as many publishers who are complaining that earnings are dropping, there are usually just as many who are praising Google for their increased earnings.

As I posted in this thread (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=5816), there are plenty of variables that all affect the money going into a publisher's pockets.

ad unit placement
Ad units per page (more ad units does not neccessarily equal more money)
Ad color & style
Ad unit size
Advertiser budgets for the day
Source of traffic
Smart pricing
Targeting (and PSA issues)
And some other things I'm probably forgetting off the top of my head ;)


Yes, AdSense could be changing the revenue split. But at this time, with YPN right on the horizon, I think they would be smarter than to do any changes to the revenue split right now. The last thing they want is a lot of grumpy publishers complaining about a dropping EPC, because grumpy publishers are much more likely to try out the competition than happy ones ;)

[SMSConsult]

I agree, there are plenty of variables that go into how much publishers are making. And optimizing those variables (and the ones you forgot ;) ) is complicated and exactly why publishers need you JenSense.

However, the reported increase in partner generated revenue not being porportional to cost-of-acquistion traffic is Google’s numbers not publishers. At least that’s what I got out of the blog.