According to InternetRetailer.com some web sites have expressed concerns about the effectiveness of the AdSense program. A study by NewGate notes that AdWords program is far more effective.
Interesting the opinion of Tom Dugan president of NewGate who "contends that the results of the NewGate study point to an inherent weakness in contextual ads � that they catch consumers at a time when they are not likely to be in a buying mood".
Just the opposite opinion of the one I've received last week from Massimiliano Magrini, Head of Sales di Google Italia.
Dugan's point of view is very interesting and I might tend to agree with him, even though I think that before talking about theories, predictions and opinions on the matter, it should be better to have a look at more comprehensive AdSense results.

I agree with you, Martina. And the studies will come...contextual advertising rarely will have the same results of AdWords or the same conversion rates.
This is my opinion and my little tests confirm it. The low CTR of these kind of advertising is not the real question (I can't imagine something different...), infact we have some more visits...

But the question is the quality of these visits...who will pay the same prices for low-profile/low-value visits?

Posted by: Raffaele Galano at September 13, 2003 06:44 PM

I agree, I think its obvious that adsense ads will acheive weaker performance than adwords as the mindset of the audience is very different. People clicking on adwords are already in "search mode", whereas contextual ads are seen during "browse" or "task" mode, where the users attention is normally away from links. The real comparison here is how contextual ads fare against regular banner advertising?

Posted by: Tristam Bielecki at September 15, 2003 11:34 AM