Google Adds Image Ads to AdSense Link Units

Google has added an image ad to the bottom of the page users see after clicking a link unit topic in AdSense. The company says testing has shown that this leads to improved revenues for many AdSense publishers.

Link Units are an alternative to the standard text ads. "Using the same contextual targeting algorithm that targets Google ads to your content pages, link units display a list of topics that are relevant to your page. Each topic, when clicked, brings the user to a page of related advertisements," the company explains.

The image ads are contextually targeted, based on the link unit topic users clicked to get to the ads. In cases where no image ads are available for a topic, Google shows the original text ads.

Advertisers can bid on image ads on a cost-per-click and a cost-per-impression basis. Performance for the image ads can be reviewed with a link unit report on the Advanced Reports page.

Google encourages users who don’t use link unites on their pages to try them out. "They don’t take up much space and can help add to your AdSense revenue," says Arlene Lee of the Inside AdSense Team.