Google Adds Ad Links Tool to Google AdSense

Google Adds Ad Links Tool to Google AdSense

Just as Microsoft starts to warm up online buzz about their own paid search offering and Yahoo contextual advertising network sightings arouse bloggers with the dream of a new revenue generating option on the horizon, Google throws the industry a curveball right out of left field. Now, Google is expanding the AdSense advertising network offerings to include Ad Links, a text box which can be included on sites which lists relevant Google searches to site content.

What is this? Relevant Google searches. How will links to searches on Google help publishers generate more revenue? Well, those links which Google is generating to deliver a site’s visitor to relevant search results provided by Google are not links to Google’s organic search index. Instead, the links lead to relevant results of paid sponsored links in the Google AdWords index.

We have not spoken with Google yet, but this seems to be some hybrid of AdSense and AdWords, using AdSense technology to deliver users to AdWords results which, in turn, deliver a higher revenue payout for Google and publishers since these listings are in fact, search results, and not contextual advertising. The Ad Links advertising format therefore opens up the world of Google AdWords revenue to the publisher, in a fashion which may deliver more attention, in a way where AdSense Web Search may not.

From Google:

Ad Links are a new form of text advertising that we’re offering to our AdSense publishers. Using the same contextual targeting algorithm that targets Google ads to your content pages, Ad Links units display a list of topics that are relevant to your page. Each topic, when clicked, brings the user to a page of related advertisements.

The result is advertisements that are closely targeted to the interests of your users. By selecting the topics through interaction with the ad unit, users are presented with useful information in the form of related advertisements. Their direct involvement with the evolution of the ad unit guarantees an interest in the ads that are presented.