Google AdSense vs. YPN - PPC Comparison Chart

Contextual PPC

Google AdSense vs. Yahoo YPN -
PPC Network Comparison Chart

This evaluation chart compares the Google Adsense PPC program with the YPN Yahoo Publisher Network BETA PPC program. Publishers report higher payout rates from the Yahoo contextual advertising program, but at a much lower CTR caused by poor Yahoo ad targeting.

Adsense		YPN
Publisher Advantages	Publisher Disadvantages	Publisher Advantages	Publisher Disadvantages
Excellent targeting Excellent CTR (>5%) EXCELLENT reporting "Advanced Reports" Best revenue source Ad Links Adsense for Search PPA (Referrals) CPM ads Image ads option Alternate URL feature Can email Google	Falling payout* SmartPricing Declining ad quality MFAs, MFYs, MFEs Ban by other's actions Recent serving issues rss feed product in beta No phone help Cannot transfer funds *For smaller publishers	EPC reported (RPC) YPN for rss feeds Phone number help $ transfer to ad account	POOR ad targeting "Quality-based" pricing Terrible CTR (<1%) No "Advanced Reports" No real time reports Poor report design Report response time Flaky reports Serving issues (no ads) Poor performance bans USA domestic only USA traffic only No ad links No YPN for Search No "Referrals" No CPM ads No image ads No alternate URL Can't email YPN
July 14, 2007 - Update - Webmaster's personal opinions, from reported forum data Adsense ads are reported to be more attractive than YPN ads, primarily due to font selection, it seems. It is reported that YPN bans for low CTR, which is absurd, since CTR is determined primarily by ad targeting.

	Section	March 2006 changes	April 2006 changes	May 2006 changes	June 2006 changes	Sept. 2006 changes	October 2006 changes	Novem. 2006 changes	2007 Changes
1	Program Eligibility	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
2	Ad Presentation	#10, #11	#3, #5	.	#2a	#3	.	.	.
12	Ad Targeting	#18	.	.	.	.	17a	.	.
20	Program Flexibility	#21	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
23	Ad Statistics	#23 - #24, #27	.	.	#28	.	25a	.	.
28	Ad Performance	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
31	Program Payout	.	.	#31	.	.	.	.	.
35	Contact Info	.	.	.	.	.	.	added	.

