We wanted to let everyone know about some changes we’ve made to ad layouts on Hubs, as well as how it applies specifically to participants in the HubPages Ad Program (currently a few hundred, but the platform will be open to all eligible Hubbers in the coming months).
First, we’ve made two important changes to the way we lay out ads:
- We’ve minimized ads embedded in the content, and instead have placed ad units above, below and alongside Hub content. A “leaderboard” (728×90) unit was added above the Hub title (when you’re not signed in), and the “banner” (468×60) below the title was removed. You can read Paul’s forum thread explaining this here.
- For HubPages Ad Program participants, we reduced the total number of ad units per Hub from 7 to 5.
- For those not participating in the HubPages Ad Program, we’ve taken out one AdSense link unit, leaving 4 units altogether (3 ad units and 1 link unit).
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While we believe this will enhance the performance of each ad unit, we made these changes as part of a broader strategy to improve readers’ experience and site quality on HubPages. Making sure ads earn for Hubbers, but not intrude on the reading experience of site visitors, are both important goals with this change.
Another important change relevant to HubPages Ad Program participants is that we now have the ability to serve up to 5 AdSense ad units per Hub, partially through the Program (normally, you’re only allowed up to 3 total via your own account; we were granted an exception by Google). Because we’re allowed to serve up 4 of these ad units via the Program, and AdSense is in a competitive situation with other ad providers, including what we’ve directly sold, it is possible to see up to 5 AdSense ad units on a Hub, only one of which is through your own AdSense account.
What this means is that the Program will maximize your total revenue (HubPages Ad Program + your AdSense) across your 5 Hub ad units. You may see a drop in your AdSense earnings, but this should be more than made up for through your Program earnings. You’re free to run your own tests, by temporarily deactivating the Program (the configure button for the HubPages Ad Program in your Affiliate Settings, or by going here) and see how your total earnings change.
We hope that the new ad layouts balance both search traffic and ad revenue optimization considerations. By the end of the week, we should have new FAQ entries regarding our ad policy which should help clear up any questions you might have.
We also look forward to inviting many more new participants to the HubPages Ad Program in the coming weeks.
For visual reference, here are the ad formats before and after the change:
For those with AdSense only:
For those with the HubPages Ads Program:
HubPages Blog 
Hi Jason,
Will there be further information on how ad revenues are shared under the new system? For example, are we still seeing 60% and if so are we seeing 60% of revenues or 60% of impressions?
I can see great potential in allowing alternative advertisers being able to compete against AdSense for 4 of the ad units, assuming that this is how it works?
What I really want to know is whether an individuals earnings are specific to revenues achieved through that individuals hubpages, rather than the “pooled” or “co-op” system at Squidoo. And of course, the how the sharing works.
I am happy enough with how things are going with the ad program, and of course always have the option to opt-out if I so wish, but the transparency of the Hubpages model was what attracted me to the site in the first place. Is there a page which details this anywhere? Or will this be forthcoming?
Many thanks in anticipation, Ryan.
Ryan,
We continue to use the same 60:40 impressions-based split, under both AdSense and the HubPages Ad Program.
Yes, for those 4 ad units under the Program, AdSense competes with other ad sources, and if they appear on your Hub, it means it has outperformed the other ad sources.
Revenues are absolutely related to the traffic going to your Hubs; there is no “even-ing out”.
We are working on developing FAQ and Learning Center entries about the HubPages Ad Program, for once the program is more broadly available (i.e. when we’re out of beta).
Jason,
Many thanks for your reply, it sounds great, perfect in fact 🙂
Hi Jason,
I don’t see in the diagram for people with AdSense only the link unit you mention – just the three ad units. Am I missing it?
Also, how soon after we switch off the HubPages Ad Program will we be seeing the new layout? And how soon after we switch it back on? Is it just 10 minutes or more like hours?
Last question – for the HubPages Ad Program, are we paid in clicks as well as in impressions? I ask because I’ve seen a pretty significant downturn in AdSense earnings since the new AdSense layout was launched, to the day (i.e., not correlated with Panda or the HAP), as though all my earnings that were formerly getting decent CPC are now just earning on impressions – which seems contrary to what you were saying about AdSense advertisers competing with the HAP. And I’ve read contradictory information on this in the forums. Can this information be shared?
Thanks for all the updates!
Oh, wait – I do see the ad unit now. Must have missed it, I guess. 🙂
@FT – Whilst I’m sure that Jason will reply, I’m pretty certain that the Ad Program is mixed; your total earnings, including revenues from clicks and impressions, will be displayed as one total.
Thanks for the explanation, Jason. I look forward to seeing the positive results from this! Great job, HP!
Thanks for the update, sounds like this is really cooking with gas as my grandmother used to say. 🙂
QUOTE
it is possible to see up to 5 AdSense ad units on a Hub, only one of which is through your own AdSense account.
END QUOTE
Can you please explain what this means?
It implies that up to 4 ad units are assigned to HP
and only 1 ad unit is assigned to the author.
How does this affect the 60:40 revenue split?
Thanks,
@John – No it means that 1 will always be showing AdSense and that earnings will be reported in your AdSense account, 4 will sometimes show AdSense but sometimes other networks instead (depending on which one is bidding the most). You still earn when AdSense shows in those, only payment is recieved via PayPal. This means that whilst previously there was a max of 4 AdSense units per hubpage there can now potentially be up to 5 per hub. The split, as per Jasons comment, is still 60/40 in favour of the hubber.
It’s possible that I’m just reading the blog post wrong, but this seems to cater to the HP ad program people a bit more than the “regular folk” w/Adsense only.
That was before reading this:
“You may see a drop in your AdSense earnings, but this should be more than made up for through your Program earnings.”
If Adsense earnings are already extremely low and you’re saying they’re going to drop, I don’t quite understand…
When our Adsense ID shows is it on 100% of the ad blocks?
The mention of one block showing is confusing.
still wish we could decide where to put the ads 😦
Jason,
why did I get an Al Qaida ad on my Hub???? I know things are tough, but please
Ryan –
Behavioral targeting? (KIDDING!) 😉
Jason
Hi,
It was also being discussed on the HP forum, will you allow enabling HubPages Ad program on individual Hubs?
When I enable HP ads it’s giving AdSense hard time.
The next question would be if we would be allowed to choose Adsense and HP ads within the Layouts (for example put Adsense on top bar and HP ad on side bar)
BloggerDollar- AdSense and HubPages Ad Program ads run together- you can choose to leave HubPages Ads out altogether have both working in concert, but you cannot change things on a Hub by Hub basis or alter ad layout. Ads on Hubs are enabled or disabled as a group.