Gadgetopia

IMHO, it's probably because it mimics your left nav. I currently have a border on my Google Ads, but it's extremely faint. They too mimic my left nav, which I believe contributes to higher click-through rates. In fact, my click-through rates are much higher than yours, but that may simply be because our websites are set up differently, and have different content. Here are some examples from my website: http://www.familyresource.com/parenting/ http://www.familyresource.com/parenting/19/788/

I really am surprised at you.

The reason that taking the borders away increased your clickthrough rate is that people were misled into believing the AdSense advertisements were regular non-biased links from your site.

These people thought those links were worth something because they appeared on your site, but they were'nt worth anything much - they were just paid for ads.

If I were you I'd bring the borders back - just to be honest with my visitors.

Best Regards, Uri from Israel

Strange thing is I've seen loads of advice and my experience is I do better if the ads are a different colour to the rest of the page and stand out!

I don't typically read this website and definitely don't intend to start. Be honest with your visitors.

Is this seriously what everyone thinks? That I'm trying to trick people to click on ads? That never crossed my mind for a split second. Here was my theory on it (until I read these comments, anyway...) --

By having the ads in a little box, they were subconciously out of everyone's mind. People didn't notice them because they were visually separated. Now that there's no border, visitors notice them more and they click on something that interests them.

I'm not trying to trick anyone. The ads are what they are -- if someone sees an link for "Free Download: RSS Reader" and they decide to click on it, maybe it's because that intrigued them and they wanted to find out more about it? (This strikes me as the very core of the entire concept of advertising.)

I'm really irritated by this -- these implications that I'm not being honest or that I'm trying to trick people. I invite comments from readers: is this the perception? That I'm trying to trick you into clicking on an ad? Seriously?

I don't feel tricked at all. They're clearly Google ads.

I think with the borders, newcomers visually filter the ads as "background noise" but without the borders, they might actually glance at them and see something of interest. If so, they'll click the links.

That said, If you can't tell the difference between Google ads and Gadgetopia content, you've got bigger issues glares at Uri and Brian and you need to know that those foreign lotteries are fake, you're not really pre-approved for a $300,000 loan at 3.5%, and that's not a dating service site you just went to, it's porno, man.

little fella says "adds by google". You just cant feel like you're tricking someone like that. Hell, I've been to web sites that say something like, "support us, click the adds to the right". sometimes these are google, sometimes individual adds. If I decide I like the site after a while, I'll be sure to click the adds once a visit. Simple, you provide a service to me (giving me something to read), I return the favor. Some people.

I saw the piece at Google Blogoscoped. I have to join the "not trickery" crowd. It says "Ads by Goooooogle", for crying out loud! How much notice do you need?!? :-)

Plus, it just makes for a better reading experience if the page is united thematically.

Some food for thought: If we were trying to trick ya, would we put up an article about it?

No creo que sea trampear a nadie sino tecnicas de integracion de adsense... El truco aqui seria integrar lo mas posible los bloques y que estos sean mas visibles en el website...

Ahora bien, todo se puede hacer siempre y cuando adsense lo impida, acaso adsense impide el quitar los marcos???

I think Manuel is trying to trick us into taking Spanish!!!

That's insanity!

The whole point of placing ads on your site is to provide RELATED content to your visitors that they may find interesting and visit once they choose to leave your site (and yes, they all leave).

Sites like this that provide great information survivie on support received from Ads. I can think of no more "honest" type of ad than Google's AdSense. Especially since they are plainly marked "Ads by Gooooogle".

More power to the webmaster for doing what He's SUPPOSED to do and testing to get a higher conversion rate. His visitors obviously noticed the ads more easily and thus clicked through more. On my site it's the oppositie, my left nav has borders, so borders on my Google ads match my left nav. So what? Am I now "disguising" my ads or trying to deceive my visitors?

I suppose that we could all take ads OFF our sites, go broke, not be able to support the content that you enjoy reading for free and then you can whine and cry about no free sites anymore.

Get a life!

agreed that it's not trickery. the people who think so clearly don't understand the market and that believe it or not, you are running a business.

without borders or with them, the user makes the choice to click....not you.

Trickery? That's silly! They are CLEARLY labled 'Ads by Gooooogle'....now, if my mother strolled across this site she may not realize the difference, but for seasoned vets (which I assume is what a site like this receives most of) they clearly know that these are not links to other Gadgetopia pages. Deane, keep the ads there, without a border, get the Adsense checks in the mail and then use it to pay for your server and/or bandwidth so we can all keep enjoying this great site!

you've just stumbled on one of the best tips around for Adsense - now if you really want to improve your CTR try putting the ads into the content with no borders :-)

oh - the other piece of advice I'd give - don't reveal your CTR - its against google's rules. I'd probably remove the exact figures above and just say I substantially increased my CTR....

I agree with the author of the original post. This is NOT trickery. If you're being tricked by something that clearly says at the top of it "Ads by Goooooogle" then you need something more than just a border around the ads to help you out.

I do disagree with the comment made by Ian. I don't think it's right to put the adsense advertisements into the actual content. There is a fine line there that we are dealing with. I guess the guideline I would go with is.... "What Would Google Do?" Since Google has never integrated their ads into the stream of search... I don't think their ads should be mixed into the stream of content.

you are on shaky moral ground here!

Let be clear about it. The very fact that you put Google Ads is that you want to make money. There is no harm whichever way it makes users click it. Border or no border, if you get a higher CTR by your unique style, you are a success with Adsense.