Contextual Ad Case Study

Google Adsense has owned the contexual ad space since its launch, and many publishers have been yearning for an effective alternative. Yahoo Publisher Network aims to be that alternative, and the Jensense blog reports on an early comparion of YPN vs. Google Adsense. The comparison was run on a single site geared to women’s finance, and surprisingly the revenue comparison showed little difference between the two ad providers.

Jen did find some differences in her comparison. Notably, Google seemed to produce better matching of the ads to the individual page, while Yahoo seemed to weight the site more heavily. Google’s click rate was substantially higher than Yahoo’s, perhaps reflecting the better targeting. Yahoo’s earning per click, though, was substantially higher. Jen’s final assessment was that th two networks were close, but Google maintained a slight advantage.

Since YPN is still in beta testing, of course, any data must be considered preliminary. Either network, for example, could change their EPC to maintain competitive parity or tilt the balance in their direction. Overall, publishers should find the rollout of YPN to be beneficial to their earnings, if only because it provides another standard of comparison to the fairly opaque Adsense program.

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