• Lesson Index:
• Overview
• Basic
• Google Toolbar and PR
• Alt and Title
• Funny Names
• Google Dance
• Googlebot
• Google Sandbox
• Trust Rank
• AdSense
• Google Ads
• Google Search
• AdSense for Content
• Earning Reports
• Channels
• Policies
• Filter Ads
• Promotion
• Keyword Optimization
• Information Rich Pages
• Link Exchanges
• No Tricks
• No Spam
• Web Forums
• Web Directories
• Other Ways
• Checking Up

Using Channels

Channels are a way for you to track performance on the various ads. There are two types of Channels: URL Channels and Custom Channels. I perfer to use URL Channels since it does not require me to alter my AdSense code that I had already placed on my site. Whereas Custom Channels requires the insertion of a code in the AdSense HTML. And this method is very useful if you have ads on more than one site. For example, you can use URL Channels to see breakdown your Earning reports between the two different sites based on their URL.

To use URL Channels do the following...

1. Go to AdSense Setup and then to Channels.

2. Click the Manage Channels link.

3. Under the URL Channels section, type in the URL for that you want to track. For example, I enter artcoder.blogspot.com and click the Create New Channel button. And let's say that I have Google ads on another website such as http://www.webmarksonline.com. So I enter www.webmarksonline.com and click the Create New Channel button. Now I will be able to see whether ads on artcoder.blogspot.com or webmarksonline.com earn more.

You can create channels for subdomain as well. For example, http://learn.webmarksonline.com. And you can create a channels for individual pages -- such as http://projects.webmarksonline.com/tictactoe/index.htm.

You can track sub-directories. For example, if I want to see if whether ads on the Intro CSS course earn more or ads on the Google course, then I would add a channel for https://learnwebdesignonline.com/introcss and add another channel for https://learnwebdesignonline.com/google.

4. The next time you want to see your earnings, you can go to Reports -> Advanced Reports and select Show Channel Data. Checkmark the channels that you want to show and click Display Reports. Note that if you had just created the channels, you will not be able to see channel reports right away. The channel statistics does not start to accumulate until the channel have been activated.

Another way that channels are used is to track which ad styles and placements are more effective. To track this, Custom Channels might be more suitable. Then you can create a custom channel for header ads. And you can create another custom channel for footer ads. Create a custom channel for ads that blend with the colors of the site and another for ads that constrast with the site's color. Now by seeing which channels are bringing in more money, you can know how to fine tune your ads.

Next

In the next lesson, you will learn about some of Google Adsense policies.