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*Keyword lists are not in a definitive ranked order. Keywords in the list are editorial selections made by the staff based on subjective relevance and should not be interpretted as scientifically confirmed rankings.

What's the rev share on AdSense ads?

Okay okay... we know that we've been exceptionally AdSense-centric of late, but heck, AdSense is a huge portion of what makes keywords valuable to us as Web site owners. And so, we thought we'd share this funny blog entry by John Battelle.

In any event, Battelle (a recognized Google expert), received a call from a Google AdSense sales person who had absolutely no idea who Battelle was. Comic hilarity ensues, but the key statement was something to the extent that AdSense publishers get the "majority" of the profit from ad clicks. While the Google rep couldn't verify anything about what the actual rev share was, most people assume majority means more than half.

Even if your site is optimized ridiculously well for smart pricing, you're probably still not getting too close to a 50/50 split with Google. Well, unless you've got a premium account. But even then, I suppose the split is largely dependent on how big of a player you are and how good your negotiator is. Either way, check out Battelle's blog entry... it's damn funny.

Google and Amazon news

Back in 2003, Google licensed web search and sponsored links to Amazon.com. However, there are now reports that Amazon is testing a Google AdSense alternative. According to Online Media Daily:

"The sponsored links, which will show up alongside links to Amazon products, are based on keywords that appear on publishers' sites, or that site owners establish with Amazon. While some analysts see parallels between Amazon's beta ad program and Google's AdSense, it is not clear yet whether the programs will compete directly."

It will be interesting to see how thing will pan out, but it is apparent that both Amazon and Google both have clauses in their terms of use for these programs indicating that it is not okay to use multiple contextual ad sources on the same web page. It will also be interesting to see what type of conflicts arise from their 2003 contract. Online Media Daily summarized:

"Although it is not uncommon for Internet partners to compete--or for Internet competitors to partner--Google's existing relationship with Amazon is significant. Google not only supports Amazon's search function, but delivers sponsored links on its site based on a multi-year agreement the companies inked in mid-2003."

To add one last twist to the story, which may or may not be directly related, Google just hired Udi Manber, Amazon's former chief executive for Amazon's own search product A9. Forbes reports:

"Manber is the most recent high-profile hire that Google has siphoned away from its Internet portal competitors in the past few years. In that time, Google has ascended to the top of the search field and garnered a majority market share in all searches."

IE7 Beta doesn't play well with Google AdSense

Numerous sources (like this one from Nathan Weinberg) are reporting that Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7 beta release is "breaking" ads display through Google AdSense. While it does not appear to be a universally occuring error, it is disconcerting. There is speculation that it may be related to some of the new security features of IE7, but there's is nothing confirmed. However, there are reports that Microsoft is working on the issue while reminding beta testers that the IE7 isn't even a full beta.

AdSense Millionaires and more commentary on Bigdaddy

WebmasterWorld.com has an interesting thread going on about potential AdSense millionaires. While early on, it's mainly a battle over the terminology of "millionaire", there are actually a few interesting tidbits in there.

In other news, as Bigdaddy continues to roll out, we've been keeping an eye on the number of pages Google has indexed for various sites that we're affiliated with. We're seeing fluctuations as Google.com has been using different primary IPs, some of which have been Bigdaddy-fied. In some instances, we've seen sites lose tens of thousands of indexed pages while other make moderate gains or barely any change at all. Keep your fingers crossed as we wait for things to shake out.

Google PR and SERPs changes galore

Wow! Looks like there's a lot of people noticing changes in their sites' Google PageRank and in their rankings on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). The changes are widely being blamed either on residual results from the Jagger update from a few months back or the "upgrade" to the Google data center known as Bigdaddy.

For more insight into the discussion of all this shuffling, hit up WebmasterWorld.com. For more on Bigdaddy, check out this Q&A from Matt Cutts.

Keyword Search

*Keyword lists are not in a definitive ranked order. Keywords in the list are editorial selections made by the staff based on subjective relevance and should not be interpretted as scientifically confirmed rankings.

Buying Google AdSense ready sites

Wow... only weeks away from seeing Google linked to porn (albeit, in a roundabout way), we now see another connection between the two web giants. SearchEngineJournal.com recently posted an article about being cautious when considering the purchase of an "AdSense ready" site. The only other sites we can think of that are promoted and sold in this fashion are porn sites.

If you're curious what's out there, check out the following links:

• eBay results for "AdSense"
• eBay results for "Google"
• eBay results for "Adult Site"