There’s Always a tough competition in Adsense and YPN (Yahoo Publisher Network) . I have been a member of AdSense for over Five years now and was a member of YPN since the beginning of their BETA testing.
Although the YPN Network promises to be an alternative for Adsense But at a large aspect these two networks have a lot of things that is Different.
Control panel
AdSense: The AdSense control panel is straight forward. You choose what type of ad, the colors, the channel then it spits out the code.
YPN: YPN on the other hand, is hulky. And although it has many of the same features, channels, colors, etc. it is lacking in usability. YPN reports are slow to show and you won’t know exactly how much you will receive until a few days before the check is sent. Also, you don’t get on-the-fly reporting as you do with AdSense.
Win: AdSense
Customer service
AdSense: You know what you get – t’s Google. You can send an email any day of the week and receive a response soon enough. You can call them and get a bot, but is usually still helpful.
YPN: hey are open only weekdays between 9-5 California time and will not even bother answering emails sent off-hours. Their customer service representatives usually have no clue what is going on and can’t look anything up for you. It’s a crap shoot.
Win: AdSense
Contextual advertising
AdSense: Ads are usually relevent the moment they are placed on the page. Shows up to four on target ads.
YPN: Can you even call it contextual? The ads are generally off target and way off target the moment it is placed on the page. The only contextual you will see is if you are in one of the four categories YPN targets for. Oh, and you can only show your ads to US visitors… ouch! And if you aren’t a US citizen or hold a US business, you can forget YPN. You aren’t allowed in.
Win: AdSense
Images
AdSenese: Has them. The click-through is seen as good-as, if not better than just text ads.
YPN: Doesn’t have them.
Win: AdSense
CPM ads
AdSense: Has them. Are fairly OK. Can be better earnings for some websites. Can’t choose whether to show them or not unless you contact Google.
YPN: Doesn’t have them.
Win: Tie
Referral ads
AdSense: Has them. Firefox referrals work fairly well for tech sites. Other than that, if you find some high paying referral ads you might be able to make some nice money. Otherwise it isn’t worth the time.
YPN: Doesn’t have them.
Win: AdSense
eCPM
AdSense: eCPM is generally steady throughout the week. If no changes are made, the ads will continue to bring in the same amount unless a major advertiser in your niche leaves.
YPN: eCPM is all over the place. When the program started eCPM was much higher than Google, then died over the following year. Now, it is anywhere from below Google to around Google. If you are in the four categories you can see much higher eCPM.
Win: Tie
Click-through (CTR)
AdSense is higher than YPN across the board. No matter what sector you are in, Google is usually ahead in the game. YPN usually gets less than 1% to 3% where AdSense would receive 2% to 5%.
Win: AdSense
Payment
AdSense: Payment is usually around the 25th. Check or direct deposit is available. Must reach over $100 to receive a check, will be sent out the following month.
YPN: Much the same as Google. Payment is around the 25th, generally a few days later than AdSense. Must reach over $100, sent out following month. You may be paid by cheque, direct deposit, PayPal or transfer your funds to Yahoo advertising program.
Win: YPN
Rate per click (RPC)
YPN is generally higher in RPC than Google. Where YPN pays $0.20, AdSense will pay $0.10. The difference in earnings comes from CTR, where Google generally leads. The question to ask yourself is does the RPC make up for the low CTR for YPN.
Win: YPN
Conclusion
Although YPN leads in several categories, it still has a ways to go. With the lack of choices and ads, it leads AdSense as the clear winner. However, if you get the chance, I recommend trying YPN with geo-targeting for a few days to see which does better for your site; 9 out of 10 chances it will be AdSense though.
Popularity: 1% [?]