Grow your multi-screen audience with Google Play Newsstand

If you have a news, sports, lifestyle, entertainment or other article-based site, target a growing mobile audience with Google Play Newsstand. Google Play Newsstand gives users the opportunity to discover more of the content they love in one place, and enables you to reach users through your own customizable Newsstand edition.

Use Google Play Newsstand Producer to create your edition and deliver your content to more mobile users. This tool allows you to customize the look and feel of your content, add branding, and set up ads and subscription streams for your Newsstand edition. Once your edition is live, share it with your users so they can subscribe and enjoy your content online or offline. Your users can share your content with others and bookmark articles they find relevant and interesting.

It's easy to get started, first sign up for Google Play Newsstand Producer and then create your edition.

We'd love to hear from you, tell us in the comments section below this post about your favorite content distribution strategies.

Posted by Jay Castro - Audience Development Specialist
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Google AdSense answers multi-screen FAQs

We recently opened a new category called Going Multi-Screen in the AdSense Help Forum* where you can post questions and share your experiences about multi-screen optimization. In today�s post, we will summarize the top five FAQs received to date. We hope you find these helpful.

1. Optimizing websites for multiple screens requires resources and commitment. Is it worth my time and investment?
   Yes, going multi-screen is worth your time and investment, although it's not always something you can accomplish in a day. Our research shows benefits to both monetization and user experience. On average, publishers with mobile-optimized sites can have 8% higher RPM and their site traffic grows twice as fast as non-optimized publishers.** Having a mobile-optimized site can also help you to improve time spent on site and bounce rate.
   
   Furthermore, since global advertiser spending on mobile ads is expected to increase by 52% in 2015, you could benefit even more from this trend.***
   
   As Evan Britton, the founder of FamousBirthdays.com, said: The important thing to realize is that growth in the mobile market is all about offering a better experience the potential in the mobile space to grow ad revenue is huge. (find more publisher stories)
2. I'm planning to create a responsive website. How are responsive ad units performing? 
   
   We've found that responsive ad units generally perform better than normal ad units as they work in line with responsive layouts. This helps to improve the experience for your mobile users. We recommend using the smart sizing mode if you're just starting out, but there's also an advanced mode if you're looking to customize ad sizes on a more granular level. You can find code samples for the advanced mode in the Help Center.
3. What are the best practices for mobile site ad placement?
   
   The best ad placement will depend on your own site content and structure, but you can see our recommended placements for mobile sites below. We recommend that publishers use the large mobile banner (320x100) and medium rectangle (300 x250) sizes, which are high performing and fit nicely on your mobile screen.
4. What's the maximum number of ads allowed on mobile pages?
   
   You can place up to three content ad units per page on your mobile sites. This is the same number of ad units allowed on desktop sites. For smaller screens, carefully consider the balance of content and ads so that users can find the information they're looking for. Please avoid showing only ads on your first screen.
5. How can I improve the user experience on my mobile site?
   To check your mobile user experience, try the PageSpeed Insights tool and read the suggestions in the user experience section. For more detailed and technical approaches, we recommend you go through the Web Fundamentals resource on the Google Developers site. You'll learn more about how to deliver your content as quickly as possible, optimize images and videos, and improve the mobile experience for users. If you'd like to see some examples of good mobile site design, check out the white paper, Principles of Mobile Site Design.

Still have questions? Visit the forum and start a conversation with other publishers to learn multi-screen best practices.

* Currently only available in the English, Spanish and Japanese Forums
** Source -  Google internal data, please note that results may vary
*** Source - Global Ad Spending Growth to Double This Year, July 19, 2014 (digital advertising spending includes paid media spending on ads of any format delivered to any internet-connected device, mobile Internet ad spending includes display and search.)

Posted by Maiko Fujita - Multi-Screen Specialist
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Web Fundamentals and Web Starter Kit: Resources for modern web development

In recent years, mobile devices have brought the web to new users and introduced many new device capabilities, screen sizes, input methods, and more. To help publishers and developers navigate this new space, the Google Developers team recently built Web Fundamentals, a useful source for modern best practices aimed at web developers. We�ve also made it even easier to build multi-device experiences with the Beta release of the Web Starter Kit.

