Google AdSense vs. Yahoo! Publisher Network

From: Cliff Kurtzman <moderator_at_o-a.com>
Date: Mon 28 Nov 2005 20:04:08 -0600

We've just completed a week long test where we took a web
page receiving several thousand impressions per day
(sports-related content) and switched the ad units from
Google AdSense to Yahoo! Publisher Network (Beta).

Both networks contain clauses in their terms and conditions
that prohibit disclosure of specific statistics such as
click-through rates. So I'm not comfortable disclosing
specific numbers, but I am willing to disclose qualitative
differences, and I'm interested in hearing results others
have had in comparing the two networks.

Here are the main differences that were noted:

1) Number of clicks dropped significantly using Yahoo
compared to Google... by a full order of magnitude in fact.

2) Yahoo! seems to have insufficient inventory of ads
targeted to the content of the site. On one loading of the
page, I counted 14 ad spots on the page, 6 of them filled
with ads related to page content (four unique ads plus two
repeats). The other 8 ad spots were filled with stuff like
VOIP phone service, home mortgages, and college degree
programs, with ads often repeated. The lack of inventory
of unique targeted ads is likely the primary reason for the
significant drop in ad click rate.

3) Despite the huge drop in click rates, the CPM and total
payment only declined by about 30%. This seems to be because
Yahoo! provided ads paid about 5x per click compared to
Google AdSense ads.

Our conclusions are as follows:

1) For the moment, AdSense is more financially rewarding for this
particular site.

and

2) If Yahoo! can increase its inventory of relevant ads while
maintaining its currently payout to the publisher per click,
it will become significantly more financially rewarding than
AdSense.

Your mileage may vary depending on many factors, including
but not limited to the inventory of ads that Yahoo! and
Google carry targeted to the content of your site.

I'd like to hear the experiences of others.


--Cliff

Clifford R. Kurtzman
CEO | Moderator
ADASTRO Incorporated | The Online Advertising Discussion List
http://www.adastro.com | http://www.o-a.com
(281) 480-6300







Received on Mon Nov 28 2005 - 20:04:08 CST