Google+ helps over 1.6 million Guardian followers read (and share and debate and post) all about it

While the Guardian started back in 1821 as a black-and-white-and-read-all-about-it newspaper, today it’s evolved into a global entity that’s pioneering a multi-platform, digital-first approach. In this context, the Guardian champions a unique, open model of journalism, built upon the notion that the open exchange of information, ideas and opinion can bring about change.

Given this philosophy, it comes as no surprise that social media plays a central and growing role in the brand’s work. Google+ offered the opportunity for the Guardian to reach and connect with both users of Guardian.co.uk and new potential readers. Now with over 1.6 million followers, the Guardian’s Google+ page is aimed at creating a conversation around the Guardian’s content, reaching new audiences, and finding out more about readers and their interests.












The team posts different types of content (video, photos, text, front pages) and items from different sections as a way of seeing what their Google+ audience responds to. Science and technology stories are particularly popular among their readers, as well as world news topics and hot political stories. According to the Guardian, the Google+ feature Ripples has proved extremely useful in tracking the life cycle of posts and helping to identify key influencers.

In addition, the Hangouts functionality in Google+ has emerged as a key benefit. In making use of this high quality multi-user video chat feature, the digital engagement team has run several Hangouts on a mixture of topics, from fracking to the future of the open internet. “For us one of the most interesting aspects of Hangouts is the ability to connect people from across the world in a live chat,” says the Guardian’s Laura Oliver. “We're also exploring them as a way to allow our readers to pose questions and get even closer to the subjects of a story or discussion.”

As for the future, Laura is exploring how to use Hangouts in the most inclusive way possible so that debates can encompass questions from all across its audience.  To learn more about the Guardian’s success with Google+, read the full case study.

For more publisher success stories and tips on making the most of Google+ pages for your business, check out our Social Fridays blog series.

Posted by Arlene Lee - Inside AdSense Team
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10 for 10 publisher stories: Papilles et Pupilles finds a recipe for success

This week marks the last post of our ‘10 for 10’ success story series, which we’ve been sharing in the weeks leading up to AdSense’s 10th anniversary. Thanks for following along and submitting your own stories. Read on to meet this week’s featured publisher, and be sure to check back next week when we’ll be celebrating AdSense’s official 10th anniversary!

Eight years ago, Bordeaux resident Anne Lataillade launched French culinary blog PapillesetPupilles.fr, a site where she shares classic recipes and also recipes for people with food allergies. As the mother of two children with food allergies, Anne had already been conducting culinary research and creating her own recipes for some time. Papilles et Pupilles has grown significantly, and today generates an average of over one and a half million page views per month.


(To enable captions in a number of languages, click on the ‘Captions’ link in the bottom right corner of the YouTube player once the video starts playing.)

Earlier this year, Anne attended a Learn with Google event in Paris to learn more about optimization. After trying out the 336x280 Large Rectangle format and changing her ad units to allow both text and image ads, Anne saw an increase in her revenue. AdSense now generates 20% of the revenue from the site, which Anne uses to cover the cost of maintenance, hosting, and development.

What’s next? Anne’s goal is to continue building traffic to the site by developing new content. She’s also growing awareness of her content through her Google+ page, where she engages with over 34,000 followers.

Posted by Arlene Lee - Inside AdSense Team
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10 for 10 publisher stories: Northlight Images develops a successful photography business

In each of the 10 weeks leading up to AdSense’s 10th anniversary on June 18th, we’ll be sharing a new publisher success story. Read on to meet this week’s featured publisher, and feel free to submit your own success story to our team. 

Meet Keith Cooper, a commercial photographer based in Leicester, England. He runs Northlight Images, a site that was originally intended to promote his business, but which has grown to include hundreds of photography-related articles and reviews. The site has now become one of the world’s top 40 photography sites, receiving over five million unique visitors a year.



Keith signed up for AdSense in 2005 after exploring a number of options. The income from the program has enabled him to focus on the areas of photography he’s interested in. “AdSense is solid and dependable,” he says, “and it earns me 80 to 90 percent of my advertising revenue.”

To maximize the site’s effectiveness, Keith also uses a variety of other Google products. “Google+ is the one that really does it,” he says. “It brings in people who are interested in the topic and looking for specific information, so they spend more time on the site and ultimately increase my revenue.”

If you’d like to read more of Keith’s story after watching the video above, check out the full case study. There’s only one more post left in our ‘10 for 10’ series -- be sure to join us back here next week for our final story!

Posted by Arlene Lee - Inside AdSense Team
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10 for 10 publisher stories: El Androide Libre moves its business forward

In each of the 10 weeks leading up to AdSense’s 10th anniversary on June 18th, we’ll be sharing a new publisher success story. Read on to meet this week’s featured publisher, and feel free to submit your own success story to our team. 

Madrid-based elandroidelibre.com (“the free Android”) is a Spanish-language blog that features news, reviews, games and other apps for Android smartphone users. Launched in 2009, it now employs six people and receives 6.5 million visits each month.

