Life can get complicated if you operate more than one Google Account and have associated different Google services with different accounts. For instance I have two Google Accounts – one is associated with Google Analytics, AdSense and Blogger while my second Google Account is connected to Gmail, Google Docs, Calendar and Orkut.
Now that’s a problem because each time I open Google Docs or Gmail, I have to log out from Blogger or Google Analytics because they have separate login credentials. This is so tiring and unfortunately Google won’t let you to merge two separate Google accounts.

If you are also in a similar situation as me, there’s something you can do to reduce your login-logoff cycles:
Blogger: The trick is to convert your blog into a team blog but you still remain the sole author.
Go to Settings -> Permissions and type the email address associated with your second Google Account. Thus you will be able to create or edit blog posts, modify blog templates, approve comments and do everything else using either of your Google accounts since both enjoy admin privileges.

If you ever wanted to know about the Google AdSense ads that you have recently clicked from Firefox or IE, here’s a tip:

Open the history panel (Ctrl+H) in the browser and type googleadservices – you will see all the Google Ad URLs that you have clicked since the last time you cleared your browser history.
You can also know the exact web address of the Adwords advertiser from these URLs. Firefox 3 users can type googleadservices in the address bar and get the same information from the auto-complete entries in the drop down.
Nothing very useful but will give you an idea about how frequently you click on Google AdSense Ads on other websites.
Related: Tracking Google AdSense Clicks with Google Analytics

There seems to be some issue with AdSense reports. Several publishers have complained that their earnings report have not been updated in the past several hours.
It is a temporary glitch in the system for sure but a quick update on the official blog from the AdSense team would help ease the confusion that one may see on Google Groups, Digital Point and Webmaster World.

If you are using Google AdSense on your website, here’s some very good news.
You will soon be able to track visitor clicks on your AdSense ads using Google Analytics reports.
These new reports in Analytics have enough details to help you exactly measure AdSense performance on every single page of your website.

Google dropped hints on AdSense – Analytics integration some two years but the program has finally entered the beta phase as revealed by a post on GoogleCache (offline now).

Luckily the story remained in FeedDemon’s cache and picking from there, following is a summary of AdSense related data that you’ll be able to track via Google Analytics:
1. The number of times AdSense ads were clicked on any given web page.
2. AdSense revenue generated per page for clicks mentioned in #1.
3. You’ll also know the CTR and CPM for all web pages – no need to create individual URL channels in your AdSense dashboard.
4. "Top AdSense Referrers" – this is the most interesting report as it helps you know about revenue made per referring websites.
Let’s take an example. Assume two sites – digg.com and cnn.com – have linked to a page on your website and are sending some referral traffic. Now Analytics will tell you exactly how much AdSense revenue you are making through traffic from each of these sites.
This report has enormous potential as it lends a "measurable" value to each incoming link. Some sites could even use this as a replacement for affiliate programs.
All the above information is based on screenshots that were shared by Google Cache but that story is no longer available on the web.

When Google is not able to serve relevant AdSense ads on a web page, the system will display Public Service Ads instead of the regular ads to promote organizations like Red Cross, Direct Relief, etc.

Unlike the regular AdSense ads, web publishers do not get paid for clicks made on Public Service Ads and even Google doesn’t make any profit by running such ads.
In their own words – "PSAs are non-profit organization ads that are served to pages when targeted ads are unavailable, or when Google is unable to gather content from the page."
Wikipedia too defines a public service announcement as "a non-commercial advertisement broadcast for the public good."
Google launched their own 2008 U.S. Election site in August that, like a portal, links to information about US elections available on other Google Sites like YouTube, Knol, Google Maps, etc.
Now if you happen to spot an AdSense PSA on some site (like here), chances are that it will be about Google’s own Elections website as in the screenshot above.
This is surprising because this "ad", though a PSA, doesn’t fit in Google’s own definition of PSA (non-profit organization ads) nor that of Wikipedia (non-commercial advertisement).
Here’s what ABC News has to say about Google’s elections page – "the new applications are part of their effort to enhance the search giant’s involvement in U.S. politics and, ultimately, to become as central to the electoral process as Google and YouTube have been to media usage."
All the unfilled AdSense inventory is helping Google promote their elections page but am not sure if these ads classify under PSAs or "free advertising" because Google does have "commercial" interest here.

