All Hail The Horizontal Link Unit
So I see that the latest Inside AdSense posting is a case study showing how an AdSense publisher was able to dramatically increase her earnings by switching a vertical link unit to a horizontal link unit. This isn't news to readers of this blog, I said that over a year ago, and I also devote a chapter to it in Uncommon AdSense. I've never had much luck with vertical link units, but horizontal ones almost always surprise me with their earning power.
Why do horizontal link units work so well? Because they don't look like ads. Yes, there's the “Ads by Google” to the left of the links, but to many viewers that link isn't obviously related to the remaining links.
I have some personal experience with this view. Remember when Invisible Fence, Inc.'s lawyers sent me a cease-and-desist fax about the Invisible Fence Guide Pet Fence Guide? One of the things they wanted was for me to take down the links labeled “invisible fence” that were in my header — that's right, it was actually a horizontal link unit. I had to explain to them that those links weren't mine, they were actually ads generated automatically by Google and that they should go talk to Google about the use of their trademark in advertisements.
Try it yourself. Place a horizontal link unit — there are two sizes — somewhere near the top of your page layout, preferably close to some kind of navigational element. Right under the header is a good spot in most cases. Let it sit there for a couple of weeks and see how well it works. You'll be surprised!
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Eric Giguere is the author of Uncommon AdSense and the award-nominated (that just means it lost!) blog Make Easy Money with Google and AdSense.
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