Adsense, but better?

February 5, 2004 9:04 AM

Is there a Google Adsense-like service out there that serves web ads (preferrably text, but banners are OK), given keywords from the hosting web page? [yes, more inside]

I'd like to put some text ads in website of mine that may actually be interesting/useful to readers (and thus have a higher click-thru). I've tried Google's Adsense, but due to the nature of the site (a newsbot with fast-changing content) Google doesn't seem to be able to get anything remotely context-sensitive served down. So instead, I am looking for an ad service that will let me send to their servers some keywords that should define the context. I am experimenting with Amazon's keyword banners now, but I think it's a bit too limiting (although time will tell). I contacted BlogAds as well, but they don't do this...

posted by costas to computers & internet (6 answers total)

I'll self-link because it's relevant - I've made some Amazon.com banner ads that can be tweaked and manipulated here. Use 'em if you like.
posted by kokogiak at 10:01 AM on February 5, 2004

if Google can't help you costas, I don't know who can. They've got the most servers and the most sophisticated content-sensitive advertising out there.
posted by mathowie at 10:37 AM on February 5, 2004

What mathowie said. I use Google's Adsense and it seems to be exactly what you're looking for. Here's an example.
posted by y6y6y6 at 11:08 AM on February 5, 2004

Well Matt, both MeFi and memigo know more about their users' interests and preferences th an Google can find out by spidering one continuously-changing page. The Adsense model relies on fairly specialized, static pages that are also on popular, ad-friendly subjects (yes, your PVRBlog essay is right on the money :-). OTOH, there should be an ad network that lets webmasters feedback the interests of their users to the ad server to get better ads. I dare say a setup like that would improve MeFi's ad revenue as well (at least of the front page, if not of the individual discussion pages).

On preview: y6, I thought my FP was clearer: I've tried AdSense: it's a great solution but for a different content model.
posted by costas at 11:11 AM on February 5, 2004

Sorry y6, that info was on my comment, not the FPP...
posted by costas at 11:13 AM on February 5, 2004

My bad.
posted by y6y6y6 at 12:10 PM on February 5, 2004