Need Advice On AD Placements

[TheBigK]

It looks like Google does not like big ads placed above the fold. I'd really appreciate if someone could take a look at our website ( community ) : http://www.crazyengineers.com/community/ and suggest the places where we can post ads. I'm particularly interested in putting ads on the thread_view pages.

I've currently placed a link unit above the breadcrumb which should take care of the hosting bills. I'm more focused on building a 'quality' site. So the longer term strategy is to list highly in Google and then attract direct advertisers.

 

[Walter]

Google has a dedicated help page for forums where they explain where the best positions are. Search for "best practises for ad placement" or use this link (but not specific for forums!):
https://support.google.com/adsense/...097&ctx=cb&src=cb&cbid=-nfqe5ybv25li&cbrank=0

BTW, really like your site.

EDIT: this is the link for forums: http://support.google.com/adsense/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=187649

 

[HenrikHansen]

Yeah, a bit off-topic, but nice site, this engineer site, I have also been looking sometimes at it for inspiration.

 

[TheBigK]

Google has a dedicated help page for forums where they explain where the best positions are. Search for "best practises for ad placement" or use this link (but not specific for forums!):
https://support.google.com/adsense/...097&ctx=cb&src=cb&cbid=-nfqe5ybv25li&cbrank=0

Thanks, I've been through that page already. I'd need advise on the ad-unit sizes to use.

I wonder my earlier ad location was nice (it earned a lot) :-

------------------------------------------------------------
LOGO
------------------------------------------------------------
Forum > Electronics > Breadcrumb
---Welcome Notice -------------------------------------
Hello & Welcome to CrazyEngineers..
....
....
Thread Title Listed Here
--[Ads By Google]----------------------------------------
[336x280 BOX 1] [336x280 BOX 2]
------------------------------------------------------------
Thread Content starts here.




Now with that format, my ads would be located just below some text [ site introduction ] and the actual thread content would begin below the ad-boxes. But recently Google started pushing our site down in search rankings and I thought maybe our ads are too intrusive. But those ad-spots performed VERY WELL.

Google does not hint whether the Site Welcome Notice would count as 'text above the ads'. Or does it want the actual thread content to appear above the fold?

 

[CTXMedia]

Have a look any of the sites in my signature as a guest and you'll see I have an ATF 728x90 banner above the breadcrumb and in the sidebar I have a small 200x200 box ad - would they be suitable sizes for what you want?

Cheers,
Shaun

 

[TheBigK]

Have a look any of the sites in my signature as a guest and you'll see I have an ATF 728x90 banner above the breadcrumb and in the sidebar I have a small 200x200 box ad - would they be suitable sizes for what you want?

Cheers,
Shaun

Thanks. The 200 px box doesn't convert well. But I might opt for 728 banner on the top. The CTR usually sucks for smaller boxes.