Google Adsense vs. YPN - PPC Network Comparison Chart
	Parameter	AdSense	YPN Beta	Note
Eligibility				Top of Page
1	Who May Participate?	International publishers You must apply with a given site, and be accepted on the basis of that site.	US only You must have a US address, plus a US Social Security number or a US IRS tax ID number. By invitation only You can ask to be considered at YPN Publisher Application	Sometime in the future, YPN may go international. Nobody knows when. They will probably be bought out first.
Ad Presentation		AdSense	YPN Beta	Top of Page
2	Number of Text Ad Formats	11 200 x 200 Small Square	10	YPN copied all the Adsense ad formats, except for the "button" - 125x125. This makes it very easy to switch ads from one program to the other. One does not have to deal with "ad fitting". Google has added the 200x200 small square format.
2a	Banner Format Change	New Adsense Banner Format: Advertiser Title Description looked good I don't like this change.	New YPN Banner Format: Advertiser Title advertiser-url.com I don't like this change.	Old Banner Format for BOTH: Advertiser Title Description looked good advertiser-url.com Looked GREAT!
3	Number of Image Ad Formats	7 Added 9-21-06: S. square (200x200) Added 4-22-06: Square (250x250) L. Rectangle - (336x280) Leaderboard (728x90) Banner (468x60) Skyscraper (120x600) M. rectangle (300x250) W. skyscraper (160x600) No image ad stats provided Aggregate stats only	None	Google does not provide image ad statistics, so you cannot determine how they perform. These are not for me, because I can't measure the performance.
4	Ad Links?	Yes	No	Google only.
5	AdSense for Search?	Yes Added 4-22-06: "Site-Flavored" targeting	No	"YPN For Search" coming later?
6	AdSense for RSS Feeds	Beta only (full) Aggregate stats only	Yes - WordPress, Movable Type Separate stats for RSS	Yahoo is in the lead.
7	Ad Blocks per Page	3 Adsense blocks plus 1 3 Ad Link units plus 1 Search unit plus 2 3 Referral Buttons	1 block (or 5) This is currently ambiguous. Depends where you are reading, FAQs, TOS, or Reps.	YPN does not yet "support" multiple ad blocks - duplicate ads are served, which is not advised.
8	Alternate Ad Color?	Yes	Yes	Same
9	Alternate Ad URL?	Yes (Use to prevent PSA's.)	No	YPN coming later?
10	Custom Color Palette?	Yes	Yes - very small - hard to see the colors on a white background. Update 3-20-06 - You can now rename and delete custom pallettes.	Similar - see below
11	Google Color Palette = 216 (6x36) + 6 shades of grey Yahoo YPN Color Palette = ~~216 colors (8x27)~~ NOW, 225 colors (9x25) (Mar.20, 2006) (old palette still showing)
Ad Targeting		AdSense	YPN Beta	Top of Page
12	Appropriate Ads Served On First Page View?	Sometimes, the first ads served are PSAs - subsequent refreshes produce targeted ads. Example for this page - First and all subsequent servings (11-26-05) PERFECT!	For this page, the first ads served are RONs - subsequent refreshes produce targeted ads, sometimes. Example for this page - First serving First refresh (second serving) Have you ever heard the expression, "There are no second chances?" It certainly applies here. I guess it's a case of "sell what you have". The RON advertisers seem to have infinite budgets.	Adsense and YPN BOTH do this, but YPN seems worse. My Google theory - the first call for ads does not allow enough time for the targeted ads to be "pulled up", but the page must be delivered NOW - subsequent refreshes DO allow enough time - simple as that. NO MATTER why it happens, the problem is that the first ads shown ARE THE ONLY ONES THAT MATTER! Precious few users will refresh to get the appropriate, semantically targeted ads. This is a great reason to specify an alternate URL (in Adsense). THIS IS A HUGE FACTOR WHICH DETERMINES HOW WELL A PROGRAM PERFORMS.
13	URL blocking?	Yes - 200 URLs Consider blocking those ads which appear everywhere, that - 1. are made for adsense 2. are YPN click-flippers 3. pay very little 4. annoy your visitors - 5. are of low quality 6. displace better ads such as eBay.com, and some-hokey-bs.com Some publishers complain that 200 URLs are just not enough. New, low-paying, poor-quality ads continue to	Yes - 200 URLs You can block the following RON (Run Of Network) ads - www.borrellassociates.com www.classesusa.com www.comcastoffers.com www.ebay.com www.florist.com www.ftd.com www.lendingtree.com www.lowermybills.com www.nextag.com www.roadrunneroffers.com www.shopping.com www.vonage.com (plus new ones daily) www.ftd.com\blah-blah and www.florist.com\blah-blah cannot be blocked because of the back slash replacing the proper forward slash - produces a Yahoo error.	Block ads from specific URLs The YPN RON ads pay very well, but the CTR rate is extremely poor, since they are not targeted. In MOST cases, blocking YPN RON ads results in lower overall revenue. This has been confirmed by a YPN rep. Later on, down the road, if CTR rate becomes as important to Yahoo as it is to Google, you may want to block these RON ads. But not now, if total revenue is your goal. The flower people seem to have made a special deal with YPN, so that their ads can't be blocked. Interesting. ADDED: I no longer block RON ads.
