Facebook Pixel
Join our Facebook Community

AdSense Adds Holiday Themed Ads

Posted By Darren Rowse 14th of December 2005 Adsense 0 Comments

update: The 2005 Christmas themed ads are up and running.

There’s a lot of talk going around in places where AdSense publishers hang out that they’ve just added ‘themed ads’ as a feature. This seems to be something they are rolling out to some publishers only at this stage – perhaps it will be for everyone in time too. The message that some publishers have gotten is:

‘NEW We’ve added seasonal spirit to our ad units – you now have the option of displaying themed colors and graphics in your ads during holidays and special events. Visit our What’s New page for details.’

This looks similar to what they did for Halloween and Thanksgiving. I personally don’t see it in my ‘What’s New’ page yet which means it could either be something that they are slowly rolling out or something that they are only offering some publishers (as they did previously) either on a localized basis or on a site by site basis.

I know with the Thanksgiving ads I was included in the program based upon the colors of my site so perhaps this is again what they are doing.

update: after a bit more digging around in my Adsense account I can see where I can turn on themed ads. Do this by logging into Adsense, then go to ‘My Account’, then scroll down to ‘Ad Type Preference’ where you click ‘edit’ and then you’ll be taken to a screen where you can select to ‘Enable themed ad units when available.’ There is a ‘learn more’ link there too which explains them with the following:

As part of our ongoing effort to provide ad designs that will improve results for both advertisers and publishers, we now offer themed ad units – ad units that display themed colors and graphics during holidays and special events. You can view examples of themed ad units by visiting our Ad Formats page.

Whenever themed ad units are available, we’ll display them only to users in the appropriate locations, as determined by user IP address. For example, Fourth of July-themed ads would be visible only to users located in the U.S., while users throughout the world might see ads with a New Year’s Eve theme.

You can enable or disable themed ad units by following these steps:

1. Log in to your account at www.google.com/adsense.
2. Go to the My Account tab.
3. On the Account Settings page, scroll down to the ‘Ad Type Preferences’ section and click ‘Edit.’
4. Depending on your preference, check or uncheck the box next to ‘Enable themed ad units when available.’
5. Click ‘Save changes.’ Your selection will apply to all your AdSense ad units.

About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Comments
  1. Yes, I have the option to enable themed ads, even though the What’s New section says nothing about it. (They changed it this morning, it seems…)

  2. Anybody have any anecdotal evidence on whether holiday themed ads perform better or worse?

  3. i didn’t notice any difference over the thanksgiving period – however I suspect Google wouldn’t offer it if it didn’t work.

    I would prefer being able to control which of my sites it works on site by site – but overall I’m happy to do it as it will draw the eye a little.

    I’m not certain about this but I’ve only ever seen them on wide skyscrapers – anyone seen them on other types of ad formats?

  4. Well this is a cool feauture for adsense but i don’t know if it helps with ctr but it is nice that adsense came up with this but i won’t put them in my blog beacuse i don’t want to put adsense there but who knows if yahoo publisher does the same lets see. Maybe next year when it comes out of beta. But a truly beleive that does ads perform better.

  5. Also it would be nice if they leave diffrent themes for every mounth.

  6. Hm, NOW my What’s New section mentions the holiday themed ads. And it seems that they have it enabled by default?

  7. Thats Christmas themed ads Darren!!!!

  8. I’ve turned on the option, but I’m still seeing normal ads. I’m seeing normal ads on Problogger as well. Does it mean that Google thinks Singaporeans don’t celebrate Christmas? :D

  9. There is now a link on the Adsense report page linking you directly to the Ad configuration options.

    I have just enabled them on my site. I just wonder how long they take to show up and if they work for all ad units or just certain ones?

    Has anyone seen them yet?

  10. Theme ads are nice but I think the new feature of sending reports by email is worth of mention too

  11. Thanks a lot for the tip, darren, I just enabled the holiday ads for my site.

    My question is, do they really help CTR?

  12. […] I saw this news in Darren Rowse’s Problogger.net. Google has added holiday themed ads for their Adsense units. And it is easy to enable this. Just login to your Adsense account Click the My account tab Goto Ad Type Preference and click edit Enable Themed ad units when available. And save. […]

  13. Changes At Google AdSense: Themed Ads Opt-In, Email Reports, Link Unit Landing Pages, Search Display And Referral Colors

    The Google AdSense Team has really been busy as of late releasing numerous changes as the end of the year approaches. AdSense Unit Themes The most attractive — in my opinion — is an opt-in to turn on Google seasonal…

  14. I just saw Chirstmas themed ads on my site :)

A Practical Podcast… to Help You Build a Better Blog

The ProBlogger Podcast

A Practical Podcast…

Close
Open