Whether you are creating a mobile site yourself or hiring a developer to create one for you, this resource will offer you useful guidelines to get started.

Web Fundamentals' guidelines are intended to be fundamental to the web platform: useful no matter which framework you choose or which browser your users run. The guidelines include a range of useful articles to help you build a site including articles focused on responsive layouts, forms, touch, and performance, just to name a few.

Inside Web Fundamentals you will find a web starter kit - a lightweight kit to help you or a developer get started with creating your mobile-optimized site. This kit is highly useful and includes helpful tools, including a visual style guide, that you can implement on your site.

Keep in mind, this content is pretty technical and is geared more towards web developers.  If you find the content to be too technical, we do offer a list of recommended vendors that can help you build a mobile-optimized site.

Keep an eye on this space moving forward. We will be updating the Web Fundamental guidelines with more content and resources in the future.

Posted by Matt Salisbury,  Multi-Screen Specialist
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This blog post was adapted from content originally posted on the The Chromium blog.

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Tips to make your content more accessible to users

A combination of offering users the best experience and efficiently monetizing your content is important for the long-term success of your website. With that in mind, here�s some tips to help you to achieve both of these goals:

Content: Is your site content relevant to your users? Ask yourself if the content on your site is well-researched and well-structured. Will it capture and engage your users' attention?

Ad types: When choosing an ad type for your site, consider if it improves the user experience on your site. It's important to be mindful of designs that are prohibited by our AdSense program policies, such as pop-ups and pop-unders, floating or static ads, or any other type of ad that could make it difficult for users to access your content. Where possible, test potential designs with focus groups or an AdSense experiment.

Ad placement: Advertising on your site should provide additional value to your users. Ads should be visible without limiting your site audience's ability to interact with the rest of your content. For instance, if ads are visible above the fold on your site, make sure they're not making it difficult for users to view your content. We may be less likely to display pages with obstructive above the fold advertising in our search results.

Multi-screen: Don't forget to think about the impact of your design and ad placement on the accessibility of content across platforms. Our research indicates that users are increasingly relying on multiple digital touch-points throughout the day.

In addition to the four tips above, check out the Webmaster Quality Help Center for website quality guidelines that have been created specifically for AdSense publishers. You�ll also find insights and tools to help you understand and improve your site on the Google Webmasters website.

Posted by: 

Andrey Lipattsev, Search Quality, Outreach Specialist

Alexey Petrov, AdSense Product Specialist

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Introducing a new multi-screen resource in the AdSense Help Center

Did you know that sites optimized for multiple screen sizes can have an average 15% higher RPM and twice the traffic growth rate of sites that aren�t?*

If you think about how quickly you�ll leave a site where you have to pinch and zoom to find something, it�s not surprising that multi-screen optimized sites are performing better. That same behavior will most often apply to your own users too, so having a multi-screen plan is important to keeping them engaged for longer.

There�s a lot to think about when deciding on your multi-screen strategy. To help you in your decision-making, we�ve created new multi-screen guidelines. They can be found in the AdSense Help Center and cover the following topics:

Multi-Screen Starter Guide

• Why go multi-screen?
• Multi-screen success stories
• What are the common approaches? 
• How to build a multi-screen site
• Getting technical support from a multi-screen vendor

Multi-Screen Implementation Guide

• Monetization tips
• Mobile user experience tips
• Mobile search engine optimization tips

We hope you find these resources useful. Start optimizing your site today to retain and grow user loyalty. We�ll be sharing more resources and success stories in the near future - check back here soon for the latest updates from our Multi-Screen Specialist Team.