14	Low-Paying Ad Blocking?	No Advertisers set their price, why can't the publishers? Take it or leave it, like it or lump it!	No (YPN - here's your chance to make many friends - allow publishers to set a minimum price for which they will display ads - don't just take them for granted.)	Publisher desired feature - if you are only passing out one penny per click, you are wasting our time. Allow publishers to specify a minimum payout, or don't serve the ads. Not all publishers are begging for scraps - their real estate is NOT FREE!
15	CPM Ad Blocking?	Yes, but not easily. Everyone is automatically "opted in". You can "opt out" by special email request. Cannot easily tell which ads are CPM - expanded text is a clue. If you can determine which ads are CPM, you can use Ad Blocking to get rid of them. ~~No CPM stats~~ ~~You don't know how much you are getting, from whom, or when. Analysis vs. PPC can't be done.~~ Google now offers "site-targeted" stats under "Advanced Reports". These CPM impressions pay less than 1 penny for most. You need huge traffic to make money from these ads. And why would you want to substitute them for regular PPC ads, which can pay up to 50 times as much?	No CPM ads yet	CPM ads pay per ad impression, clicks on these ads pay nothing. Be suspicious of anything that automatically "opts you in" - changes the meaning of "opt", which used to mean optional. Kind of like SPAM email - there is no "opt in" involved. You are getting it, even though you didn't ask for it. Without analysis, some say that CPM is a way to lower costs for advertisers, and LOWER PAYOUT for publishers.
16	PSA/ RON Ad Blocking?	PSAs - NO (Use alt URL)	RON Ads - YES (Run Of Network)	AdSense PSA ads pay zero $ - YPN RON ads pay A LOT of $.
17	Program Ad Targeting	Excellent to poor Certain Adsense ads only get shown on certain ??? sites. On one page, Adsense would NEVER give me the RIGHT ads, even using ad targeting - I moved it to YPN, and got the RIGHT ads instantly. Sometimes, YPN serves the RIGHT ads, when Google simply refuses to.	YPN's Biggest Issue Good to horrible If it can't find ads, you get the same 4 RON ads over and over. If one "apt" ad is found, it is presented at the BOTTOM or MIDDLE of the 4 ad set, NOT at the top! Yowza! ADDED: LACK of consistency is the biggest problem; one cannot optimize something that won't HOLD STILL. Yahoo's targeting seems to change daily - there is NO WAY to know what is best. I have abandoned all targeting attempts. There just isn't enough time. Yet my CTR is ~~rising~~ falling.	Google is clearly superior - YPN is either good or terrible. Vonage and LendingTree ads are everywhere. Some people feel it's better to have NO ADS than THE SAME RON ads, over and over again, for esthetic reasons. (Run Of Network = Ad blindness) But YPN conpensates for poorly targeted ads, by displaying RON ads that pay FAR MORE.
17a	Ad Targeting Speed for A New Page	For me, about 5 minutes	Very inconsistant, sometimes instantly sometimes never	~~For me, YPN gets the nod. If they have the ads, you get them now.~~ Not any more.
18	Publisher Ad Targeting	From good to none - <good stuff>blah</good stuff> by page - no limit Works sometimes, often doesn't Google does NOT tell you the minimum text or minimum percentage of text that must be targeted to make this option work reliably. You may spend many hours trying to make this work, as I have! Without any clues from Google, I'm done with it.	Poor - 20 broad category selections listed below can be applied to 50 pages only. Ads are WAY too general- keyword targeting needed. Added 3-24-06 - Further exhortation from YPN to use ad targeting - I'm not convinced. The 20 Ad Categories - Apparel and Jewelry Automotive B2B Books - Movies - Music - Tic. Computing Education and Career Electronics and Appliances Entertainment - Social Events Financial Services Flowers and Candy Health and Beauty Home and Garden Mass Merchants Professional Services Real Estate Reference Sporting Goods Telecom - ISPs Toys and Hobbies Travel (132 Total Subcategories - see below) Works sometimes, often doesn't	In the Google case, I think the default semantic targeting does a better job than the user "targeting" tools - WAY TOO "IFFY", and requires far too much time to make it work. In the Yahoo case, I think the default semantic targeting does a WAY BETTER job than the user "targeting" tools - even the 132 "subcategories" are far too general. Presently, avoid using targeting if you want to maximize revenue. ADDED: I no longer use "Ad Targeting". It's good, it's bad, who knows. What day of the week is it? Update: Yahoo has disabled Ad Targeting on my account, and those of many others. Why? Nobody can figure it out. I always used the most appropriate ad category that I could find. What did I do wrong? NOTHING! Just one more example of YPN cluelessness, which many have taken note of.
