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June 11, 2019 ,

 Updated September 29, 2021

Publishers everywhere understand the appeal of Google AdSense (and its competitors) - namely that it’s free, it’s low maintenance, and it generates ad revenue. All of those are great features, but what if AdSense performance could be improved? Admittedly, this isn’t a new idea. Dozens of companies claim to be able to help publishers earn more via one or more optimization tactics. In reality, most of these tactics are surface-level adjustments that can be impacted both positively and negatively by a number of forces. Let’s take a closer look at the realities of AdSense optimization, beginning with the basics.

How Does AdSense Work?

AdSense is the single largest ad network in the world. By placing AdSense ads on their sites, publishers are inviting the tens of thousands of advertisers that make up the ad network to bid on their inventory (ad placements) via real-time auctions. While AdSense advertisers pay on a CPC scale, impressions are determined by Google, who assigns each campaign an eCPM value (effective cost per thousand) based on some blend of factors like campaign click-through rate (CTR), device type, geography, content match, etc.

Google AdSense

Up to a point, all of that is great for publishers. After getting set up there’s virtually no work to be done. However, over time the publisher may want to get more out of their advertising. This is where AdSense has its limitations, as it operates as a black box offering the publisher no data or control. In effect, Google offers publishers a tradeoff: free and easy service in exchange for the right to sell the publisher’s inventory as they see fit.

How Much Does AdSense Pay?

Many factors contribute to the answers to this question, including things like website traffic, content quality, ad formats, ad placement type, geography, and many more. To generalize widely, AdSense CPC payouts range from USD $0.01 up to the $10 range (in very exceptional cases). For publishers in mature advertising markets, it’s safe to assume an average CPC in the $0.10-50 range. For publishers in developing markets, average CPCs are regularly at or below $0.10. AdSense CPC revenue is split between the publisher and Google at approximately 70/30 in the publisher’s favor. Once we understand these numbers, it’s plain to see that volume and high quality content are essential to reaching your ad revenue goals. Faced with this low price/high volume earning model, it’s no wonder that publishers seek out ways to increase ad revenue. Enter the optimization solutions.

Is It Really Possible to Increase AdSense Revenue?

Before we talk about vendor optimization options, here’s a quick look at a few common methods publishers use to try to increase ad revenue.

  1. The simplest strategy is to stay with AdSense and put more ad units on the site. The danger of this option is that more ads equates to a worse user experience. Worse user experience can hurt site traffic, potentially nullifying the intended revenue increase and risking further damage to the site’s brand image.

  2. A second option is to try working with one or more AdSense optimization tools. Advantages of this direction include not necessarily increasing the number of ad units and requiring fewer man hours than option #3. (More on this below.)

  3. A third option is to take inventory management up a level by connecting to multiple ad networks in an attempt to greatly increase ad revenue. This requires upgrading from a self-serve solution to an ad management platform, such as Google Ad Manager (GAM). The learning curve gets steep here and the man hour investment is significant, but the return should also be larger than in #1 or 2 above.

For publishers who aren’t ready to upgrade just yet, searching for a way to increase AdSense revenue will return multiple methods by which companies attempt to reliably improve performance. These methods primarily involve A/B testing of either or both of ad creative or ad placement. While these methods can impact revenue performance, they are often inefficient due to the unscientific nature of this kind of testing and the ad ops manpower required. For small publisher teams or bloggers, this is a highly inefficient use of your time. A fully-automated solution that takes a data-driven approach makes a lot more sense than spinning your wheels with the endless work of A/B testing.

Data-Driven AdSense Optimization

YieldBooster

A new tool from Intowow - Yieldbooster® - does automate AdSense optimization using a continuous data collection and learning process that is powered by proprietary technologies. Yieldbooster® is a no-integration solution that employs machine learning to automate and optimize ad revenue management from Google AdSense and AdX. With a continuous, iterative cycle, Yieldbooster® optimizes Google ad revenue more efficiently and more effectively than a team of humans or A/B testing robots ever could. Yieldbooster® features its own easy-to-use dashboard from which publishers can get up-to-the-minute performance data for everything on GAM, pull reports, and make manual adjustments to ad units, placements, and ad network settings (which Yieldbooster® also manages for you).

How Does It Work?

Proprietary machine learning technology uses sequential floor price optimization to continuously learn and optimize via GAM. This process not only boosts revenue, but it also improves ad experience, securing more high-value impressions for publishers. Yieldbooster® reacts to market trends in real-time, adjusting floor prices and working to match the highest value traffic from all your sources - including header bidding and other ad networks - to your inventory every few minutes. This process of constant updating improves the accuracy of floor price settings. Finally, all of the processes are automated, saving publishers a considerable amount of time that can be used for other valuable projects.

Is It Easy to Use?

Every publisher wants their site to be as profitable as possible. Yieldbooster® is a must-have tool for publishers in pursuit of that goal. With just a 30-minute time investment to setup Yieldbooster®, the financial rewards will pour in. Intowow publishers commonly see Google ad revenue increases of 30-100% with Yieldbooster®, without adding costly man hours or cumbersome coding. Anyone familiar with Google Ad Manager can handle the onboarding process for Yieldbooster®. ​Try Yieldbooster®  FREE for 30 days and keep all the additional revenue for yourself. Click here to start your free trial now.

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