* Source:  Google internal data

Posted by Hye In Kim,  Multi-Screen Specialist
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Find out what the world wants to know during the World Cup with Google Trends

As the World Cup launches, content consumption will increase for many websites especially those focused on news and sports. As can be seen from the statistics below, soccer fever is about to take hold:

• The World Cup is the largest, most connected global sporting event. Worldwide, it has more interest on Google Search than the Super Bowl, the Olympics, and the Tour de France combined.*

• In 2010, about 18% of searches for games, players and teams during the World Cup final were made on a mobile device. Compare that with 2014, when 63% of similar searches during a popular UEFA Champions League match were made on mobile. We�re likely to see this trend continue during this year�s World Cup.**
• Looking at a 30-day period this year, more hours of soccer content have been watched on YouTube than were broadcast during the entire 2010 World Cup�over 900 times the amount.***
• In that time, 64.7 million hours of soccer video were watched on YouTube globally.***
• 1.6 billion views of soccer content on YouTube globally.***

Views of Sports Videos on YouTube, April 13�May 13 ***

Source: 

* - Source: Google Data, January 1, 2010�May 14, 2014, Indexed Search Query Volume, Worldwide

** -Source:  https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/2014-world-cup.html 

*** - Source: Google Data, April 13�May 13, 2014, Indexed Video Views, Worldwide

Connect with your users as they enjoy the games, and potentially drive more traffic to your site. With google.com/worldcup, tailor your site�s content with the latest insights and most popular trends as they emerge during the tournament. Here�s some examples of the types of insights you can expect from Google Trends over the coming weeks: 

• Sentiment: Explore how an entire country is feeling, whether optimistic or anxious. Sentiment will be captured across search trends and public Google+ conversations.
  
• World focus: For every match, discover which team is capturing the world's attention in Search. 
• Top questions: Do your users want to know more about a penalty kick? They�re probably not the only ones. Check out trending questions from every competing country before and after kickoff.
• Rising players: Find out the players to watch and how they rank in search compared with their teammates.

Check out google.com/worldcup now and make sure you�ve got the latest information when creating your content. Whether it�s insight on how a country is feeling ahead of a big match, or where fans stand on a referee�s decision. 

Tailor your content to what�s capturing your users interests right now with the latest insights from google.com/worldcup.

Viva La World Cup!

Posted by Chris Jones - Audience Development Specialist

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This blog post was adapted from content originally posted on the Inside Search blog.

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Score goals with AdSense during the World Cup (part 5 of 5)

Welcome to the final part of our World Cup series. Today we�ll share some AdSense-specific tips and tricks to help grow your revenue potential. We'll cover some old but steadfast recommendations plus more advanced seasonal optimisation tips to help ensure you�re well prepared for the World Cup.

1. Increase ad coverage: Place up to three ad units, plus three link units per page. This can help increase the click rates and views on your site, and potentially boost your earnings. It�s important to remember that a good balance between content and ads is essential. Placing too many ads on a page may cause a high bounce rate and loss in revenue.

2. Use the best performing ad formats: Wider ad formats usually perform better compared to others. Some ad formats also have more advertiser demand. Typically ad formats like the 728x90 Leaderboard, the 336x280 Large rectangle, the 300x250 Medium Rectangle, and the 300x600 Large Skyscraper are the most popular formats among the advertisers and more effective in terms of potentially increasing revenue. During big sporting events, advertisers are often focusing on viral engagement. Enabling expandable ads will help you capture this opportunity.

3. Be careful with blocking controls: Review which ad categories you�re currently blocking and why you�re blocking them. Overblocking can lead to a decline in your earnings potential, especially in times of increased traffic to your site and bigger advertiser spend on categories such as CPG, Auto, Entertainment Food and Beverage and Travel.  

4. Ensure optimal ad position: Choosing the best locations to insert the ads can be challenging.  Use Google Analytics to get a heatmap on where your users are clicking. You�ll also find more new resources on the AdSense Help Center regarding the best performing ad placements for each website category. Recently we have new articles about ad placement specific to sports and travel.

That wraps up our World Cup blog series. We hope you�ve gained some new insights, inspiration and ideas on getting your site ready for the World Cup. Check back here in a two weeks when we�ll be sharing news of a fantastic Google initiative around World Cup insights.

