Adsense or Yahoo Publisher?

Chuck Crawford

Lately many of my customers have been asking me this question:

"Which program is better? Adsense or Yahoo Publisher?"

It sounds simple, but the answer is not. The reason being is
that both programs work well, but both also have different
places when considering whether or not to use them for a
specific website.

Here's why.

Adsense has been around for a while now, and at the moment has
the lion's share of the market in the PPC (Pay Per Click) game.
But anyone who has been promoting them on their websites will
tell you that the payouts have also gotten gradually smaller as
time has gone on. Why? Well it's easy, they are still the best
game in town, so they aren't worried about losing their
publishers to another PPC.

But then came Yahoo Publisher. Which unless you've been living
under a rock for the past ten years, you already know the name,
and know how big that company is. And with the purchase of
Overture, Yahoo is coming into the game well equipped and ready
for a fight.

So, what's the difference between the two?

Here is what I've been able to learn from my own websites.
Yahoo, overall, is paying more per click then Adsense. But
before you jump from this article and start changing your code,
read on a bit more.

Yahoo Publisher seems to be paying more then Adsense on similar
content, BUT... Their ads are not nearly as contextually
targeted as Adsense. So this can present a problem for website
owners. For example, if you have a website that it's primary
topic is 'HOME MORTGAGES', Adsense will display ads that only
link to mortgage sites. But that's not true with Yahoo
Publisher. Yahoo Publisher might display some mortgage ads, but
also might display a Payday Loan ad (BTW if you need a payday
loan, check out this page http://www.thegiftedone.com ), Vonage
ads (Vonage must pay them some big money, as they seem to be the
default when the script doesn't know what to do), or some other
ad that does not relate to the content of your website.

How do you choose which program is right for your site? This
depends on the site itself and the type of surfers that frequent
it. If you have a site that is highly targeted for a certain
keyword, then I would suggest you stay with Adsense. This will
keep the ads focused and targeted to your customers, presenting
them with content that they will click. If they came to read
about cooking recipes, they probably won't click the Vonage ad.
Here's an example of a content targeted website:
http://voip.magicanswers.com

However, if your site is more of a surfer hangout, where people
go when they are bored, or if your site covers a multitude of
topics, then you might be better off loading it up with Yahoo
Publisher ads. This type of surfer is more likely to click an ad
that's off topic, which in turn would pay you better.

At this point what it comes down to is the click thru ratio. If
monitored closely, you can determine what your surfers like and
what they don't like. What they click and what they don't click.
If one program is not performing well for you, then try the
other.

I'm sure that as time goes on, Yahoo Publisher will become more
targeted, and surely will be more competitive. With Google's
Adsense as an adversary they have quite a fight on their hands.
My advice to you is this. If you have one website, then optimize
your PPC links for YOUR website surfers. If you have many,
optimize each site accordingly, but do take the time to test
each program. Find out which one will pay you more. Whether you
own a giant corporation with hundreds of websites, or a home
based business branching out to the internet, the bottom line is
always the bottom line. Which comes down to the paycheck. A
simple test might lead you to more money, which is always the
goal.

Till next time, Chuck Crawford http://www.magicanswers.com

About the author:

Chuck Crawford is an established expert in web design, traffic
development and website financial analysis. He has been helping
people design and develop their internet business since 1996.

This article may be reprinted freely as long as all links remain
active.

http://www.affiliatewebsitedesign.com
http://www.magicanswers.com http://www.thegiftedone.com

About the Author: