Ever since Google AdSense opened up possibility to earn money as a
web publisher, contextual advertising has assumed significance. Until a
few years ago, banner ads were more favored. Google Adsense wasn't
around, and often odds were against small businesses to place ads and
get noticed. Over time, banner ads became less preferable mainly
because web viewers increasingly considered them as major distractions.
Overture and Google took in the scent quite early and started
experimenting with text ads based on contextual advertising. Initially
the emphasis was on showing text ads in search results when a search
term coincided with the keyword chosen by the ads. AdWords took shape
early 2002, and though Overture was already an old hand when AdWords
started, the latter galloped ahead in no time.
Google AdSense is a late entrant, followed only recently by Yahoo
Publisher Network (YPN). After YPN debuted, there is no stopping the
comparison between the two. For an average web publisher today and in
coming days, it will be like 'the more, the better'. In this article,
we will closely look at contextual advertising and how the competition
between YPN and Google AdSense affects web publishers.
Contextual advertising - what it means?
Contextual advertising refers to those ads that are relevant to the
content of a webpage in which they appear. For example, if a viewer
visits a site about paintings, and the site shows contextual
advertising like Google AdSense, the viewer will see ads related to
paintings, such as watercolor works, art gallery and so on. Contextual
advertising is dynamic, so if a viewer refreshes a webpage, a
completely new set of ads appears.
Google AdSense on the cue
After overwhelming success of AdWords in relatively short time, Google
AdSense came to be launched in early 2003, a program that is all about
contextual advertising. To be true, eZula must retain credit of having
first launched contextual advertising program way back in 2001. But it
is Google AdSense which popularized the concept rapidly.
What is good about Google AdSense is that it allows web publishers of
any size to display its contextual advertising and earn money.
In comes Yahoo Publisher Network (YPN)
Although belated, Yahoo launched YPN to take on Google AdSense in
August last year in the field of contextual advertising. Though yet to
be out of beta and still meant for US sites, YPN does appear as a whiff
of fresh air in the sense that users will now have another option other
than the ubiquitous Google AdSense. As of now, there is less variety in
YPN compared to Google AdSense. However, YPN is said to be paying far
more than Google AdSense for each click generated, which is one reason
why YPN publishers are happy with its contextual advertising.
YPN versus Google AdSense
It is early days to compare between the two, especially since YPN is
yet to debut internationally. Going through user experience, the most
important point that crops up is YPN's generous EPC as said above.
Google AdSense is more superior in ad targeting which means more
click-through-rate (CTR). Ad links are shown in Google AdSense, not so
in YPN. On the other hand, while YPN displays link title to show the
full ad text, Google AdSense does not.
In addition to text ads, Google AdSense also allows image ads in the
same format as text displays. There is however no way to know from ad
statistics as to how image ads perform vis-à-vis text ads. Though
necessarily contextual advertising, image ads still are a throwback to
old days of banner ads. YPN does not show image ads.
Summing up, there is no doubt that contextual advertising is here to
stay. As YPN evolves further, the choice between it and Google AdSense
can be expected to narrow down. For the moment, if you are not located
in US, yet interested to make an earning through contextual
advertising, the answer is Google AdSense.