Well, it’s about time techcrunch got a few modifications to their theme which makes it look like a whole new theme which is so much better then what they had before, along this new theme they added a new header ad which (for the first time I’ve ever seen) shows irrelevant ads (screenshot below, look in the header area), this type of ad is seen often in adsense, it’s possible they are using one of those new ad companies that combine alot of ad networks and give you just one code to paste into your themes, so that you can have the full blown effect of every network you chose on their site, therefore showing the most relevant ad on your site, in my opinion that so called targeting is just a rotating banner, I tried a company like this called Pubmatic, I was not impressed, or moderately satisfied.
If you are going to get into an ad network, make sure that they do not show irrelevant ads at all, after you reach a certain level of fame, you’ll have emails coming from every direction, trying to get you to join their ad network, some might even give you some kind of reward before you even start earning, if the ads aren’t relevant you won’t make much anyway, think before you chose ad networks for your blog/site.
P.s.
I know that I use adsense that shows irrelevant ads 30% of the time you visit this blog, I’m fully aware of that, the only reason I use adsense here is for research purposes only, I need some stats on blogs using adsense on the blog, profitable or not, so far it’s a definite not.
September 10th, 2008 at 10:45 am
Nothing more annoying for both webmaster and users alike than adverts which are totally unrelated to site content.
Adsense is ok some of the time, by general returns from Adsense have been bombing in recent months. Google seem to be trying to stop ads from appearing on any site, and their placement/content targeting now requires the use of keywords to help determine relevancy – however financially Google Adsense is becoming a waste of time!
Note to Self: Make sure to change from Adsense to another advert supplier!
September 10th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Yes, it makes sense not to have irrelevant ads on the banner running on your blog. A precaution one must take. Thanks.
September 11th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
am really unhappy with my adsense ads right now, precisely because they’re irrelevant. there’s no way in hell any of my readers will want to click on an ad for a phd in grief counseling, i’m sure.
good grief.
September 11th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
I noticed this about tech crunch as well and its ashame.
September 12th, 2008 at 2:22 am
From what i’ve read, and i’ve read a lot about adsense over the past 3 years. Text ads will always be better targeted as far more people choose to advertise with them. Plus readers are far more likely to click. It’s a no brainer really. The only reason people should be using image ads is for design purposes.
A company like like Tech Crunch should know better really!!