Written on October 24th, 2007 at 01:10 pm by Darren Rowse
AdSense Introduce ServerSide Ad Management
Late last week I took a call from an AdSense rep asking if I’d like to test a new feature that would enable publishers to make changes to their AdSense ads without having to manually change the code on their sites. She called it ‘Serverside’ ad management.
I said yes and the it became available to me yesterday in my AdSense account. I wasn’t going to mention it (because testing new stuff is confidential) but AdSense just announced that it’s coming soon on their blog with a post Coming soon: Make ad changes without replacing code – so I guess I’m free to talk about it!
This is a very useful feature that many publishers have been asking for (for years).
The only real downside that I can see with it so far is that switching over to this style of ‘managing ads’ does take some effort in that to do it you need to replace your old AdSense ad code over to new code. This takes time – particularly if you have a lot of sites with a lot of different ad units.
However once you’ve done it the upsides are huge in that there’s no more digging around in the back end of your blog’s templates to make changes to ad design – you simply log into your AdSense account and make the changes there and the changes will be instantly reflected on your blog.
Those of you who use WidgetBucks will have seen this type of ad management there as they do the same thing by default.
Publishers who are not part of the beta test won’t be able to see this new feature yet – but it’ll be rolled out over the coming weeks. You’ll find it (when you’re upgraded) under your AdSense Setup tab on a new ‘Manage Ads’ option.
26 Responses to “AdSense Introduce ServerSide Ad Management” - Add Yours
Blog Logos
October 24th, 2007 1:30 pm
This seems like a great addition to Adsense. I added a plugin that adds the code to my blog for Adsense, but it would still be easier to manage it at the Adsense Control panel it would seem. Definitely going to check it out.
Abhilash
October 24th, 2007 1:49 pm
This is a welcome development and perhaps answers why my adsense content channels have been behaving oddly. The channels are not indicating the impressions but the total impressions are being correctly displayed. Thanks for the info.
blackysky
October 24th, 2007 1:54 pm
finally something I was waiting for :) ……. ahaha a dream come true ahaha …
Does it works smoothly ?
Eli
October 24th, 2007 2:24 pm
Excellent feature, very useful. Did they say when exactly they might be letting the public use this?
This will be most useful for people with ad units all over the place I guess.
Amit
October 24th, 2007 2:28 pm
This would save a lot of time because normally we keep changing the ads units on all the websites to test the best ad size, now since its server size it would rock!
Amit
SEO Mash
October 24th, 2007 2:40 pm
Before rolling out new features it would be nice if they actually had current functionality working. Since the last Adsense service channel reporting has been totally hosed. Many people are seeing less than half of their impressions and clicks being reported to channels as they should be.
Joe
October 24th, 2007 3:00 pm
Wow, this is a great idea. I can’t wait to get it, though you’re right, it is going to be a bit annoying to replace all the ads I have.
Jessica
October 24th, 2007 3:14 pm
This will be the great feature; now one can try different layout/color combinations for the same ad spot without changing the code. Excellent feature!!!
Dex
October 24th, 2007 3:25 pm
It is really a nice feature from Adsense.. We may expect at least 2 weeks for this to be implemented.. I Guess
simon
October 24th, 2007 3:36 pm
That’s a great news form Google AdSense!! Can’t wait to use it.
zhao-zhuxi
October 24th, 2007 3:51 pm
I suppose users fo the non-English versions of AdSense will have to wait alittle bit for the new feature… But at least Google’s starting to introduce some reasonable changes, wow…
Community for Bloggers
October 24th, 2007 4:03 pm
I love it, I absolutely love it :D :D :D
Koen
October 24th, 2007 4:04 pm
Been reading this in my feed reader yesterday on the “Google Blogoscooped” feed. I think it’s just a great feature. Easily change your ads without opening up wordpress, go to the themes tab, show the files, and then manually edit it.
Great work Google! I can’t wait to see it online.
web entrepreneur
October 24th, 2007 4:59 pm
That’s a great feature although other PPC affiliate programs have that kind of feature already like Bidvitiser and Widgetbucks. But still Adsense is the best.
Jon - Art of Money
October 24th, 2007 5:00 pm
When making this change over people should consider hooking up to some sort of real ad server (like OpenAds). Since they are going to swap out all their ad code anyways and by putting the adsever into the loop it would allow publishers to do things like split testing different type of ads against AdSense to see which is more profitable and to offer CPM ads.
OpenAds is free and included with Fantastico btw.
Michal Levy
October 24th, 2007 5:54 pm
Are you sure that this isn’t only for people in the US?
XmasB
October 24th, 2007 6:30 pm
This sounds great. The last time i changed my theme was a bit cumbersome becuase of the ads. Took me some time to get everything right.
Nowadays, I only show ads to visitors from searchengines, but the code is still there.
vepa
October 24th, 2007 6:35 pm
Good feauture but it would be much better if they offer ad server like OpenAds. Where you can rotate your ads for example change colors or put your own ads and define percentage for displaying particular ad.
Even if they don’t offer using different ads it would be nice if color settings for ad on same place wil change to grab and test atention of visitors.
Thássius
October 24th, 2007 8:40 pm
@Michal Levy: it’s not just for Americans. Adsense Blog from Brazil announced the same thing.
BONTB
October 24th, 2007 10:12 pm
Cool stuff, can’t wait to see it.
Bruce Dillahunty
October 25th, 2007 4:01 am
I implemented a “similar” feature with an Openads (www.openads.org) server… I set up my various ads in the Openads server (Adsense, Widgetbucks, whatever), then the code on my page is pointing to the Openads world… it takes care of handing out the ads that I have selected. I can change who I’m dealing with/promoting/whatever without going through my blogs after that first setup.
GettyCash
October 25th, 2007 4:06 am
Great feature, I can’t wait to see it.
WelcomeToMyIsland
October 25th, 2007 4:51 am
This is great news, it will be a great time saver.
Dragos Badea
October 25th, 2007 4:27 pm
It seems very normal to me, to have the possibility of managing your ads and not really change the code on your website.
This is a feature that I would should of been implemented a long time ago.
Exactly like you said, with WidgetBucks is a lot more easier to change your ads.
Frederick
October 27th, 2007 12:53 pm
But if it becomes server-side, what happens to the ability to change your colours (in the google_ variables) on the spot? Will a publisher like myself need to visit the AdSense site to change the colours?
I find that a bit inconvenient since I do a lot of coding to try to integrate my site design. (Is modifying the hexadecimal colour value a violation of the Program Policies?)
Rishabh
June 18th, 2008 7:22 am
YEY!!!
Finally Something Which I was waiting for.. Thanks bro.
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