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In the last part of the Make Money from Your Blog series, I covered the ins and outs of Kontera ContentLink. Today’s contribution to the series covers Yahoo! Publisher Network.

What is Yahoo! Publisher Network?

Yahoo! Publisher Network, or YPN, is a contextual advertising method that mimics Google AdSense. Like AdSense, it offers advertisers the opportunity to receive inexpensive traffic, (which is done through Yahoo’s Search Marketing service), and publishers the chance to make money by displaying on-site advertisements created by the advertisers.

Ad units are available in a variety of sizes to accommodate for differing website structures, and publishers have the option of displaying either text or graphic links. An example of one of the YPN ad formats can be seen below.

What are the benefits of using YPN?

YPN, like AdSense, allows for multiple ads to be display on-site, each of which can have a specific size and color scheme. This allows for multiple opportunities to generate earnings throughout a site or individual page. Clicks can even be tracked to reporting categories (a grouping method for classifying ads) in order to determine how effective specific ads are.

Another reason for using YPN is due to its ease of installation. The setup process and code generation requires minimal input, part of which includes specifying custom colorization such that it will blend well with the design of your site. When customization is completed, a simple JavaScript code snippet is provided that can be pasted into your website where desired.

In addition to their standard in-page ads, YPN offers a means by which to include ads from their network into your RSS feed. As with their standard ads, this can be inserted easily with custom code that the service provides.

Compared with AdSense, YPN offers higher average earnings for publishers. Many who have previously used AdSense found themselves switching to YPN after initially trying it because they were simply earning much, much more. While it is questionable as to whether these statistics will remain as high as they currently are, it’s definitely worth cashing in on now if accepted into the program.

Are there any drawbacks from using YPN?

Because YPN is providing publishers higher PCP than AdSense is offering, it means that either: Google is taking a larger percentage of advertiser costs from AdSense; or Yahoo! is requiring advertisers to spend more than Google requires, potentially diverting some advertisers away from YPN.

If the latter case is true, it may cause difficulties in always having ads available for publishers displaying ad units. However, this may simply be resolved through YPN’s stricter requirements for accepting publishers into the program.

So how do I get started?

As a publisher, YPN is easy to apply for and simple to install. However, it is a bit more restrictive than the AdSense program, meaning that there is a lesser chance of being accepted into YPN for younger websites.

Once you are accepted into the YPN program, creating your first ad is a simple feat. The first step is selecting your desired ad layout with regards to size and colors. Colors can be customized, as in the screen shot on the right. This step also allows you to specify a reporting category for your ad, which can help with tracking specific ad stats later. After your ad is set up the way you like, simple copy the custom JavaScript code provided by Yahoo!, and paste it into your website.

How do I track my earnings?

The YPN reporting interface offers a great amount of detail. Those who are familiar with the reporting data provided by AdSense will have no trouble becoming acquainted with those provided by YPN. Data can be sorted by date and reporting category. Each date’s set of data includes total number of impressions, number of clicks, CTR, CPM, and revenue. For those interested in just a basic overview, YPN also provides your daily earnings alone when logging into the website.

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