Google AdSense - Channels, Targeting, Placement and Referrals

AdWords/ Adsense System

Google AdSense Program Attributes
Channels, Targeting, Placement and Referral Options

Here is a summary regarding channels, site targeting, site placement and Adsense referrals in the Google Ad Words/ AdSense PPC/ CPM/ PPA programs.
Many times I get confused about all the AdSense program attributes.
So I have started an "Adsense Options Chart". I hope you like it.

Adsense Channels AdWords Ad Targeting AdSense Site Targeting (Placement) Conclusions

Adsense Channels			Total Channels
AdSense for Content Channel Summary
Custom Channels	Track - by page - by ad type - by placement Ad Placement (CPM) Ad Placement allows advertisers to target your site, or your page with CPM ads.	Paste channel code into each page manually.	200
URL Channels	Track Channel groups - by single page - by multiple pages - by specific directory - by specific sub domain - all pages on a domain	Automatic, once set up.	200
AdSense for Search Channel Summary
Custom Channels	Track - by page - by placement	Paste channel code into each page manually.	200
AdSense Referrals Channel Summary
Custom Channels	Track - by page - by placement	Paste channel code into each page manually.	200
URL Channels	Track Channel groups - by single page - by multiple pages - by specific directory - by specific sub domain - all pages on a domain	Automatic, once set up	200
From this, one might say that AdSense offers 600 channels total, although for different purposes. top of page

AdWords Ad Targeting
CPM
Site Targeting Using Custom Channels	AdWords - What Is Site Targeting? Site Targeting Overview NOW: Advertiser targets CPM ads to URL (site) level, not page level Needed for sites with diverse content: Advertiser targets CPC ads to PAGE level. This is another reason why PPC ads are superior to CPM ads.
Keyword Targeting	Advertisers can target websites by keywords, OR Advertisers can target geographic areas and languages, but not both.
Geo Targeting
PPC
Search Network	All advertisers are displayed on the Google Search Network.
Content Network	Advertisers may "opt out" of the Content Network. Many do because of click fraud.
CPC Targeting Beta	"CPC bidding has often been requested by advertisers who would like to utilize site targeting, but are not comfortable bidding on a CPM basis."
PPA (Jensense on PPA)
Pay Per Action Beta Test	This applies to the Content Network only. PPA Site Placement - Text, Image, or Ad Link
Pay Per Action FAQs	"You can create text, image, or text link ads for your pay-per-action campaign."
Conversion Tracking	Campaign management - Conversion Tracking A click implements a cookie - The conversion timeframe is 30 days. top of page

AdSense Site Targeting - "Placement" and "Referrals"
CPM
Site Targeting	Adsense - What Is Site Targeting? All About Site-Targeted Ads
Site Placement	What is Ad Placement?
Custom Channels	The publisher makes ads site targetable by CPM advertisers, using Custom Channels.
PPC
-	I cannot find any information on how this works for the publisher. Are the targeted PPC ads distinguishable from regular PPC ads? Must they compete with regular PPC ads, or are they given priority? Do targeted PPC ads pay MORE or LESS than regular PPC ads?
PPA Jensense on PPA
Pay Per Action FAQs	- " ... publishers can choose specific pay-per-action ads that are relevant to their site to run in new ad units that they create." Publishers can SELECT a single ad, a group of ads, or a keyword.
Referrals	IN BETA: Adsense now accepting applications for new referrals beta The publisher targets PPA ads to SITE level. The publisher CANNOT target PPA ads to URL (page) level. Bad for sites that have multiple subjects - not everyone is in a "niche". I immediately signed up, to give them a try, and see how it actually works. Because the PPA option is NOT contextual, the program policies are different - You CAN draw attention to the ads, but You still CANNOT tell people to click on your ads! top of page
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Conclusions	CPM Ads Are Not the Best Choice for Publishers Targeting and Placement refer to CPM ads only. In my personal opinion, CPM ads are good only if your CPC performance is incredibly poor, AND your traffic is extremely high. One problem is that all the Site Placement discussion relates to specific pages, but the advertiser can only target at the site level. If your site consists of many diverse subjects (this site), this is a poor option, since the ads will all be targeted to the content of just one page. For the average small to medium-size web site, CPC should provide a MUCH higher revenue than CPM ads, by a factor of 10. I was "Site Targeted" for a short time, at a rate of many impressions per penny. The eCPM was abysmal. I emailed Adsense, and had site-targeting turned off on my sites. I don't know what the formula is, but somehow the CPM ads were reducing my CTR and eCPM stats - not acceptable to me. Why settle for an eCPM of $2 with CPM, when you can achieve an eCPM of $20 or more with CPC ads? I just don't get it. All the talk about "reducing advertiser cost", is the same thing as reducing the publisher payout. N'est ce pas? CPM rates need to go up quite a bit, to produce the same publisher income that CPC currently does. PPA Ads - The Newest Google Adsense Alternative Now we have PPA - a new ball game. At first blush, this looks very positive. But elsewhere, there have been problems with PPC in the past, with publishers being denied commissions, through cookie manipulation and hijacking. The announced cookie conversion timeframe is thirty days. I dump my cookies every week, for several reasons. Others do the same. Does this mean that I CANNOT use the new PPA option? Google needs to TELL US the names of the cookies that must not be deleted. And, we have no way to confirm that a conversion actually occurred or not. Only the advertiser knows this, and each advertiser may or MAY NOT be honest. It will be at least 2 months or so before we get any real feel for the viability of this new program. Future forum reports will make or break this new alternative, in the next few months.
I made this Adsense targeting page to save myself some time, and help me to understand the differences between the Google Adsense options. It is a lot of data to absorb. top of page

Disclaimer
This is NOT A Google, Inc. Site
In no way, did this data come directly from Google, Inc.
I am not privy to any inside information.
This page consists of a compilation of public information, commonly available on the internet, at multiple sites, as well as public webmaster forums, and simple manual tests.
The opinions stated above are merely the personal opinions of the author.
Although the author makes every effort to verify the information on this page, no information on this page is guaranteed to be correct, and any data contained herein may be erroneous.
This information is subject to change, and may not be relevant when you read it.

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This Google AdSense Targeting page was last updated on 2007-05-12.