AdSense Video Distribution and Sponsorship Pilot — CN UPDATE

A week ago I reported that I was added to the AdSense Video Distribution and Sponsorship Pilot. Certainly excited, I added it to my sites straight away. I placed the WSJ Videos here on CenterNetworks and the latest videos on HTMLCenter. Unfortunately I am not allowed (per the Google terms) to speak about exact monies or click rates or basically anything, but I can say that while I offered over 75,000 views to the ads, the clicks were not even a quarter of a percent. And the money earned is not even enough to get a knish at a cart in NYC.

I was very excited to be part of this test but am really disappointed in the results. I am not sure if my audience(s) is not interested in these types of adverts, or if they are just not compelling enough to create a need to click for more.

I am sure that Google will ask me for feedback and here is my feedback for them:

• Increase the pay per view - a few pennies per view is not going to want to make publishers give up a hefty 300×250 advertising slot
• Perhaps create somewhat more engaging ads – I think a 5-10 preview would work – right now the screen is static until you hit the play button
• Offer users the ability to change "channels" within the player – offer a drop down or some form of switching between the wsj, food, music videos, etc.

I will be removing these ads at the end of the day (they are on the left menu under Interviewed! currently. I am looking forward to testing a version 2 of this product and hope they can incorporate some of my suggestions to improve the product.