Google Adsense + Analytics = Higher earnings

James Ryan Jonas

If you’re a Google Adsense publisher, one of the common problems you probably have is the lack of detailed information to tell you which specific content is delivering you income and from which countries the ad clicks are coming from.

Now, those problems will be addressed by the new feature Adsense is offering. Google’s online money-making program, Adsense, is currently integrating with Google’s own web analytics tool, Analytics, to give users access to detailed information about the performance of Adsense ads.

Can the integration of Adsense and Analytics ultimately bring more earnings?

Definitely. The marriage of Adsense and Analytics can help you identify at least five important things which can help improve the performance of your site’s Adsense ads.

1. Specific content that brings income

The new feature will identify specific web pages and how much Adsense earnings they are contributing. Armed with this data, you will not only know which blog articles or pages are popular but, more importantly, which ones are profitable. If you discover, for example, that articles about “Making Money Online” or “Vanessa Anne Hudgens” or, uh-hmm, “Nude Photos of Celebrities” are the ones giving you more income, you can choose to write more articles about these topics so you can earn more.  

2. Geographic location of ad clicks

You can now also identify the actual region or geographic location of the people clicking on your ads. Do they come from the US or Canada? United Kingdom or Russia? The Philippines or Malaysia? Knowing who clicks on your ads can help you tailor your site content to them.

3. Referring source  

You already know which content generates ad clicks and from where these clicks are coming from, but how did your visitors come to your site? That will be answered by the list of referrers that will be integrated with your Adsense account. This Analytics function can help you determine which sites or search engines bring you profitable traffic so you can leverage these referring sources.

4. Time of ad clicks

The current “Reports” section in Google Adsense can enumerate the daily earnings you have earned. But with the new Adsense-Analytics integration, even the hourly performance of ads can be identified. If you know that more ad clicks are generated during a certain time period, you must ensure that your site is accessible during that time. Otherwise, you’ll lose a hefty amount of Adsense earnings.

5. Users’ browsers and technologies

Google Analytics will also integrate data about the browser (e.g., Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Netscape, Safari, etc.) and technologies (e.g., Flash, Java, etc.) the people clicking on your ads are using. This can help you check if your content suits the software and PC capabilities of the visitors giving you income.

Even before, I have been analyzing my Adsense performance through Google Analytics (see Analysis of Adsense income thru Google Analytics). But this integration of Adsense and Analytics can make ad optimization easier and probably more effective.

This “Google Adsense + Analytics” feature is slowly being rolled out and is not yet available to all Adsense users. But sooner or later, you’ll be able to get the invitation to try it so watch out for that Integrate your Adsense account with Google Analytics link under the Reports-Overview section of your Adsense account.

James Ryan Jonas teaches business management, investments, and entrepreneurship at the University of the Philippines (UP). He is also the Executive Director of UP Provident Fund Inc., managing and investing P3.2 Billion ($56.4 Million) worth of retirement funds on behalf of thousands of UP employees.