Boost your website performance using tips from our experts

Google Analytics can be an incredibly valuable source of information for AdSense publishers,  and today we’re announcing a new way for you to use those insights to improve your site’s performance. Google Analytics has created a data sharing setting to give you the option to let our optimization specialists proactively analyze your Analytics account data to find new ways for you to grow your business online. We’ll help you understand how people find your site, how they navigate through it, and how they become loyal users - and we’ll help you take advantage of Analytics features like Content Experiments to help you determine the most optimal layout for your site.

If you’ve linked your AdSense account with Analytics, opt in to the Account specialists data sharing setting under the Account Settings tab. Then we’ll be able to build targeted recommendations to help you improve the user experience on your site and monetize with AdSense more effectively.

Additionally, if you want to help make our other products work better for content publishers like yourself, you can opt in to the existing With other Google products setting under the same Account Settings tab. Sharing your Analytics data with other Google products can help us create new publisher solutions to achieve your website goals. For example, AdWords could recommend more effective keywords based on an understanding of how users behave on your site or AdSense could suggest more effective ad placements.

You can find full instructions for updating your Analytics settings in the Analytics Help Center.

Update your Analytics settings

Your website data will not be used for any purposes other than those that you specify in your settings, which you may change at any time. If you haven’t linked your AdSense account with Analytics, you can learn more about using Analytics with AdSense in our Help Center.

Finally, to receive more targeted optimization tips, make sure you’re opted into Performance Suggestions in your AdSense email preferences. We look forward to helping you grow your site!

Posted by Anitra Appa - AdSense Optimization Specialist
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With a refreshing makeover, MakeupAlley.com boosts interactions, clicks and revenue

When users of MakeupAlley.com, one of the web’s largest beauty communities, review any of the 130,000 products that appear on the site, community engagement motivates them to add reviews. Is the product easy to use? Is it visually appealing? Does the product compare well to other products in its category?

After mastering the art of product reviews, MakeupAlley.com conducted a review of its own site and implemented changes.  In doing so, MakeupAlley.com achieved a 171% increase in on-site interactions, 21% more clicks to affiliate links, and a 50% uplift in AdSense revenue. A host of Google tools contributed to the overhaul, and to these compelling results.

Small changes, big impact
In all, the site hosts well over 2 million reviews. Aiming to improve user experience and increase engagement, MakeupAlley.com first made some simple changes to its product pages, home to the site’s latest reviews. Using Google’s tips and resources for publishers, MakeupAlley.com organized and streamlined content and design to make relevant information easier to find.

Product names and rating statistics were made more prominent to make it easier for users to gather product information at a glance. MakeupAlley.com also restructured the layout by separating review content from member profiles. To encourage deeper engagement, MakeupAlley.com grouped and clearly labeled related content. A final tweak saw an existing AdSense unit move to a more visible placement below the navigation, creating space on the page for an additional ad unit.

Tallying up through testing
To measure the effectiveness of the changes, the team set up Google Analytics Custom Variables to track and compare visitor activity, as well as Event Tracking to evaluate in-page interactions. MakeupAlley.com also created custom channels in AdSense to track the performance of ad units.

MakeupAlley.com ran a month-long A/B test, splitting traffic between the original and new landing pages. The new, user-friendly landing page demonstrated promising results. Featuring related content in a clear way helped grow on-site interactions, while organizing affiliate links in an easy-to-find “Where to buy” section encouraged clicks. And the new ad unit placements resulted in a notable upward surge in AdSense revenue.

A beautiful future
Considering that MakeupAlley.com’s revenue comes primarily from advertising and affiliates, the lessons learned are valuable to the brand. “We’re excited to continue improving the usability of our site using this methodology,” says one team member. Based on these successes, plans are already in the works to apply the same tactics to improving user experience and engagement throughout the site.
Want to replicate this kind of success for your own brand?

●      Read the full case study on MakeupAlley.com.
●      Get tips and best practices for content and design from Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.
●      Learn about measuring visitor activity, Custom Variables and Event Tracking with Google Analytics.
●      Find out how to use Google AdSense custom channels to group and track ad units.

Posted by Ian Cohan-Shapiro - Inside AdSense Team

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Grow your audience across devices with Google+ Sign-In

Starting today, you can offer users the option to sign in to your website or mobile app with their Google credentials, and bring along their Google+ info for an upgraded experience.

In addition to secure authentication, Google+ Sign-In includes features to accelerate app downloads and deepen engagement (like over-the-air Android installs from your website, and interactive posts).

Read the official announcement on the Google+ Developers Blog, or get started right away with our developer docs.





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Uncover trends and AdSense insights with Analytics

Knowledge is power: Insightful data on account performance and user behavior can help you optimize your AdSense implementations. By linking your AdSense account to a new or existing Analytics account, you’ll gain access to additional information that can help you identify opportunities to monetize your content more effectively.

