AdSense ads clickable areas restricted

Google has redefined the clickable areas of AdSense ads. Up until now, if a user clicked anywhere in the AdSense unit it was counted as a click.

From now on, the only clickable parts of an AdSense unit are the URL and the ad title. The background is no longer clickable. Darren Rowse at Problogger has a mock-up illustrating the changes.

The changes are similar to those made earlier this year to Google’s AdWords units which worked well. While decreasing click-through rates, sales remained the same in most cases, demonstrating that the successful clicks were most likely to be from interested parties and not accidental clicks.

In an email announcement to AdSense users, Google said, “Although we recognize these changes may result in a RPM decrease for some publishers in the short term, we expect these improvements will lead to increased advertiser spend in the long term. By investing in the long-run health of the relationship between AdSense publishers, AdWords advertisers and your sites' visitors, we're ensuring your continued success as an AdSense partner."

Tags: AdSense, click-through rate, clickable area