Thread: Image vs Text ADs - Brainstorming

Hi

Like many of you I mostly displayed Text Ads for blending and also because I thought
clicks on text ads earn more (which they do because Image Ads are CPM Ads!)

HOWEVER after receiving a google message telling me that my webpage does not use its full potential
by not using image ads I started to rethink my approach.

What does ((login for URL)) says about image ads?

We can't guarantee that you'll earn more by displaying image ads.
However, by choosing to display image ads in addition to text ads,
you can help ensure that you'll have all available advertisers bidding to appear on your site.
Both text and image ads will compete in the same auction to display on your pages,
and we'll automatically display the ad(s) that we expect to earn you the most.

so far so good. Not much info here to help me/us decide what approach we should take.

((login for URL)) however offers this explanation:

Because an image ad takes up the entire ad unit on a site in our content network,
instead of being one of four text ads on a page, we use an effective CPM, or eCPM, model to rank all ads in the auction. This ensures that both CPC and CPM targeted text and image ads are evaluated in the same manner. As always, the highest ranking ad(s) will be served to our users. If this happens to be an image ad, this means that the ad has an eCPM that is greater than the sum of the next four ads that it out ranks.

This does make sense and clarifies a widely spread misunderstanding.
Image ADs are CPM based and you don't earn anything when users click on them.
However you earn each time an image ad is displayed.

The lower your CTR is the more valuable CPM based ads are.

I for myself decided to activate text and image ads on all my ad spots
on my main site to see if it will increase my earnings over time.
Because I have a high eCPM on my major earning ad spot I doubt there will be much image ads
to be served on that specific spot but most other ad spots should receive increased earnings over time.

What are your thoughts?

StarBuG

My thoughts are that you clearly misunderstood what they are saying.
They don't say that images are CPM based.
Re-read that part very carefully:
" This ensures that both CPC and CPM targeted text and image ads are evaluated in the same manner. As always, the highest ranking ad(s) will be served to our users. If this happens to be an image ad, this means that the ad has an eCPM that is greater than the sum of the next four ads that it out ranks."

They simply say that for an image (or a large unique text-based ad) to appear, it needs its eCPM to outweight the SUM of the eCPM of all possible text-ads in this spot. So for instance on a 728x90 ad banner, usually there are 4 spots for text ads paid at CPC. There's only one spot for a CPM based big text-ad. There's also only one spot for a CPC or CPM based image/video ad.
Image/video ads can be paid by CPC or by CPM.

They analyse each ad eCPM, no matter if they are paid by advertizers by CPM or CPC.

SO, if an image ad has an eCPM of $10, it will display only if 4 text-based ads SUM of eCPMs is less than $10.

Hope you understand better now.

Now, for my own opinion, I always let adsense decide to display text or images, because I know their interest is the same as mine and that is their job to take care of that part of the process (choosing ads)

Yeah you are right, Image Ads can be CPC or CPM based,
but my educated guess is that most image Ads are CPM based.

I have read hundrets of threads talking about a decrease in earnings when
activating image Ads. Most users did a Test that run 2days up to a week to
decide which works better.

I think a test this short does not deliver the results you need to decide if
allowing image Ads too will bring in more money. Also I think that allowing
Image Ads in combination with placement targeting is the best way to increase
revenue over time. If anyone reading this does not use placement targeting yet
read my article: ((login for URL))

I for myself did not see any decrease in earnings since I allowed AdSense Image
Ads besides my Text Ads on the contrary, my AdSense Earnings are increasing rapidly:
((login for URL))

I tried the text only ads for a week and saw a big drop in revenue... people on my site ignore text ads... a flashy image might catch their attention. I let Google display both but it's something each web master should investigate for him or herself, I don't think there's a general rule favoring one over the other.

It is a difference between allowing both and allowing image Ads only.

Image Ads will in most cases not create the eCPM that Text Ads do but in some cases they do.
So whenever they do they are shown. Allowing image Ads increases the competition for your
Ad Inventory and with that your earnings.

So all in all it's better to allow google to choose so activating the images and text is better?

In my opinion yes, but I haven't run tests. So my opinion is based on nothing else than speculation that Google's interest meets mine.

In the overall majority of cases that is right.
The more competition in an auction the better the prices.

In a few days I'm going to put my main ad to be image only and see what happens.

Why Image only?

Allow both image and text Ads and let google decide on which page which Ad
earns you the most. Image only will most likely cost you money unless you run
very graphic heavy websites.

StarBuG