Where do you place ads?

Sometimes when I’m building something I’ll get the feeling that what I’m doing is wrong. It’s one of those “you have a ‘gut feeling’ but you have no idea why” moments. I felt it quite distinctly when putting together my most recent set of search mockups. I had ads at the top of the search results and it felt wrong. I couldn’t figure out why though. Google has ads at the top of their search results and that works out fine.

After a couple days the answer came to me. I’d read in in the Adsense Blog:

Tip #2: Use ads as potential exit paths, not interruptions.

Ads should complement your site, not distract from it. The most natural place for a user to evaluate an advertisement is after they’ve completed their goals on your site. Instead of interrupting your user’s main tasks, try to offer ads as potential exit path for users who were probably ready to leave anyway by placing them at the end of completed tasks.

Ads work on Google’s search results page because you’re at the end of your task by the time you have your search results. Your goal is to go to a different site. So ads, which by default take you to a different site, are not a distraction.

But in my case the search results aren’t the final destination. The goal is to find someone and contact them (or at the very least take a look at their profile). Thus, the best place for ads would be the “you’ve successfully sent a message” page.

This is a great tip for applying some logic to the placement your ads. If a user has accomplished what they wanted to on your site, show an ad. Otherwise, don’t.