AdSense Report Card

I have a column on iMediaConnection that will be of interest to all of you. Here is an excerpt-

Transparency
Google has built an advertising marketplace on the principle of opacity. Everybody involved is provided with a modicum of information rather than the complete picture. In doing so, the company creates an atmosphere that asks all involved to simply trust it. While Google might argue that this is needed to minimize opportunism by all involved, this is a dangerous way to run a marketplace.

Here is a top 10 list of what Google does not reveal.

10.Google does not tell advertisers where exactly their ad will get placed.

9. Google does not tell some publishers why exactly they shut them down.

8. Google does not share any network-level performance figures.

7. Google does not provide any information about how overall click rates have changed over time.

6. Google does not share any information on who clicked on the ads.

5. Google does not reveal what leads to higher placement among paid ads.

4. Google does not reveal how exactly it evaluates the quality of a text ad, i.e., the Quality Score. According to Google, the formula "varies depending on whether it's calculating minimum bids or assigning ad position."

3. Google does not tell advertisers what countries the users come from.

2. Google never tells publishers why they got paid a certain amount.

1.Google does not publish any research on ad effectiveness.

Grade: C

Here is an initial reaction to the article-

Franke James -- Sep 14, 2007 (9:05 AM EST)

Excellent article! I agree with you that there is a huge opportunity for a company to develop a superior product to Google AdSense. I used it for awhile on our www.officepolitics.com site -- but the ads that were being fed were trainers and coaches in competition with the Advisers who contribute to the site -- and the ads look junkie. When I called up Google to see if I could choose different advertisers (e.g. business books, career companies), they said, "Sorry. Can't do it. The computer chooses the ads that are delivered to you." This was an unacceptable answer -- so I dropped AdSense. Our most successful ads for the site have been custom sponsorships.

The full column is here.