19	Ad Preview	Yes	No - just as well	This would be counterproductive for YPN at this point - users would be put off by the RON results.
Program Flexibility		AdSense	YPN Beta	Top of Page
20	Self-Click on Own Ad	Stern warning - May be BANNED! Why engender an atmosphere of abject fear, when it is trivial to simply discount a publisher's infrequent errant click? YPN can do it, why won't Google?	Automatically filtered - NO PENALTY	Yahoo is doing what Google should have been doing. Rather than using self-clicks to ban folks, Yahoo simply ignores the click, just the way it SHOULD BE! If you work on your site a lot, you are going to make mistakes. I have made 2 self-clicks myself, simply by falling asleep, mouse in hand! The erroneous click noise woke me right up. I had to run straight to Google, and turn myself in! Makes you feel like a criminal.
21	Auto Fill-in of Log-in Form	You do not have to type in your User Name and Password, if you are using the Firefox browser.	Added 3-24-06 - YPN has added both User Name and Password "Remember Me" features to the Firefox browser. This feature was unannounced, AFAIK. Excellent!	If you are not using Firefox, you need to switch now, for many reasons - features, security, many excellent plug-ins, default pop-up blocking, superb Mozilla support, etc. Download Firefox 1.5, it's awesome. ADDED - If you use a Mac, stay away from FF 2.0. Nightmare! Four crashes in the first hour! Thank God I could go back to 1.5. Update - I am now using FF Ver. 2.0.0.12, which works fine, after I added another 512M of RAM. I will switch to FF Ver. 3, somewhere around version 3.0.0.12.
22	Idle Time to Auto Logout	Very frequently log in, log in, log in, log in, log in, etc., etc., etc. (every 10 minutes?)	Very frequently log in, log in, log in, log in, log in, etc., etc., etc. (every 10 minutes?)	This can be incredibly annoying, when you are doing this stuff every day, all day long. You are hauling but, and there are all these little trip wires. Aaaaarrrrrggggg. Of course, if the issue is better security, well, then, I'll just shut-up. I'm for that.
Ad Statistics		AdSense	YPN Beta	Top of Page
23	Number of tracking channels	200 Total - Sum of URL and custom channels	Added 3-20-06 Added 50 more channels - now 100 Total Much better!	YPN has doubled their channels. One channel per page is MANDATORY for analysis purposes, IMHO. This was my most-wanted feature!
24	Channel Management	Can deactivate channels Can reactivate channels Can rename channels Can delete channels	Can deactivate channels Can reactivate channels Can rename channels Added 3-24-06 - Can now delete channels	YPN channels can now be deleted.
25	Statistics Updating Frequency	Almost real time, about every 20 minutes	About 30-45 minutes, IF there is any click activity, but sometimes 2 to 20 hours behind	Yahoo is improving.
25a	Statistics Updating Speed	About 3 seconds	10 seconds (annoying by comparison)	After you Refresh your "Reports Page" and sign-in again, how long until you get back control of your browser?
26	Channel Data Update Frequency	Almost real time - augments the "fun" factor - see what just happened TODAY! You can also take corrective action, in just hours!	Usually by 4 AM of next day (You get NO info from midnight to 4AM)	Google wins by a mile. YPN performs retrograde motion - they give initial daily info, take it away for 4 hours, then give it back in detail.
27	Reports	"Advanced Reports" Sort by ANY column TOTALLY EXCELLENT! Offers advanced (summary) reports, which don't contain all the daily data.	"No Advanced Reports" Every day data only - Can't see summary channel data compared, over any time period (month), like Google. Added 3-24-06 - YPN now defaults to showing 10 channels at-a-time, requiring the viewing of MANY pages - Reset the default to 100.	I want to be able to see specified or all channels compared over ANY time period I specify, NOT by EVERY SINGLE date! Google calls these summary reports "Advanced Reports". I call them "useful reports". YPN does not offer these.
xx	Date Range	Google offers "All Time"	Yahoo offers "YTD" only, and even that frequently results in "Report Not Available".	"All Time" is a great option when analyzing your site's performance over time.
