AdWorks and AdSense

[Erik Geurts]

I'm a publisher of various websites on which I use AdSense, and I like it. I'm also using Adwords to advertise some of my services-orientend sites. I've noticed that the click-rate is much higher when my ads are displayed on Google's own site as compared to ads displayed on content sites. Is this something that more people have noticed or is it just me?
Erik Geurts

[Joel Comm]

Erik,

I think that is a natural result of the ads displaying on a search engine. After all, people are looking for results. On a content site, the ads are usually just incidental.

Joel

[dougyt]

I'd have to agree with Joel, when your ads are placed in the top of a relevant search results page, whoever was searching just found the thing they were looking for. And they didn't have to search again for the link, it was there in front of them.
On a content site, the ads may not be what someone searched for as they were probably looking for free information when they went there. Also the ads on a content site will have been placed so as not to intrude too much, and be less visible.