Administrator and editor Paolo Álvarez got started with AdSense right from the start, which has accounted for around 40 percent of the site’s income. “Much of elandroidelibre’s growth is due to AdSense,” Paolo says. “We regard it as an essential tool that’s helping us to set up more blogs, take on more staff, and earn more revenue.” So far, he’s been highly satisfied with the ads appearing on his site, and notes that the 300 x 250 Medium Rectangle and the 728 x 90 Leaderboard formats work particularly well.

Paolo also uses other Google products to manage the site. He relies on Analytics to gain a better understanding of the site’s visitors, and also DoubleClick for Publishers, Google’s free ad serving solution, to manage his online advertising more effectively and segment traffic from different countries.

Hear more from Paolo in the full case study. We’ll see you next week for our next ‘10 for 10’ publisher success story as we continue counting down to AdSense’s 10th anniversary.

Posted by Arlene Lee - Inside AdSense Team
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10 for 10 publisher stories: Sportonline.de’s winning approach

In each of the 10 weeks leading up to AdSense’s 10th anniversary on June 18th, we’ll be sharing a new publisher success story. Read on to meet this week’s featured publisher, and feel free to submit your own success story to our team. 

While managing a number of technology-related websites, Matthias Sandner and two colleagues decided to create a new site to address one of their shared passions: soccer. They brought this vision to life in 2011 with the launch of German site Sportonline.de, which they now run with a small team of employees. Matthias had been an AdSense publisher since 2007, so implementing AdSense on Sportonline.de was one of the first things he did on the site.


(To enable captions in a number of languages, click on the ‘Captions’ link in the bottom right corner of the YouTube player once the video starts playing.)

AdSense currently generates between 50 and 60 percent of Sportonline.de’s total advertising revenue, and has helped financially support the new site. Matthias has found that the 728 x 90 Leaderboard with both text and image ads enabled performs the best on his site. Since Sportonline.de is still new and growing, the team mainly invests the AdSense earnings into new content and employees. “Not only does AdSense offer a convincing performance,” says Matthias, “but it’s also clear and easy to use.” As a result, the team can focus on developing the website rather than devoting time to selling ads.

Matthias has been happy about the performance of AdSense, and is currently working to continue growing the user base and revenue from the site. He makes uses of other Google products like Analytics, which provides insights to help the team continue improving the site. In addition, Sportonline.de has already developed a large following on Google+, where the team shares content and interacts with over 35,000 fans.

For more on Sportonline.de’s start-up success, read the full story. Join us here again next Tuesday for another inspirational publisher story, and feel free to share your comments on our AdSense +page.

Posted by Arlene Lee - Inside AdSense Team
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10 for 10 publisher stories: Expat blog expands horizons and its business

In each of the 10 weeks leading up to AdSense’s 10th anniversary on June 18th, we’ll be sharing a new publisher success story. Read on to meet this week’s featured publisher, and feel free to submit your own success story to our team. 

After finding few sites devoted to expats around the world, in 2005 Julien Faliu decided to launch a community platform for that audience. An expat himself, Julien has since grown his site into a company based in Mauritius that now employs 15 members of staff. Expat blog receives 12 million pageviews per month and is now available in four languages.

Julien initially turned to AdSense as a way to cover the costs of running his website, but as his revenue increased, he decided to focus on advertising. Today, Julien is responsible for all of the advertising space on the site. “At the start, AdSense allowed me to get my website set up by covering my costs,” Julien says. “Now, I can truly say that AdSense has enabled me to grow and recruit staff.”

Beyond AdSense, Julien also uses a number of other Google tools to continue developing his business. For instance, Analytics enables him to view his site’s growth, and DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) Small Business helps him manage all of the advertising on the site.

What’s next for Expat blog? Julien and his team are currently developing a strategy to monetize their mobile site, and looking towards bringing private investors on board to fund the next stage of growth.

For more details about Julien’s success with Expat blog, be sure to read the full story. We’ll be back again next Tuesday to introduce you to another AdSense publisher.

Posted by Arlene Lee - Inside AdSense Team
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10 for 10 publisher stories: Canal Sur thrives with digital tools

In each of the 10 weeks leading up to AdSense’s 10th anniversary on June 18th, we’ll be sharing a new publisher success story. Read on to meet this week’s featured publisher, and feel free to submit your own success story to our team.

Seville’s Radio y Televisión de Andalucía (RTVA) broadcasts TV and radio programs online as well as the news via its website, Canal Sur. The site, which employs 18 people and receives about 6.5 million visits a month, joined the AdSense program four years ago. According to Antonio Manfredi, Director of Interactive Media at RTVA, “the economic crisis affected us like the rest of the media throughout Spain, so we decided to look for new ways to improve. We realized that AdSense was the simplest and most profitable option.”

(To enable captions in a number of languages, click on the ‘Captions’ link in the bottom right corner of the YouTube player once the video starts playing.)

Since joining AdSense, total global advertising revenue has increased by 40 percent, and AdSense has played a major part in making the website profitable. Looking ahead, the company is planning to work more closely with YouTube and to improve its TV-on-demand services.

Read the full case study to learn more about Canal Sur’s experience with AdSense. We look forward to seeing you next week for the second half of our ‘10 for 10’ series!