You may have come across AdSense ads that promote Google products like AdWords Builder, Google Analytics, Chrome Browser, etc. but here’s a new Google ad for Web Search that may even raise some eyebrows.
Google is using AdSense ads to promote (or rather advertise) their search results pages specific queries. The ad campaign is currently live on a couple of health related blogs in India but I won’t be surprised if this is extended to other domains like technology and entertainment. See screenshot:

These AdSense ads are in the form of a gadget (see source) and includes links to eight different search pages on Google corresponding to popular medical queries like "How to avoid pregnancy" or "How to get pregnant". There’s also a Google Search box in the AdSense banner itself that will again take the visitor to the Google page.
These ads appear CPM (none of the outgoing links include tracking code) which is fine but I think there are two potential issues with such a format:
Issue 1: Regular AdSense ads have one exit point (the advertiser’s website) but this new format has 11 different exist routes – 8 search queries, 1 Google Search box, 1 Google logo and 1 Google text link – all pointing to the advertiser’s website which in this case is Google itself.
Issue 2: This is a not one and some web publishers may get the impression that Google is practicing some form of reverse AdSense arbitrage. That’s because when a visitor clicks a link on this gadget ad and lands on the Google search page, he’ll again be served with AdSense ads and these search ads could potentially be of higher value as they getting displayed on a page for a "popular health query".
But issues apart, such AdSense ads would be a blessing for web publishers who rank on the front pages of Google for these search queries.
Update 1: Here’s another version of the same ad for technology blogs. It includes search queries like "How to create a website", "how to create a blog" and so on.

Update 2: Here’s another set for Ads for Bollywood celebrities (entertainment) related search queries.

Related: Google AdSense Sandbox

his is an open request to the AdSense team at Google.
There have been just too many issues with AdSense during the past week or so. The reporting delays are getting too frequent now and then some major technical glitch occurred last week that probably had an impact on the revenue of some AdSense publishers.

The problem resurfaced today and most AdSense users are seeing a screen like the one above – the Google ad impressions are in line with their regular page views but there’s no other data.
The issue has been around for the past 5 hours or so but the AdSense blog doesn’t have an update yet but if you check Twitter or any of the web forums, there’re tons of people already discussing the issue – here’s a snapshot.

he AdSense Optimization team at Google recently conducted a live chat where they shared some useful tips on improving revenue from text ads as well as AdSense for search. The presentation was followed by an interactive Q&A session with AdSense publishers.
Recording of AdSense Optimization Webinar
In case you missed this webinar, here’s a complete recording of the presentation that was sent to all registrants via email. The Q&A starts at 26:00.
 
And here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions from the AdSense chat session again shared via email.
Q: What is the performance difference between the 300×250 and the 336×280 units?
AdSense Specialist: The 336×280 usually has a higher CTR; however we tend to have a higher image inventory for the 300×250 unit. Ultimately, both the large and medium rectangles are two of our top performing ad units, so using the one which fits most seamlessly into your site design is key.
Q: Does adding additional AdSense ad units to your pages decrease CPC or eCPM?
AdSense Specialist: Usually, most publishers see overall revenue gains if they place more ad units on their pages. Publishers may see a decrease in the average "eCPM" in their account, but this is expected because the additional ads on a page will usually generate lower per-click revenue. For example, the top 4 ads on a page will generate the most revenue through our auction model, and the next 5-8 ads will generate lower amounts. However, the overall revenue generated will usually be higher for the publisher.

Google AdSense publishers can place up to:
a. A Maximum of three AdSense for content units (text, image or rich media) on one webpage.
b. A maximum of three AdSense link units (horizontal or vertical)
c. A maximum of two Google Search Boxes on one web page (it can be Google custom search as well but make sure the Google logo is visible).
d. One Video AdSense unit (this has been discontinued)
Google AdSense program does not permit AdSense ad code to be placed in email messages or newsletters. Nor are you allowed to add AdSense ads in software application, browser tools, extensions, etc.
The Google AdSense code may be implemented only on web-based pages.

Quickly wanted to share that Digital Inspiration was recently featured on the AdSense Chinese blog – the English translated versions are available here and here.
In related news, the arrangement of Google ads on this site was recently discussed in an online webinar on AdSense Optimization at 11m 20s (placement targeting) and again at 13m 18s (Ad Link units). Thanks.

