Website Monetization Tip #5: Of Browsers and In Text Ads

Earn More from a Website by Knowing the Browser

Getting to know your audience is a major part of any plan to make money from a website. Now, it’s no secret that a visitor’s choice of a browser can tell something about the expected behavior. If you’re looking to increase your website earnings from in text ads, there are certain specific actions relating to your visitors’ browsers that you can take and that can make a difference. Analyzing general statistics from in text advertising results reveals a few interesting insights that I’m happy to share here.

Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari

This website monetization tip is based on browsing statistics of thousands of websites with integrated in text ads, focusing on the four major internet browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Safari. Clearly, as with any statistical analysis, the lessons from this research are limited by being generalized and you might find that in your website visitors behave differently. And still, there is much to learn from information gathered over large volumes of traffic.

In the data used here, from a single day in December 2009, Explorer users counted for almost half of the page views, Firefox users represented 35% of the pages, Chrome browsers where used for 7% of the total traffic, Mac’s Safari users viewed 5% of the pages, and the remaining 3% of web pages where mostly viewed by Opera users. While web surfing behavior is different in India than it is in Canada, the data here was analyzed without referring to the location of the users. Also, while analyzing data from a longer period could tell us even more, in total, the data here included many millions of page views, which should be enough for reaching a few conclusions.

Targeting Safari Users can Earn you More

Mac users with the Safari browser seem to represent a unique group of users who’s often categorized as having a tendency towards graphic and design. In this analysis they represent a rather smaller group of users with two major differences from other users and with a promise for higher revenues.

The first finding is a little disappointing: the fill rate for Safari users reached only 75% of the general fill rate. The term fill rate here stands for the number of viewed pages where the in text ads script has managed to highlight double underline hooks, excluding business related decisions, so it only relates to the influence of technology. The explanation for the lower number of pages could be found in ad blockers or other scripts that interfere with the in text script, but other reasons could also be relevant. From the publisher’s point of view, this means that you should expect less page views with in text ads from these users, which could lead to lower earnings.

But there is a nice surprise from Safari visitors: they yield higher payment per click. In fact, the CPC paid by advertisers for clicks from Safari browsers was nearly 50% higher than the general cost per click. Why is that? It seems that Mac users are highly sought after by online advertisers and the competition drives prices up. These high prices compensate for the lower fill rate and the results from Safari users, measured by effective CPM, do get to the top levels of earnings. The conclusion is that targeting Safari users is a viable strategy for making money online, if you understand that they are limited in numbers from the overall online population and generate lower page volumes with in text ads. How to attract those pricy Safari users is a different story to be discussed elsewhere, but delivering content about Mac is a sure bet for doing so and getting high CPC clicks.

Internet Explorer is the King of In Text Ads Revenues

Visitors who use Microsoft’s Internet Explorer stand at the top of most categories relevant to earning more with the in text ads on your website. First, they represent the largest group of users, and while Explorer is losing market share to competing browsers, they are still leading. Second, they simply click more often. The click trough rate on in text ads measured for Explorer users is over 54% higher than for users of others browsers. Third, and most important, influenced by the high volume of clicks, the effective CPM from Explorer users is much higher than the expected website revenues from users of other browsers, and this is an understatement. In the data sampled here, the eCPM measured here was in fact 85% higher…!

Why does an Explorer user click more often on in text ads? The answer to this crucial question hides somewhere in understanding who these users are. Since most personal computers are still sold bundled with Microsoft’s Windows operating system and Internet Explorer browsers, using a different browser requires an active choice. It makes sense to assume that users who are less web-savvy won’t make that choice and simply stick with the default. Apparently, there is a direct correlation between your level of web expertise and your willingness to click on online advertising, or at least on in text ads.

The conclusions from this advantage of Explorer users can be taken into consideration on both the targeting level and the technology level or the type of integration you use. On the targeting level, delivering content aimed at users who are less “webby” could prove to be worth it, and it’s up to you to analyze what content they are looking for. From the technology aspect, a website publisher can prioritize in text ads for Explorer users, by identifying these users and then running the in text script earlier in the website’s loading or adding more hooks for them. When optimizing your website for higher monetization results, you can ask your in text ads provider for ideas on how to do that.

There are additional interesting differences among the different versions of Internet Explorer. For example, the newer the version, the higher the CPC. However, these results can be explained by external factors which are not directly related to the browser. For example, it could be that Microsoft manages to generate upgrades to the newer versions of Explorer faster in markets with higher broadband penetration, and such markets probably have stronger online advertising markets.

Firefox Users Generate Less Website Revenues

Firefox users earn less in text revenues for website publishers. This fact is not surprising if you think about who these users are. Making the active decision to switch from the default Explorer to Firefox is probably more common for users who have likes and dislikes about the web. These users click less, only about two thirds of the clicks from Explorer users. Firefox users install add-ons to block ads, they surf more and generate more page views than their respective percentage of the unique users and by doing do so may get more annoyed by ads, and there could be other reasons, but they all lead to this fact – they click less. As a result, the eCPM measured from visitors who use Firefox browsers is just a little over half than the eCPM from Explorer users.

Before any actionable conclusions, it’s important to realize this fact and understand that if your website typically attracts “webby” visitors with a tendency towards Firefox, your monetization results from in text ads will be lower. As for things you can do about it, my best recommendation would be to explain to such users the nature of in text ads. Make sure that your users know that the double underline ad links in your website are there to help you finance better content for them, keep it free when possible, and that they are much less intrusive than jumping banners. By clarifying the advantages of in text ads to their user experience, you may generate genuine interest in these ads and as a result get more clicks. This can easily be done by a sidebar link to an FAQ explaining the nature of in text ads; consider a link saying “Double Underline Explained” or something in this spirit. As for technological improvements, you can optimize the appearance of in text ads to match the taste shown by your Firefox users, and for this you need to first get to know them better and then use the flexibility from your in text provider.

Chrome Users Follow Firefox Patterns

Chrome users seem to follow the footsteps of Firefox users and the statistics of both groups are quite similar – they click less than Explorer users and yield lower in text ads revenues. The similarity of results for Firefox and Chrome users teaches that Chrome users are more or less the same users and the conclusions for Firefox users can be used here as well. Currently, Chrome users still represent a small group of users and it would be worthwhile to study them further as it grows and develops its own unique behavior patterns.

Earn More with In Text Ads

The bottom line is that getting to know the differences between visitors according to their choice of web browser could help you in increasing your revenues from in text ads on your website. There is still much to learn. For example, iPhone and other mobile phone browsers show other surfing patterns, but this seems to stem from the different user experience on the mobile phone, and not only from the choice of browser. Getting to know your website’s visitors and acting upon the findings to optimize the user experience and the in text ads integration is an important part of your website monetization plan. Even if you’re not ready yet for running different scripts according to the user’s browser, you should at least adopt the recommendation about explaining your users the nature of in text ads – it could help with Firefox and Chrome users, and for the long run, this should improve overall quality and results from all users.