How Will The New Google Page Layout Algo Affect your AdSense Earnings

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New Google Page Layout Algo - By now you will have probably heard that Google has placed themselves back in the limelight again this week, and this time they have released a new Google page layout algorithm update, that’s set to immediately affect websites that offer poor levels of content in comparison to the number of advertisements that appear above the fold.

Just when you thought you were getting over the recent Google updates we now have another one to contend with…

So will this new Google page layout affect your Google AdSense earnings or any other ad CTR, IF your site or blog becomes affected by it?

To find out, Google has also released a nifty tool which serves as an indicator to see whether your blog or website has sufficient content above the fold in various browser window sizes. You can check your site using this tool here:

http://browsersize.googlelabs.com/

Ad Placements

Ironically whilst Google are now penalizing sites or blog’s that are top heavy with ads, as most AdSense publishers will be aware, Google also often encourages its publishers to place ads above the fold for better CTR and earnings…

Regardless of how ironic this may sound for now… the new Google page layout algorithm can affect your site and of course your earnings, if you’re forced to have to move your current ad placements around… at least that’s what I believe.

So if your site becomes affected or suddenly drops in traffic you may well have been affected by the Google page layout update, just check the following…

• You don’t have a string of ads (including AdSense) above the fold that force your visitors to scroll down to view content… Google says that this doesn’t provide good user experience.

Testing Google Page Layout…

I did a page test for a couple of posts on my blog, one of them containing a 336×280 ad block.

The ad is placed at the top of the post above the fold, before any content is visible, and the test showed that the page fell short of the 70% mark, meaning that around 30% people visiting this page will see ads first… So they are forced to scroll down to view content. This had to be changed… See photo below.

In a second page test I used a 468×60 ad block. Again the ad is placed before the content at the top of the post, and this time only a small portion of content was visible above the 70% threshold… still not that great, see image below. I have several other ad types also above the fold.

So, so far this meant that any AdSense or any other advertisement blocks showing before content above the fold is a no…

Google says that ‘people want to land on a page and see content immediately, and do not want to have to scroll down to read content…’

How lazy have we become if we can’t scroll down a few times…

Google also says that they have brought this new page layout algo into force for all the right reasons, to target sites that don’t offer much relevant content above the fold and that are top heavy with ads forcing users to scroll down to view content.

Conclusion

I seriously don’t think any page with mild advertisements including Google AdSense ads will be affected all that much… Providing you have built a good content rich page.

How can you make your page layout more Google friendly?

In any case for now I wouldn’t do anything but just see what happens. As I mentioned if you have a sudden drop in traffic, only then should you take action…

If you want to keep earning money from your AdSense ads, keep them where they are and maybe eliminate some of the other ads that show above the fold, if you have quite a few of them.

Some publishers place large ads at the top before the header which pushes the page down further beyond the thresholds… some people place ad blocks in the body of content itself, which many believe is bad practice… let me know your thoughts on that one…

Your Say

Do you publish AdSense ads on your blog amongst lots of other monetization and affiliate ads above the fold? And if so what are your thoughts on the new Google page layout algorithm. Would you be willing to remove all the other ads and just have your AdSense ads showing or vice versa? Add your comments below.

Recommended Reading

1. The Google Way

2. The AdSense Code: What Google Never Told You About Making Money with AdSense