Posted by Marta Lysiak - Inside AdSense Team
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Score goals with Google during the World Cup (part 4 of 5)

Welcome to the fourth part of our World Cup blog series. Today, we�ll take a closer look at reaching your audience across devices. 

Is your website optimized for your mobile users? Throughout the World Cup, fans will be looking for great content, regardless of whether they�re viewing it from a desktop, tablet or mobile device. �In 2013, internet traffic from mobile devices surpassed traffic from desktop, and that figure is continuing to grow�*.

Today, approximately 60%** of online users are now multi screen users. In many instances, this means they�re online on social networks, news sites or mobile messaging apps while also watching TV. During live sporting events, this number grows further. Euro 2012 and the 2012 Olympics were good examples of this trend as illustrated below.

�Source: Smartadserver Blog - London Olympics 2012: The impressive Mobile Infographic� 

With this in mind, think about whether you should be preparing additional mobile-optimized content to share with your users during events like the World Cup, especially during the opening ceremony, key matches and the finals. Looking at how your users digest your content is important. If they receive a link on their smartphone but are unable to view the content because it�s not mobile-optimized, they�ll feel frustrated at the poor experience. On the other hand, If the user is delighted with the content and their first visit to your site is a positive experience, they�ll likely come back again and again. We recently shared some best practices on driving user engagement and loyalty through smart mobile site design - take a look and see if there�s any practices you can apply to your own site. If you haven�t created a mobile-friendly site yet and would like to outsource this, take a look at Google�s recommended vendors.

If you already have a mobile optimized site, don�t forget that you can grow your earnings potential by understanding which mobile ad sizes are most effective for you. Moreover, if you�ve created an app, use Google AdMob to monetise it and grow your earnings.

Check back tomorrow for the final post in our World Cup series, when we�ll be talking about growing your site with Google AdSense.

*Source: Morgan Stanley Research
** Source: GfK, March 2014, US and UK

Posted by Barbara Sarti - Adsense Specialist
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Score goals with Google during the World Cup (part 3 of 5)

Welcome to the third part of our World Cup series. Today, we�ll focus on taking your content viral through social media.

The 2014 World Cup in Brazil won't just be about soccer. It�ll also be about interactions across social media. This event will see millions of people interact and share content on multiple social channels, driving the potential for your content to �go viral�. With this in mind, publishers should think about adapting their editorial coverage around the World Cup to generate audience buzz. Some fun examples could include discussing top ranked players or incredible game moments. 73%* of online adults now use a social networking site of some kind. So it�s essential that content on your site is easy to share and that you�ve got a strategy in place for engagement and distribution of content through your social media channels.

Users not only like to read the latest updates regarding the World Cup, but also share interesting content, comment, and interact with other users. Additionally, sports are a leading topic on many social media platforms. Sports audiences often account for some of the most engaged and passionate fans on social media. To engage your audience further, explore using Google+ Sign In  and some of our other Google+ features that will help you take your content viral.

If you�re planning to create specific content for the World Cup, don�t forget to build out a content strategy for your social media channels. Use these channels to spread your content and engagement. For instance, try hashtags and make sure they�re relevant for the season and not just promoting your site or business. Using well established hashtags can help users discover your content faster and can also allow your content to contribute to ongoing discussions. Here�s a couple of examples of some of the most popular hashtags used with World Cup content:

• #worldcup
• #worldcup2014
• #fifa
• #brazil
• #football
• #brazil2014
• #soccer
• #brasil2014

Video is another potential channel for you to create and share unique content on your site. Over 6 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube**. That's almost an hour for every person in the world. With that much content being consumed, think about using YouTube or Google+ Hangouts On Air to distribute your content and to engage your users. For example, you could create a daily 90 second clip that highlights the best, worst and funniest moments from the various games.

In our fourth blog post tomorrow, we�ll talk about your strategy for reaching users across devices.

