Monetize Pro

Imagine, if you will, the first time a billboard went up.  People must have stopped and stared at the enormous advertisement, regardless of what shoddy or excellent product it featured.  And now, Google’s giving you the opportunity to do the same sort of thing with AdSense ad units.

Font sizes labeled “small,” “medium,” and “large” are all available for advertisers to use as they see fit.  The default size is medium, which is actually a bit bigger than what most people are used to seeing, and may therefore yield better results.

Or you can opt for the small size and make users feel a little less pressured to click.  Or just throw caution to the wind and see how users react to the large size.  Google won’t hold you to whatever adjustments you make, so it’s always possible to switch things back or micromanage.

In fact, a post on the Inside AdSense blog points out to readers that they can make changes “on an account-wide basis or by individual ad unit — just follow the instructions listed in our Help Center. . . .  [W]e recommend testing these new font size options with your existing customizations to determine which combinations perform best on your pages.”

So see if you can make people stop and gawk at (and click on) any ads on your site.  At least until the novelty wears off, there’s likely some extra money to be made.

If you’re pressed for time, here’s the takeaway point of this article: Don’t put all of your figurative eggs in the mobile commerce basket just yet.  Information gathered by eMarketer indicates that growth in this field is painfully slow.

An eMarketer article states, “A 2008 Nielsen Mobile poll found that only 9.2 million US mobile subscribers purchased goods or services with their handset - a low figure when compared with a JPMorgan projection of 233 million total subscribers.  Even lower next to eMarketer’s estimate of 270 million US mobile phone subscribers in 2008.”

And although 2009 might be better - the iPhone, the Palm Pre, and the Android operating system are liable to help - stats suggesting that any sort of huge surge has taken place haven’t appeared.

Plus, even if people do start to make purchases using their phones, a Harris Interactive poll found that individuals generally aren’t willing to go for expensive items, opting instead for cheap stuff like pizza, movie tickets, and music.  Admittedly, hotel rooms count as a pricey, high-ranking item, but you have to figure the overlap of need and convenience is a huge factor there.

So if your blog or site isn’t optimized for viewing on a cell phone, well, don’t sweat it.  This might be a fine option to pursue if you have the time, but otherwise, your energy can probably be put to better use.