Thanks to everyone who submitted a reply to my last post where I asked about your best performing AdSense unit.

The clear winners are the larger units. The 300×250 and 336×280 were the most popular answers.

Monitors are getting wider and so are websites.  So the larger units tend to work well on sites with wider content areas.  Also, the 300 pixel units fit very nicely within many blog sidebars.

I noticed many of you like to float the 300 pixel square units in the middle of your content pages.  Perhaps you’ve discovered this yields a higher click-thru ratio, but I think the square units look best in sidebars or when they flow alongside a block of content or video.

(See an example on 2CreateAWebSite.com.)

A few mentioned that blending the background works best.  I totally agree.  When you make the background a different color, it does make the ad stand out, but it also screams, “Hey, this is an ad!”

I like to match the unit background with my site and use a different color for the URL at the bottom of the ad to make the unit pop just a bit.

There were no votes for the link units.  I don’t care for them.  Even though they fit nicely in narrow spaces, the visitor has to click twice for you to earn a commission.

Plus, the idea that your visitor has to click a category of ads just to view more ads just seems odd to me.  I’ll pass.

Obviously my little survey was very unscientific and not meant to represent the entire AdSense population.  I just wanted to open up a discussion about your experimentation with the AdSense units.

So thanks.  I appreciate the feedback.  Keep testing!  That’s really the only way to know what works best for YOUR site.

My last post on my top 7 money making programs generated some questions about AdBrite.

Some people wanted to know if it’s legal to use with AdSense. Others were curious if it pays well.

First of all, yes, it’s OK to use AdBrite in conjunction with AdSense. It does not violate Google’s Terms of Service if you want to use both programs on your site or blog.

As far as earning potential goes, you’ll get the same answer as you would for any contextual advertising system. A lot will depend on your traffic, niche, and ad targeting.

A Few Kinks

Unlike Google, AdBrite has got lots of work to do in the targeting department.

In fact, the network ads were so unrelated I had to turn off the “auto approve” feature because I had ads for cars and jewelry showing up on my site about web development. Yikes!

I guess AdBrite must realize this is a problem because they give you the option to approve the ads before they show up on your site.

This can be a pain because it requires you to login to your account and manually review each new ad. However, if showing targeted ads on your site is a priority (and it should be), then this step is a must.

As I mentioned in my last post, I didn’t join AdBrite for their CPC (cost per click) program. I personally think AdSense is the best program for that.

I use AdBrite to sell ad space to 3rd parties. So the only time the network (CPC) ads appear on my pages is when I have not sold all my flat rate ad spaces.

Their 3rd party ad management is pretty good. You have complete control over how your customer’s ads will appear. You can change the font style, text size, etc. and choose either a horizontal or vertical layout.

Is AdBrite Worth It?

That’s one of those things you’ll have to test for yourself. I certainly like them better than programs like Kontera where they underline your text and display the ad when the person hovers over the hyperlink.

I don’t know why, but I find those kinds of ads to be terribly annoying and distracting. Yet, others may say the same thing about AdSense, AdBrite and the likes. So, to each their own, right?

Even though AdBrite’s targeting needs work, they’ve certainly gotten better over the past six months. And the good thing is, it’s not going to cost you a thing to try them out.

For me, they are worth it because I like having a 3rd party manage my flat-rate ads. So if you’re looking to sell ad space from your site, you may want to look into AdBrite.

And if you’re searching for a new monetization option or perhaps you’ve been booted from AdSense and you’re looking for other CPC programs — give AdBrite a try to see how it works with your site or blog.

In my opinion, it doesn’t hold a candle to AdSense in terms of earnings for CPC, but depending on your niche, you may find that certain ads perform very well on your site.