Google India is holding an event tomorrow in their Gurgaon Office for AdSense publishers.
The email invite says "Google India Publisher Day" and though I am not quite sure about the exact agenda for this event, it would be a nice opportunity to meet members of the Google AdSense team as well as fellow bloggers who are AdSense publishers.
Do you have anything to ask?
If you have any questions related to the AdSense product that you would like to ask the official team members, please put them in the comments and I’ll pass them on.
If you are also attending this event, please wave.

Map of Google Gurgaon

Above the Fold refers to any area on the web page that is prominently displayed and this generally is the upper half section that the visitors can read without touching the scroll bars of the browser.
It’s a common understanding that Google AdSense Ads perform best when placed above the fold as they get maximum attention and hence a higher CTR.

There’s however a different opinion now which says that Ads may get more clicks when placed next to the content or near the comments:
"A couple years ago there was this idea that putting the ad above the fold would get more attention. However visitors just completely overlooked the ads because they were coming to the site to read the content and didn’t give a doodle about what sat on the way top of the page. And really, when people were reading the content, the ads were too high to see and/or click on and website owners and their advertisers were not making any mula.
Today we put the ads next to the content or in between action points like commenting or sharing links. This is because the visitor subconsciously sees the ad and may be looking for something to do next. When next to an action point like a comment, the visitor is no longer reading the article and is much more inclined to click on an ad. " Link.

*This is how microsoft.com would look had it been an AdSense Parked Domain.
You need to own hundreds of web domain names before Google accepts you in their AdSense for domains program but using the form below, you can immediately know how a website would look had it been an AdSense Parked domain – just enter the URL of some website and hit Submit.
Update: The form has been removed.
AdSense for Domains is a Google program that allows web domain owners to monetize parked domains without even creating a website.
Parked domains generally have no real content and Google therefore serves contextual AdSense ads based on the meaning of the domain name. So a parked domain like freetones.com may have Google ads related to MP3 ringtones while a site like coolmail.com will show ads about email services.
Internally, the form redirects you to Google Domain parking service located at domains.googlesyndication.com/apps/domainpark/domainpark.cgi with your website URL as one of the parameters. And like the AdSense Sandbox, the ads and related searches may vary according to your geographic region.

The rumors are true. Google AdSense ads for RSS feeds are coming next week. Here’s a sample code that will be inserted in your FeedBurner feed for showing AdSense ads.

The AdSense ads inside FeedBurner RSS feeds will be contextual and CPM based – i.e., you get paid based on the number of ad impression – so the more subscribers you have, the more revenue.
And most likely you’ll see image banners in the feeds, not the regular text ads. THe RSS ads can be managed via the regular AdSense dashboard.
Google will initially experiment with only a small group of AdSense publishers but will eventually roll-out the program to all AdSense and FeedBurner customers. The layout will be quite different from the earlier screenshots.

AdSense publishers will soon have access to extremely detailed stats about ads via Google Analytics reports.
You’ll know about web pages that get more clicks, revenue generated per page, CPM rates, top referring sites, etc.  For more, check this story on AdSense and Analytics integration.

The screenshots were inadvertently published on TheGoogleCache.com and were cached by different newsreaders. Here are more screenshots from the same source that give exciting hints about what’s coming next. (click to enlarge)

AdSense Overview

There’s a new AdSense section added to the Analytics Reports that displays complete statistics about how visitors interact with Google Ads on your site and how have the ads performed over time.

Top AdSense Content

This report gives a consolidated view of AdSense earnings made along with information like clicks per page, CTR, CPM and total number of ad impressions.

AdSense Trending

This Analytics report will give an overview of how your AdSense earnings have changed over time (like your site traffic in Google Trends).

AdSense Revenue Per Page

This report is similar to the ‘Top AdSense Content’ report but that was for the entire site and this is on the page level.

Top AdSense Referrers

Let’s say site abc.com and xyz.com have linked to a page on you are website and you are getting referral traffic. With the AdSense Referrer report, you’ll know the exact revenue that you are making from visitors that are coming to you via two different sources.

Google doesn’t disclose the percentage of advertising revenue that it shares with AdSense publishers but you can pick some clues from their quarterly earnings data.