28	Report Convenience EPC Column	Goole has refused to add an EPC column, as highly desired as it is. They don't want to make it too easy to see EPC, when it is in a dropping phase. Solution? Download your report into Excel, and then add an EPC column.	YPN has added the highly logical, and long-awaited report column "RPC"- Revenue Per Click	Why not? Overdue. No more forced mental calculations, which everybody does, and must do, to determine cents per click - the EPC.
Ad Performance		AdSense	YPN Beta	Top of Page
29	Overall CTR	Good	Typically, reported much lower than Adsense - 1/10 to 1/4 Mine is ~~1/6~~ 1/10. There are page exceptions.	YPN is lower due to the poor targeting. If you block the RON ads, and apply targeting, the CTR may improve. Or not.
30	EPC Payout $	x amount	~~1.5x - 8x~~ ~~Mine = 2x~~ 1x - 3x Mine = 2x	~~Yahoo pays MORE! For now~~. The YPN payout is steadily decreasing over time. With the recent introduction of YPN's version of SmartPricing, many are reporting that payout has been dropping like a rock. A typical CTR difference of 10 times totally offsets an EPC difference of 2 times, or even 5 times. Because of this, in almost all cases, you will make more money using Google.
Program Payout		AdSense	YPN Beta	Top of Page
31	Direct Deposit	Yes	Added May 20: Yes	Same - Wonderful!
32	Payment Delay	26 days direct deposit Checks go out earlier, but take longer for delivery.	26 days direct deposit Checks go out earlier, but take longer for delivery.	Same
33	Minimum Balance for Payment	$100	$100	Same
34	Balance Transfer	No	Yes	YPN provides a balance transfer feature from your YPN to YSM account. You cannot transfer a balance from a Google AdSense account to a Google Ad Words account.
Contact Information		AdSense	YPN Beta	Top of Page
35	Telephone #	Telephone support - none	Telephone - Yahoo! Publisher Network Support at (866) 785-2636	Google does not offer telephone support, unless you are a premium publisher
36	Email address	Report Adsense Violation - adsense-abuse@google.com Contact Us (form) - https://www.google.com/ adsense/support/bin/ request.py? Category Choices - Ad Code troubleshooting AdSense for Search Ad Targeting Earnings Login Issues Receiving Payments Referrals Reports and Channels Suggest A Feature Updating Account Information Other	YPN Support Form - https://publisher.yahoo.com/ help/support.php Inquiry Type - Accounting Management Issue Ad Serving Issue Enhancement Request Payment Issue Product Config. Issue Reporting Issue Other	Both Google and Yahoo offer "Contact Forms". Unfortunately, using these forms does NOT put a copy of your communication into the "Sent" folder of your email application. So you have no record of what you sent. You must write your email in Word, and then copy and paste it into the "Contact Forms". This is why I hate contact forms. - You have NO RECORD - Contents can be disputed - If unanswered, you have no "tickler" - no way to remind yourself that you even sent it - or when - or what it contained It is NOT email - it is a private one-way communication with no record, no cc, and no forwarding. Even though you wrote it, it no longer exists for you, just the form creator. Very frustrating.
25	110	220	220	245-245-245-245-245-245-245
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YPN Targeting Subcategories List (132)
Apparel and Jewelry (7)
	Clothing
	Fashion Accessories
	Glasses and Contacts
	Jewelry
	Shoes
	Special Apparel
	Tatoos and Piercings
Automotive (12)
	Aircrafts (Yahoo spelling)
	Automotive Resources
	Automotive Services
	Boats
	Commercial Vehicles
	Military Vehicles
	Motorcycles
	Parts and Accessories
	Passenger Vehicles
	Powersport Vehicles
	RVs
	Trailers
B2B (3)
	Commercial-Industrial Processing
	Commercial-Industrial Products
	Commercial-Industrial Services
Books - Movies - Music - Tickets (5)
	Books
	Celebrities
	Movies
	Music
	Tickets
Computing (5)
	Computer Hardware
	Computer Security
	Computer Service and Repair
	Computer Software
	Internet
Education and Career (2)
	Careers
	Education
Electronics and Appliances (7)
	Business Telecom Equipment
	Cameras and Optical Equipment
	Consumer Electronics
	Home Appliances
	Office Electronics
	Professional Entertainment Electronics
	Scientific Electronics
Entertain. and Social Event Services (11)
	Art Galleries
	Astrology
	Dating Web Sites
	Event Venues
	Events
	Museums
	Online Recreation
	Parks and Recreation Centers
	Radio
	Social Event Services
	Television
Financial Services (8)
	Accounting and Taxes
	Banking
	Collection Services
	Credit, Loans and Debt
	Financial Aid and Grants
	Financial Planning
	Insurance
	Investment
Flowers and Candy (4)
	Candy
	Flowers
	Gifts
	Stationary