* Source - http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/
** Source - http://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.html

Posted by Chris Jones - Audience Development Specialist
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Score goals with Google during the World Cup (part 2 of 5)

Welcome to the second part of our World Cup series. Today, we�ll focus on the creation and promotion of related content ahead of the tournament. 

The World Cup is one of the most searched topics we�ll see in 2014. Other large-scale events such as the US Presidential elections don�t compare. At this time, sports, news, travel and outdoor sites could see an increase in traffic of up to 13%*. Take a look at the graph below which highlights the growth of site visits during last year�s Confederation Cup in Brazil.

Source: comScore 2013

As most World Cup fans will start to search for related information before the tournament begins, now is the time to start sharing relevant and related content with them. When building your content strategy and timelines, think about important dates, specific games and popular keywords. The World Cup audience will search for schedules, results, teams and player information, not to mention the viral entertainment that many advertisers will create. Fans traveling to Brazil might also search for travel and accommodation options, local directions or restaurant recommendations. Regardless of what type of website you have, ask yourself if you�re giving your users the content they need right now.

Stay tuned for the next blog post where we�ll share some best practices on using social media to reach more users.

Posted by Barbara Sarti - Inside AdSense Team
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*Google Internal data

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Join us for a conversation on the future of digital advertising

Digital is no longer just another marketing channel. It�s a medium that�s changing the art of storytelling and reinventing the way companies connect with consumers.

How will digital advertising evolve next? You�re invited to tune in live as industry leaders tackle the question at DoubleClick�s annual event on digital trends.

Speakers include:

• Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation 
• Nikesh Arora, Chief Business Officer at Google
• Neal Mohan, VP of Display Advertising at Google 

Register now for the live stream 

Wednesday, June 4 

9:30 am PDT - 10:45 am PDT / 12:30 pm EDT - 1:45 pm EDT

Time not convenient? When you register you�ll receive a link to watch the recording on demand.

We hope you can join! 

Here�s footage from last year�s event to give you a taste of the 2014 live stream:

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Our first online course for AdSense publishers is now open

Optimizing AdSense is now in session. Start the course today to access all of the new videos, activities and assessments. The course forum is now open so you can start discussing optimization ideas with other publishers taking the course and find out how to best apply what you learn. Take a quick peek at the course now.

Posted by Courtney Richardson - Optimizing AdSense Team
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Learn how to earn money from your website with Optimizing AdSense

Publishers often tell us that they want to learn how to use AdSense but aren�t sure where to start or which resources are right for them. We�re changing that. Join us on May 20th in Optimizing AdSense, our first online course for AdSense publishers. The course puts all of our top optimization resources in one place, helping you understand what drives your revenue and how to make changes right in your account to make the most of your setup.

Each lesson in the course will focus on a specific AdSense topic that can help. By completing Optimizing AdSense, you�ll learn:

• what drives AdSense revenue
• strategies for boosting your RPM
• how to improve your clickthrough rate, ad targeting, and coverage

Watch the lesson videos, follow the step-by-step walkthroughs, and complete the activities to practice what you learn. Also, take advantage of the course forum to connect with other publishers like you to see how they have used the course to earn money for their website. Publishers who complete the final assessment with an 80% or higher can also earn a certificate from the Google AdSense team.

Take the pre-assessment today to find out what to focus on when the course opens on May 20th.



Posted by Courtney Richardson - Optimizing AdSense Team
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Hangout on Air: Perfecting Your Mobile Site Experience

Mobile empowers users to connect with your content at any time and from anywhere. To truly meet the needs of your audience at any moment, you should strive to provide a best-in-class mobile site experience.

But what makes a mobile site great? Watch our panel of experts as they discuss this question and delve into our newest research on mobile site design in this Hangout on Air.

Mobile Site Design Panel

• Moderator: John Sullivan, Director of Search Strategy, Google
• Panelist: Jenny Gove, User Experience Researcher, Google
• Panelist: Manu Lakkur, Product Manager, Google
• Panelist: Luke Starbuck, Director, Mobify

We hope you enjoy the Hangout on Air!

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