There are three sections in the quarterly reports that are interesting from the perspective of AdSense publishers like you and me.
1. Google Network Revenues – This is total advertising revenue generated through AdSense program on sites that aren’t owned by Google (like blogs, NYT, etc.).
2. Traffic Acquisition Costs – This is primarily the amount that Google distributes among AdSense publishers.
3. Paid Clicks – While Google will not share the exact percentage of ad clicks on their network, this column will help you figure out if the number of clicks per impression are increasing or heading south. More clicks mean more revenue both for publishers and Google.
Now let’s compare this earnings data for Q1 2008, Q2 2008 and Q3 2008:

	Q1 2008	Q2 2008	Q3 2008
1. Total Revenue earned by Google from AdSense	$ 1.69 billion	$ 1.66 billion	$ 1.68 billion
2. AdSense Revenue that Google shared with publishers	$ 1.49 billion	$ 1.47 billion	$ 1.50 billion
3. Percentage of revenue share	88.16 %	88.55%	89.29%
4. Paid Clicks	n*1.04%	n*1.03%	n*1.07%

So what does this mean for AdSense publishers. While I am no expert, these numbers clearly say:
1. More people are clicking on Google Ads as is evident from the growth in %age of ad clicks (see #4).
2. The amount of advertising revenue generated from AdSense publisher sites has more or less stayed the same throughout the year (see #1) but Google is distributing a slightly larger share of the pie among AdSense publishers (see #3).

So the rumor was true. You can now integrate your AdSense account with Google Analytics. The feature is being slowly rolled out but until then, this YouTube video will give you enough hints of what’s in store for you or check the screenshots. Good times.

"Ads are not permitted in any window that is not initiated by a user’s click. AdSense ad code may also not be implemented on webpages where navigational elements have been removed. Additionally, we do not permit ads to be placed in any window which lacks navigational controls, including back and forward browse buttons, and an editable URL field. "

Search for something like "work from home", "Internet jobs" or "make money online" on Google and you’ll see a flood of ads promising easy money through the AdSense program.
If you have ever tried AdSense on a site, you probably know how tough it is to make that first dollar but these ads, which are surprisingly served on the Google network itself, make things look so simple. Just order an "AdSense kit" for a few dollars and the money will start rolling in.

So how do these "get rich quick" schemes work? I called the owner of GoogleCashSense.com – they advertise pretty heavily on Google and here’s what he told me about their program.
The whole package costs around Rs 1,100 and in return, they’ll provide you a readymade website with some 110 pages of content. You then put your AdSense Publisher ID in these pages and wait for others to click on your ads.
When I asked him if people can click their own ads, his advice was to "avoid it" or use another computer. He also shared a couple of websites – websyite.com and 66marketing.com – that seem to use the "Cash Sense" program.
As an active web user, you probably won’t believe any of the "promises" made by these schemes but there are real people (and lots of them) who actually fall prey to them.
And GoogleCashSense aren’t just the only player in town – there’s netjobsinindia.com, GoogleCashCow.com, eJobsJunction.com, myGoogleMoney.com and numerous other sites here that use Google’s own AdWords network to trick people into buying their "Made for AdSense" kits. All have similar websites with fake testimonials and photographs of AdSense checks.
Google policies do not allow ads related to promotion of "miracle cures" then why allow ads that promise "miracle cash". True, you can’t prevent people from running such sites but you can at least block them from using your own ad network to promote their sites.

Enable Google Analytics for your AdSense Account Now

Google is slowly rolling out Analytics reports for AdSense that help you track click performance and ad revenue both page by page and day by day.
The functionality went live in October but most AdSense publishers (both US and international) are yet to receive their Analytics invitation from Google. If you can’t afford to wait any longer, here’s a quick tip that should help enable Analytics reports in your AdSense account in less than 24 hours.
Open this Google form, fill in your AdSense Publisher ID and click submit.  Check your AdSense dashboard the next day and you’ll see a link asking you to associate your current AdSense account with an Analytics account.
The free version of Google Analytics is limited to 5 million pageviews a month so that should fit most small websites and independent blogs.

Video: AdSense reports in Google Analytics

Video: Link Google AdSense and Analytics

If you maintain more than one site, you’ll need to select one as the primary domain and then insert a small piece of tracking code into the of other websites. Thanks Barry and ASA.