Here are just some of the questions you’ll be able to answer when combining AdSense data with reports in Analytics:
  • How are my users interacting with my site? With In-page Analytics, you’ll have access to a visual assessment of how users interact with your web pages. This can help you determine the most strategic locations in which to place ads.
  • Where and why are visitors leaving my site? Identify pages with high bounce rates to determine the percentage of visitors who only see one page during a visit to your site. Users might behave in this way for a variety of reasons, but you can work to provide the best user experience possible by optimizing the content and ad implementation on these pages. 
  • Which traffic sources and URLs help me earn the most? Determine which pages generate the highest AdSense revenue, and then replicate those successful implementations on other parts of your site. You can also set up custom channels for pages that perform well to create attractive placements for advertisers to specifically target. In addition, try content experiments and test different page layouts to compare the performance of key metrics.
To gain these types of insights and more, be sure to link your AdSense and Analytics accounts. Based on publisher feedback, we’ve just improved the linking process to make it more straightforward. Keep in mind that you can only link one AdSense account to one Analytics account, and that the AdSense login must be an ‘Administrator’ on the Analytics account. To get started, visit the ‘Access and Authorization’ section of the Account settings page in your AdSense account and follow the instructions. For more details, please refer to the AdSense Help Center.

To help you get started with your AdSense data in Analytics and show you some relevant information at a glance, we’ve created this easy-to-use dashboard. Select one of your profiles to import, and you’ll be able to quickly see and customize the reports which matter most to you. You can access this dashboard at any time from the relevant profile by clicking the ‘Home’ tab.

Do you have feedback about using Analytics reports or the dashboard? Feel free to leave a comment on our AdSense +page and discuss your thoughts with other publishers.

Posted by Esteban Talavera - Software Engineer, AdSense Reporting

Affiliate Ads for Blogger now in the U.K.

(Cross posted to the Google Affiliate Network blog)

We’ve blogged before about Google Affiliate Network, which helps you earn more from your site with ads that pay based on conversions. Earlier this year, we launched Google Affiliate Ads for Blogger in the U.S. The positive results and feedback we’ve received are very promising, and we’re excited to announce that this gadget is now available to Blogger users in the U.K.

Google Affiliate Ads for Blogger is a gadget that makes it easy for Blogger users to insert an affiliate ad into a blog post and earn a commission when someone clicks the link and makes a purchase on the advertiser’s site.

Watch the video below to learn more:



Here’s how to get started:
  1. If you’re a Blogger user in the U.K. (or the U.S.), sign in to AdSense and go to the Earnings tab in Blogger, or sign up if you don’t already have an AdSense account.
  2. When logged into your AdSense account, you may see the Google Affiliate Ads for Blogger gadget when you write a new blog post. This gadget is available to select U.K. (and U.S.) Blogger users whose blogs match available ad categories, so that’s why you may not immediately see the gadget even if you have an AdSense account.
  3. Select a relevant affiliate ad from the 'Advertise Products' gadget.
  4. Publish your post, and voilĂ ! You may earn a commission when someone clicks your affiliate ad and makes a purchase.
Participating U.K. advertisers:

Advertisers including Bestbathrooms.com, Cheapsuites.co.uk, Crooked Tongues, Diamond Manufacturers, eFlorist, Hudsonreed.com, Perfume Click and The Snugg have already come on board, and more are joining every day.

For additional questions, check out the Help Center or contact The Google Affiliate Network team.

Posted by: Emily Harris - Product Marketing Manager

Your use of the Google Affiliate Ads for Blogger program is governed by the Google Affiliate Ads For Blogger Online Program Terms and Conditions. Please review the Office of Fair Trading's Q&A that discusses a blogger's obligation to disclose financial benefits you may receive for endorsing products or services. As a reminder, under your Google Affiliate Ads For Blogger Online Program Terms and Conditions, You must comply with all applicable laws relating to the disclosure of financial benefits You receive for endorsing any products or services.  For example, when you include a Blogger Affiliate Ad on Your blog, you will clearly identify, in a manner prominently displayed with editorial content on your blog such that it would be unavoidable to the average user, that the Blogger Affiliate Ad is an advertisement.


Fall exclusives from Google Affiliate Network

Boost your revenue this fall with Google Affiliate Network. Over 40 promotions from U.S. advertisers will be available exclusively to Google Affiliate Network publishers from September 21st to September 24th. Post an exclusive promotion on your site and earn a performance fee when users click through and make a purchase.

Follow these steps to get started:
  1. Apply to join Google Affiliate Network with your AdSense Publisher ID (or sign in if you're already a Google Affiliate Network publisher).
  2. Once approved, review the available promotions and click "Apply Link" for each one that you wish to promote.
When can I post these promotions on my site?
All promotions will go live at 12 am Central Time on September 21st, and expire at 11:59 pm Central Time on September 24th. You can find the promotions in your Google Affiliate Network Home tab or by searching for “September Exclusive” in the Links tab.

