Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Roundtable and Webmasterworld are discussing Google AdSense hints.
The basic idea is that this is a feature not available to most publishers to “Override contextual targetting by telling google what keywords a page relates to”. According to posters at Webmasterworld, your site has to be of a certain traffic, and complaining about poor keyword targeting can help.
I’m not able to say much about this, but just a few points: If someone tells you they know of the code for keyword targeting in AdSense, do not use it. Your account will be suspended. This, among several other premium AdSense features, are only available to those Google gives permission to. Since every AdSense page load goes right back to Google’s servers, they will know the second you implement it, and they will shut you down, either temporarily or permanently.
Also, if you are in these programs, do not talk about them, at least not in a public place (like your own website). A feature that allow you to choose AdSense keywords is a powerful one, and can be easilly abused. If Google gives you such a feature, it establishes a level of trust, and you should not betray that trust just to brag and say “Hey! Lookatme!”. It’s not worth it. Premium features make you more money, so why risk them for ten seconds of fame?
Since most publishers are not using these features, and those that are cannot talk about them publicly, I recommend Google create a locked membership Google Group where those with advanced features can discuss them and share optimization tips. Considering that there are literally hundreds of websites out there discussing ad placement and colors, how much more valuable would advice be on keyword targeting and other secret features? I think many publishers would even pay for such a discussion forum.
Finally, don’t compare Google’s keyword targeting to Yahoo’s site tagging. Per-page keyword targeting and site-wide category tagging could not be more different, and, I’d imagine, neither are the results.
Nathan Weinberg writes the popular InsideGoogle blog, offering the latest news and insights about Google and search engines.
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