Helpful information from Google on many conversion techniques…
Conversion University
We now move on to “Outcomes” which is further broken down into;

Website Optimizer Overview: “Website Optimizer allows you to test changes in the website content of your pages in order to determine what will be most effective in getting conversions. You choose what parts of a page you’d like to test — headline, image, promo text – and we’ll run an experiment on a portion of your site traffic to determine which content on your site users respond to best.”
Website Optimizer Helpful Hints: “While it’s easy to set up experiments using Website …read more

Tons of helpful information from Google on many conversion techniques…
Conversion University
We move on to “Onsite Behavior Analysis” which is further broken down into;

Five Tips for Writing Effective Web Headlines: “One of the easiest, low-tech ways to make users stick around and look at your products or services is to catch their attention with an engaging headline. Recent research suggests that users decide to stay or leave your site in 8 seconds or less — in that short amount of time, headlines are the one piece of copy that users will actually read.”
Five Questions To Ask of Your Site Search Data: …read more

Tons of helpful information from Google on many conversion techniques…
Conversion University
It all begins with “Acquisition” which is further broken down into;

Sitemaps for Search Engine Optimization (SEO): “Here are five ways Google Sitemaps can help you drive more potential customers to your site and improve the visibility of your content.”
A Benchmark Strategy to Search Engine Marketing (SEM): “It’s easy to get caught up in keyword bidding wars. Don’t give in to this temptation. There’s a better way and it begins with finding a breakeven cost-per-click benchmark.”
AdWords Targeting and Tracking Tips: “Here are five tips for targeting – and tracking – your …read more

Google Adsense updated their Terms for publishers weeks ago…
“We’ve also added some specific requirements that make it necessary for publishers to post and abide by a transparent privacy policy that users see. According to this policy, publishers must notify their users of the use of cookies and/or web beacons to collect data in the ad serving process. This change relates to advertisers’ use of innovative products and features like Gadget Ads and other offerings in the future.”
They followed up a few weeks later offering a link to help;
“Unfortunately, we can’t suggest any privacy policy language for your specific site, as …read more

Jay Westerdal initiated the rumblings online with this post: Google to kill Domain Tasting
He speaks of an apparent policy change by Google which will end the opportunity to monetize parked domains. That ought to mean that Google will have to dismantle Adsense for Domains? I don’t think that’s the most important item on Google’s agenda right now… but it may very well mark a shift in attitude towards this one aspect of shadowy online practices. If, indeed, it marks a bit of a loss for Googs, I’m sure they have some expectations that not all their plants will flower eventually …read more

Darren (for the few that don’t read Darren) reported to us yesterday that AdSense will be introducing ServerSide Ad Management shortly.
Darren has been given the opportunity to run this feature through some paces on his sites.
The Google Adsense Blog explains;
“This new ad management feature means that your ad unit settings (such as colors and channels) for new AdSense for content ad units will be saved in your AdSense account every time you generate ad code. Then, if you’d like to change any of these settings in the future, all you do is make the update within your account — you’ll …read more

Perhaps someone at the Techdirt Insight Community will have the ability to answer this one:
Does anyone have “reliable figures available that put Google’s splog problem into perspective.”
Matt Mullenweg pointed to it – “Why Google is the service of choice for sploggers.”
Quoting Jonathan Bailey from Plagiarism Today (a darn good man) Michael Pollitt of The Guardian says: “Google, for better or worse, has its hand in every aspect of spam blogging. It finances them through AdSense, hosts them through Blogger and directs traffic to them via the search engine.”
There is, Bailey believes, some pain ahead for Google: “These sites do make …read more

I’ll assume I’m reaching those who may own a reasonable number of domain names that are parked. And the question is “Are you making the most of those parked domains?” Or, are you embroiled in a disagreement about trademarks? Well, Google won’t, isn’t able to, put an end to whatever disagreements you may be having but they will act somewhat in your behalf. You may want to pay strict attention to #’s 5 and 6.
Through its AdSense for Domains program, Google provides domain name registrars and other holders of large numbers of inactive domain names with an opportunity to …read more

The Recent Announcement – Venture Capitalization
The Vision: “To become the platform that all websites use to make money online.”
In the recent press release, Bernard Dalle, general partner of the lead investor Index Ventures, gave us some keen insight when he said “For the ad industry, Openads is disrupting the market with a product that is so easy to use and a great alternative for publishers, regardless of size, sophistication, geography or language. No wonder they have secured more publishers than any other solution on the market today.”
The Goal: “To build great software that millions of publishers could easily use …read more

A coworker of mine here at b5 and advertising guru Chad Randall has listed a countup of the seven levels of revenue for your blog. Here’s a barebone version of the list:

Level 1: Google Adsense
Level 2: Affiliate Programs
Level 3: Ad Networks
Level 4: Automated Text Links
Level 5: Fixed Text Links Ads
Level 6: Graphical Banner Ads
Level 7: Fixed Monthly Sponsors

I agree with Chad’s list as a whole although in my experience most blogs do not have a full 7 levels as some of them simply will not make sense for the type of niche you are in. Some blogs may find there …read more