For additional questions, check out the Help Center or contact us.

Posted by Erica Sievert, Google Affiliate Network team

Join us on Google+ for DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) Small Business week!

We hosted our first DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) Small Business Hangout On Air a couple months ago, and we heard you loud and clear - you want more tips and tricks to maximize your AdSense revenue through DFP Small Business. This week we’ll be hosting our first week dedicated to DFP Small Business performance suggestions, so if you’re not already following AdSense on Google+ there’s no better time to add us to your circles.

We'll cover a different topic each day so join in daily for a full introduction to DFP Small Business, or pick and choose the events most interesting to you. Ask any questions in the comments or live and we'll answer them daily at 11am PT (2pm ET) from a Hangout on Air hosted on our AdSense +page. Here's the full lineup:
  • Monday September, 17th: Should I be using DFP Small Business?
  • Tuesday September, 18th: Dynamic Allocation I: Enabling ad units for AdSense
  • Wednesday September, 19th: Dynamic Allocation II: Priority levels
  • Thursday September, 20th: Setting and calculating your CPM Rate
  • Friday September, 21st: Introduction to targeting
If you’re interested in joining our live Hangout On Air, visit our +page a little before 11am PT and look for the link. Looking forward to hanging out soon!

Posted by Jason Sanio - Inside AdSense team

More control with “mute this ad” [x] icon

We’re investing in many ways to give users control over the ads they see. On YouTube, our TrueView ad product enables users to skip video ads. On Google search, you can click “Why this Ad?” and stop sites you’re not interested in from showing you ads. Our Ads Preferences Manager, available with one click on the AdChoices icon on ads on the Google Display Network, enables you as a consumer to edit your interest categories, or opt out of all interest-based ads including remarketing ads on our Display Network.

Over the next few weeks, we’re introducing a small [x] which will appear in the corner of some display ads on the Google Display Network. When a user clicks the [x], he or she will no longer see ads from that campaign. We’re starting by showing the [x] in ads that are based on remarketing and interest categories.

Users who click the [x] on an ad will be shown a confirmation page explaining that the advertisement has been muted, along with a link to the Ad Preferences Manager. The feedback this provides will also help improve our ads over time.

The muting is not a 100% guarantee you won’t see that ad again as a consumer -- for example, the same ad could be shown by a different ad company, or the marketer could run a separate campaign targeting specific web content.  But we believe it’s an early step in the right direction of giving users control over ads, while helping marketers and websites deliver ads that perform better.

We believe this early-look feature can bring benefits to the entire ecosystem: users have a way to control their experience and signal that they aren’t interested in certain ads; advertisers are no longer paying to show ads to people who aren’t interested; and publishers will receive better performing (and potentially more valuable) ads, and spend less time filtering out ads they think won’t be of interest to their audience.

Online advertising underpins the web and supports millions of businesses. It’s already unique in the level of control it can offer users. We’re at the early stages of these innovations, with much more to come in months and years ahead.

Posted by -- Michael Aiello, Product Manager

Google Affiliate Network exclusive promotions are back

Earn more from your website this summer! Over 50 promotions from U.S. advertisers will be available exclusively to Google Affiliate Network publishers from June 22nd to June 25th. When you post an exclusive promotion on your site, you’ll earn a performance fee when your users click through and make a purchase.

Follow these steps to get started:
  1. Apply for Google Affiliate Network with your AdSense publisher ID (or sign in if you're already a Google Affiliate Network publisher).
  2. Once approved, review the promotions available and click the "Apply Now" link for each one that you wish to promote. These promotions will also be available in your Google Affiliate Network account from June 22nd to June 25th. You can find them in the Home tab or by searching for “June Exclusive” in the Links tab.
When can I post these promotions on my site?
All promotions will be available by 12 am Central Time on June 22nd, and all will expire at 11:59 am Central Time on June 25th. Note that you may not post any of these exclusive promotions until June 22nd.

For additional questions, check out the Help Center or contact us.

Posted by Erica Sievert, Google Affiliate Network team

Introducing the Google+ Share button

(Cross posted to the Google+ Developers Blog)

When your visitors come across something interesting on your site, sometimes you want to encourage a simple endorsement (like +1). Other times, however, you want to help visitors share with their friends, right away. Today’s new Google+ Share button lets you do just that.

In line with the design of the new +1 button, here’s how it looks:

Before visitors share:




When clicked, visitors can add a comment and choose who to share with:






















After they’ve shared, the button turns red. They can click to share again.




The new Google+ Share button is available to all publishers, globally. Try adding it to your site now - just visit Google Developers to get the code.

Follow the conversation on Google+.

Posted by Rick Borovoy, Product Manager, Google+