Tip #9: Avoid the "Advertise on this site" Program

Sometimes what is good for someone else is not good for you. This is one of
those occasions.
Google's newest enhancement to their Adsense program is the “Advertise on this
site” program. We hate it, and we suggest you not use it.
Here's how it works:
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By allowing "OnSite Advertiser Signup" on your sites, Google automatically
posts a link at the top of all your ads. The premise is that a potential advertiser
will visit your site, decide they want to advertise on your site, and click that
Google link to signup.
On the surface it sounds like a good idea. But when we tested it, it cost us money
to tune of a 9% drop across the board.
We're not sure what caused this but we do have my suspicions:
First, it was another link on my sites. As mentioned above, the more links you
have, the less money you make. And in this case, the only way to be paid
through this link is if someone actually fills out the form and signs up. That does
not happen very often, if ever.
The second reason we feel this “enhancement” cost us money is that the ad itself
makes my other ads look less like resources and more like ads. It's bad enough
that Google still puts that unsightly and annoying "Ads by Gooooooogle" line
across the top of your ad block, but adding another "Advertise on this site" link
right next to it really pushes it over the edge. People hate advertising when it is in
their face. What do they do? They leave. Fast.
Third, very few advertisers, at least those who are serious, are going to be willing
to agree to advertise on your site and your site alone. It is simply not good
business to be tied to one site (even if that site belongs to you) and most people
will not agree to that. We know we would never agree to participate in something
like that, something that restrictive. We can’t blame others for not wanting to do it
either.
Most of the people we have talked to have also experienced a decline in
earnings when the ad appeared on their sites. If you have it on your pages, you
should consider dropping it.
"OnSite Advertiser Signup" is activated by default at Google. Unless you tell
them you do NOT want to participate in the program, they will turn it on.
It is easy enough to check and to fix. Log in to your Adsense account and click
on the "My Account" link. Scroll down to the bottom and look for the line that
says: OnSite Advertiser Sign-Up. Make sure this says "You are not currently
subscribed to Onsite Advertiser Sign-Up". If it doesn't say that, click the "Edit"
button and unsubscribe.
Now, it may take a few days (perhaps longer) for the code to update across all of
your pages, but eventually it will vanish, and hopefully your profits will increase.