YPN Targeting Subcategories List (132) (con't.)
Health and Beauty (11)
	Alternative Medicine
	Anatomy
	Beauty Products
	Beauty Services
	Diet and Exercise
	Eyecare
	Massage
	Medical Conditions
	Medical Services
	Medical Supplies
	Spas
Home and Garden (3)
	Furniture
	Home
	Yard and Garden
Mass Merchants (3)
	Food
	Office Supplies
	Pets and Pet Supplies
Professional Services (17)
	Advertising and Marketing Services
	Appraisal Services
	Architecture Services
	Business Services
	Child Care Services
	Construction Services
	Engineering Services
	Financial Counseling Services
	Fund Raising Services
	Funeral and Cemetery Services
	Legal Services
	People Finders
	Photographers and Video Services
	Private Investigation Services
	Tailor and Alteration Services
	Web Designing Services
	Writing Services
Real Estate (17)
	Apartments - Lofts - Flats
	Commercial Real Estate
	Condominiums
	Home Construction
	Houses
	Investment Properties
	Land and Acreage
	Manufactured Homes
	Moving and Relocation Services
	Property Management Services
	RE Companies - Agents - Brokers
	Real Estate Business Space
	Real Estate By Owner
	Real Estate Foreclosures
	Real Estate Inspection Services
	Rental Housing
	Time Share Properties
Reference (4)
	Academic Reference
	Maps
	Medical Reference
	News
Sporting Goods (2)
	Sports Apparel
	Sports Equipment
Telecommunications and ISPs (2)
	Internet
	Telecommunications
Toys and Hobbies (2)
	Hobbies
	Toys
Travel (7)
	Accomodations
	Cruises
	Flights
	Ground Transportation
	Travel Destinations
	Travel Services
	Vacations

I listed all the YPN targeting subcategories above, because it is not always obvious in which Main Category any given subject belongs. For instance, "Aircrafts"(sic) is listed under "Automotive", "Glasses" is listed under "Jewelry", "News" is listed under "Reference", etc., etc.

Also, some categories seem missing, such as "Religion". I am getting religion ads where appropriate, using the default contextual, semantic targeting.

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Disclaimer
This page consists of a compilation of public information, commonly available on the internet, at multiple sites, as well as public webmaster forums, and simple manual tests.

The opinions stated above are merely the personal opinions of the author.
I am not privy to any inside information.
This information is continually changing, and may not be correct when you read it.

Although the author makes every effort to verify the information on this page, no information on this page is guaranteed to be correct, and any data contained herein may be erroneous.

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This Vaughns Google AdSense vs. YPN PPC Network Comparison Chart was last updated on 2008-07-05.