Posted by Arlene Lee - Inside AdSense Team
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10 for 10 publisher stories: Pronounced success for Forvo

In each of the 10 weeks leading up to AdSense’s 10th anniversary on June 18th, we’ll be sharing a new publisher success story. Read on to meet this week’s featured publisher, and feel free to submit your own success story to our team.

For those learning a new language or just wondering how words are pronounced in different parts of the world, Forvo provides a solution. Launched in 2008, the online pronunciation guide offers recordings of over 1.5 million words in 36 languages, uploaded by native speakers. A team of four based in Guipúzcoa, Spain maintains the site, which has 250,000 registered users and receives around nine million visits a month.

According to CEO Félix Vela, “the income from AdSense has allowed me to take on two new employees over the past couple of years.” Félix has been happy with the quality and relevance of the ads, and regularly uses other Google tools like Analytics to understand the site’s visitors.

Looking ahead, Félix plans to continue improving the site and increasing the number of pronunciation examples available. “There’s absolutely no doubt that AdSense will continue to play a fundamental role in this growth,” he says.

Read Forvo’s full story, and join us here again next week to meet our next publisher.

Posted by Arlene Lee - Inside AdSense Team
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A tenfold revenue increase in just three months - nanapi.jp's success story


nanapi.jp is a Japanese site which provides helpful tips for everyday life.  From tips on romance to how to use web services, it has all sorts of advice for everyone.

Recently, nanapi started using AdSense and has seen a steady revenue increase. We spoke to Mr. Furukawa, the CEO, and Mr. Saito, the Director of Ads, and asked them about their experiences with AdSense.

■ Inside AdSense (IA): Please tell us the history of nanapi and how you built your site.  
We established nanapi in September, 2009.  We realized that there was a need for an information site where people could find tips for everyday life, so we decided to provide this content in the form of articles on various topics.

Initially, we only had a desktop site but now we’ve created a mobile site for smartphones too. As of August 2012, we receive 42 million page views and 9 million unique users per month.  The number of unique users is bigger on the desktop site, but the smartphone site receives more page views.

■ IA: How and why did you start using AdSense?
When we first established the site, we decided not to implement ads as we wanted to focus on creating quality content first. After our number of monthly visitors reached 10 million, we implemented a medium rectangle (300x250) in the upper right corner of the site.  As a result, we earned higher revenue than we’d anticipated.

We were surprised by the quality of the ads and how well they matched the content of our site. We’d been concerned that ads might damage the design or usability of our site, but we didn’t feel that way about the site post-implementation.  That’s why we decided to use AdSense more.

■ IA: What results did you see after implementing AdSense?
We started to use AdSense more after the pilot in April 2012.  More specifically, we switched from another ad network to AdSense, and increased the number of ads per page. Our revenue increased more than ten times in just three months!

nanapi covers a lot of topics, and it can be difficult to show relevant ads, but with AdSense's contextual targeting, relevant ads are shown automatically.  People visit nanapi before they take action, and that's why it's natural for our visitors to click relevant ads and leave the site. We implemented 336x280 ads below our articles to capture this kind of user behavior.

■ IA: Did you have any issues after implementing Google AdSense?
We didn’t have any difficulty in implementing or setting up AdSense. Compared to the ad network we used before, AdSense’s account interface is easy to use. It was also very easy to implement AdSense on our smartphone site. We pasted the ad code from the account interface, just as we’d done for the desktop site. It’s very good that AdSense allows us to check performance by platform too.

As for resources, we only need one person to manage AdSense. The account interface is very easy to use. For example, when we experiment with changing an ad format, we can check its performance immediately.

We were concerned that ads would deteriorate the usability of our website.  However, ad quality was very good and we didn’t have to worry.  Since the ads match our content, they enhance the information on the site and we haven’t received a single complaint from our users

■ IA: Please tell us about your plans for the future.
We plan to keep adding more and more articles to our site. Our goal is to make users think that “if you visit nanapi, you’ll find answers for all kinds of topics.” From an ads perspective, we’re considering using DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) to manage our ad units more easily.

Posted by Ayaka Sakakibara - Strategic Partner Manager
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10 for 10 publisher stories: Lessons from Teaching Ideas

In our third ‘10 for 10’ publisher success story leading up to AdSense’s 10th anniversary, we’ll hear from U.K. publisher Mark Warner of Teaching Ideas. The site offers thousands of free learning resources for teachers around the world, from ideas for classroom activities to printable posters. Mark launched the site in 1998 as a hobby while training to become a teacher, and it now attracts an average of 25,000 unique visitors a day.



Today, Mark generates 90 percent of the site’s income with AdSense, and also uses DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) Small Business to manage additional sources of advertising. “AdSense has had a big impact on my life,” says Mark, “allowing me to work part time, work from home, and spend more time with my family. My long-term goal is to continue building the website, making it bigger so more teachers have access to even more resources.”

For more of Mark’s story, read the full case study. We know there are many more success stories out there in the publisher community, so please feel free to share your own with us as well.

Posted by Arlene Lee - Inside AdSense Team
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