Fast Decision-Making With A/B Testing

12.8 Fast Decision-Making With A/B Testing

One of the problems with tracking Channels is that collecting all the data you need can take time. If you wanted to know whether you should put a skyscraper or a small square in your sidebar, you’d have to start with one type of ad unit, collect results for at least a week to make sure that they’re

representative, replace that unit with the second type, follow those results for a week and compare.

Sound tough?

Well, now there’s an easier way.

Normally, playing with the AdSense code is a big no-no. But this script comes right from Google itself and has been approved for this specific use only:

Simply, replace the lines that say “your first ad unit code goes here” and “your second ad unit code goes here” with the ad codes for each of the two units you wish to test.

The result will be that the two ads are rotated randomly so that each will appear half the time. As long as those two ad units are similar in every respect but one and each has a unique Channel name, you’ll be able to see exactly which type of ad unit is earning more after about a week or so.

This is an extremely useful exception to AdSense’s rules about changing its ad code, but I wouldn’t recommend that you do it across your entire site. It’s always best to do your testing on a separate page or group of pages and then make the changes across the site once you’ve got the information you want.

That would minimize your losses if the original ad unit works better.