Replace CPA with Adsense Queston....

bitsdawg

bitsdawg

WF Senior Citizen
Mar 27, 2007
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OK, bare with this long and boring summary...

I have a website which has been earning from one lead type affiliate program for over 4 years now. THey just cut my pay rate - and I am sort of convinced they are now shaving. Believe me, I have stared at these stats every day for 4 years - and while I have no proof - I'm going with my gut here.

I have some great organic rankings in a tough niche - I used to work in this field, and have had websites in it for a long time.


In this particular niche, I am convinced Adsense does just as well, if not better - as existing affiliate programs

Before you Adsense haters start in....

1. Very large and rich companies pay for adsense, and they request placement on my sites. These companies do not run affiliate programs.
2. The affiliate programs are, of course middlemen, that sell leads.


I always stuck with the affiliate program before because it was comfortable and I knew how to "sell" it. But they are making themselves a lot less attractive. They claim they are losing money, and yet Adsense money is better than ever - or no worse.


Question - Will replacing the affiliate lead box with a big old adsense block hurt my site's "authority" or something. You'd think it would be the reverse, but you know how Google is these days? They are self-haters.

I know you smart-asses are going to tell me to test it, but I would like an opinion first.
 


bitsdawg said:
OK,

Question - Will replacing the affiliate lead box with a big old adsense block hurt my site's "authority" or something. You'd think it would be the reverse, but you know how Google is these days? They are self-haters.

I know you smart-asses are going to tell me to test it, but I would like an opinion first.
Click to expand...

what? how do you think eHow is monetizing their site?
 
Depends. We can't tell you, since we don't know your niche, don't know your site, don't know the offer. Testing is your best bet.

Replacing the affiliate box with adsense shouldn't hurt your ranking. I have a site that was pretty much in the same situation as you. My rankings were steady, they only dropped when I did major changes, such as deleting half the text/adding pictures etc.

Why not look for a similar CPA offer, or try and get your current CPA offer to pay you more if you do a decent chunk of their leads.
 
Izaya said:
Depends. We can't tell you, since we don't know your niche, don't know your site, don't know the offer. Testing is your best bet.

Replacing the affiliate box with adsense shouldn't hurt your ranking. I have a site that was pretty much in the same situation as you. My rankings were steady, they only dropped when I did major changes, such as deleting half the text/adding pictures etc.

Why not look for a similar CPA offer, or try and get your current CPA offer to pay you more if you do a decent chunk of their leads.
Click to expand...

I used to get paid more. They said it was an across the board pay cut, and while I am not a whale - I have been steady with qualify stuff for years - they said they were losing money.

Whatever... that is not my problem, monetizing my website is my problem - and Adsense advertisers tend to pay almost as much per click or 2 as I got for a lead form. I do have an adsense block on the bottom and the same large companies are always there - paying well. It seems like a logical thing to test.

And yeah, I know how ehow monetizes - also how EZA does - but maybe their drop was due to the oceans of crappy content. Don't know.
 
The first word I want to say is testing different lead generation offers lol
ok man, seriously, tell your Affiliate manager about this stroy first and let him know you do not want to waste time and ask them to find one solid offer for you first. They know more about which advertiser is better and which is shady.
Adsense is always a good choice, but for CPA, you get quicker money. If you do not mind, let me know your niche and I will see whether we have some top solid advertiser for u.

bitsdawg said:
OK, bare with this long and boring summary...

I have a website which has been earning from one lead type affiliate program for over 4 years now. THey just cut my pay rate - and I am sort of convinced they are now shaving. Believe me, I have stared at these stats every day for 4 years - and while I have no proof - I'm going with my gut here.

I have some great organic rankings in a tough niche - I used to work in this field, and have had websites in it for a long time.


In this particular niche, I am convinced Adsense does just as well, if not better - as existing affiliate programs

Before you Adsense haters start in....

1. Very large and rich companies pay for adsense, and they request placement on my sites. These companies do not run affiliate programs.
2. The affiliate programs are, of course middlemen, that sell leads.


I always stuck with the affiliate program before because it was comfortable and I knew how to "sell" it. But they are making themselves a lot less attractive. They claim they are losing money, and yet Adsense money is better than ever - or no worse.


Question - Will replacing the affiliate lead box with a big old adsense block hurt my site's "authority" or something. You'd think it would be the reverse, but you know how Google is these days? They are self-haters.

I know you smart-asses are going to tell me to test it, but I would like an opinion first.
Click to expand...
 
Do it man. No one method of monetization is a magic bullet.

Think about people who own the rankings for terms like Mesothelioma. They don't give a damn about affiliate networks. Adsense is their best friend.

As Smaxor said, J-F-D-I!
 
The question that bothers me is, why don't you try switching affiliate networks, if your current network is unable to find you another offer or provide you with better payouts.

As far as I know (and smaxor correct me if am wrong), all the "good" affiliate networks will choose quality over quantity.

Since you say you've been providing quality, stagnant traffic for years, I doubt the affiliate network would bother to shave your leads and/or indulge in pay-cuts.

Why not hook up with people like Smaxor and ask if they can get you better advertisers/offers/payouts in your current niche.

IMO, if you're getting CPA leads on a site, switching over to adsense wouldn't be something that I'd indulge in. Especially if you're on a board like this and can manage to talk to people and look into other options.

Source - Adsense hater here
 
How's you ad to content ratio?

Likely more of a long term thing, but just keep in mind that if Google can't quite nail down what is and isn't an ad on your page when running aff links, they *definitely* can when it's Adsense. They'll know what's above the fold with Adsense as well. As long as the ad spot you're replacing isn't dominating the above the fold area of the page(s) I wouldn't sweat it at all.
 
Don't go either or when it comes to this, think in addition to.
However, look for better payout, less shaving, faster payment, etc elsewhere because you are no fool and you deserve the money you earn.

But the question that keeps coming up is, "After all several years in this niche, why not go up the food chain?"
 
Why not switch programs? I know my first post was too long, but I know this niche fairly well - and there are not a lot of great programs - but there are big companies that pay for adwords.

Why not go up the food chain? I am anti-social. Really I have experience selling leads directly, and I did not like it. I like coming up with ways to send traffic, and letting somebody else deal with billing, etc. I know this is a limitation and probably a character flaw, but we all deal with what we have. :)

It is financial, and I used to directly do this profession myself for awhile. But before that I was a computer analyst, and I am just happier developing websites, writing articles, and finding creative ways to promote, etc.

I am going to take a minor page and just test this for awhile, which is what I should have done in the first place. If I come up with any astonishing news, I will update you guys.

THANKS FOR THE INPUT!!!
 
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