We understand that many of you analyze how ad units or channels perform compared to each other to help you decide whether you should make changes to improve performance. Now, in the new interface, we provide you a new way to analyze individual items against one another.

The chart feature will allow you to see custom channels or ad units as their own line on the graph, so you can easily identify spikes or dips. To see how your channels perform compared to each other, visit the Performance Reports tab, and click Custom channels. Depending on the number of channels you’re using, you might be asked to filter the list and then click Update report. Once your selected channels are listed below the graph, you'll see the Combine and Chart buttons.

Select a few channels and hit ‘Chart.’ Now you can see each specific channel in it’s own color on the graph. You can use the buttons next to the graph to change the metric for which you’re comparing the channels. Using this feature, you might notice that discrepancies between channel performance are more obvious on the graph than they are just viewing the numbers in the table.


Try it now! Navigate to the Performance reports tab, and select any report for which you want to chart items.

Help us figure out what you need and want in your reports by sending your feedback through the ‘Report issue’ link in the upper corner of your account or joining the conversations in our forum.

Posted by Guillaume Ryder - AdSense Engineer

Teens Don’t Know Who Osama Bin Laden Is, According to Yahoo! Search Trends

Searches for Osama Bin Laden Spike Nearly 100,00%

Searches on Sunday for Osama bin Laden spiked nearly 100,00% on Yahoo!, also making him the most-searched person of the day. Nearly 1 in 5 searches for “osama bin laden” are by teenagers, many of who grew up during the war on terrorism. 25% of searches overall for Osama came from those under 24.

Every single state in the nation showed heightened search volume on Yahoo! for “osama bin laden,” led by North Dakota, Arizona, Montana, Arkansas, New Mexico, Idaho, and South Dakota.

Behind the man. Besides searches for confirmation of his death, we saw searches spike off the charts for Osama bin Laden’s biography, age, height, wife, and children. Searches on Yahoo! for “is it Usama or Osama?” also spiked off the charts. Yesterday’s events also caused a surge of questions around the declared No. 1 terrorist mastermind.

According to Yahoo!, The Top Searched Questions on Osama bin Laden are (based on Sunday, 5/1):

1. Is Osama bin Laden dead?
2. How did Osama bin Laden die?
3. Who killed Osama bin Laden?
4. How old is Osama bin Laden
5. Who is Osama bin Laden
6. Where was Osama bin Laden killed?
7. Is Osama bin Laden dead or alive?
8. How tall is Osama bin Laden?

Younger Generation. News of Osama bin Laden’s death seemed to have struck a chord with younger folks who grew up during the war on terrorism.

-          On Yahoo!, 1 in 3 searches for “how did osama bin laden die” on Sunday were from teens ages 13-17.

-          According to Yahoo!, 40% of searches on Sunday for “who killed osama bin laden” were from people ages 13-20.

-          However, it seems teens ages 13-17 were seeking more information as they made up 66% of searches for “who is osama bin laden?”

President Obama. In addition to searches for President Obama’s speech and address, there is interest on Yahoo! in how these events will affect his approval rating. Searches on Sunday for his approval rating spiked 119% on Yahoo!.

-          The former President was not forgotten. A few looked up “George W. Bush” (466% fewer searches than for “barack obama”) and even the phrase “bush mission accomplished.”

Locations. People are very curious for details about Pakistan. Searches on Sunday for “Pakistan map” spiked 2,594% and searches for “Pakistan news” spiked 610% on Yahoo!.

-          Searches on Yahoo! spiked off the charts for “Islamabad” (the capital of Pakistan), Abbottadbad

-          Specific searches spiked on Yahoo! for “osama bin laden compound,” “osama bin laden mansion” and “osama bin laden hideout.”

Revisiting 9/11 and Patriotism. Searches for “September 11th” spiked 1,009% on Sunday. Searches also spiked for patriotic landmarks and symbols such as the “US Flag” which was up 717% on Yahoo! and searches for the “Star Spangled Banner lyrics” which spiked 222%, mostly by females who made up 64% of searches.

-          Exactly one in two searches for “US flag” on Yahoo! today are by adults ages 35-54.

-          Searches on Yahoo! for “Patriotic songs” are spiking off the charts today.

-          Searches have also spiked for Ground Zero, the Twin Towers, and the World Trade Center.

-          Searches on Yahoo! also spiked off the charts for the 9/11 death toll and memorials.

Conspiracy Theories. News of Osama bin Laden’s death seems to have caused a spiked for conspiracy theories (up 114% Sunday on Yahoo!) as well as a resurgence of searches for “9/11 conspiracy theories.” Searches for “conspiracy theories” are split evenly amongst males and females, but 35% or 1 in 3 searches for the term are by teenagers ages 13-17.

 

*Off the charts refers to searches that received little to no searches the week/month before and are now gaining interest

What is Yahoo! Search Data?

People power: We sift through billions of Yahoo! searches to uncover trends, burning questions, popular personalities and hot ideas. Yahoo! has been extremely successful in sifting through searches for trend-spotting, historical insight, forecasting projections, and big-picture analysis.

Follow us on Twitter: @yahoosearchdata

Media Contact: Want analysis reach out to us: Carolyn Clark carolync@yahoo-inc.com

Frequently Asked Questions:

• What exactly is a search and why are they useful?:  A keyword(s) or term(s) that people enter in the Search box.
• How do you determine meaning from a search? Searches at its face are neutral. Motivation and intent cannot be defined, but analyzing a billion (or so) searches can give a sketch portrait of a culture in motion. Search insight can operate like an instant poll into what people’s interests are at a given moment—and unlike a poll which offers a constrained or directed parameters, searches spring spontaneously from people want to know.
  • What does spiking and off the charts mean? A “spiking” search refers to terms with the greatest percentage increase in searches from one period of time to the next (usually day, week or month). Significant increases don’t necessarily mean a huge overall interest in a subject, but reveals an accelerated interest in popularity. Something that’s “off the chart” refers to a term that had no meaningful number of searches in the previous time period.
  • How are rankings determined? Rankings, unless otherwise noted, are based on the total number of searches.

ShareThis

We know the Performance reports tab of the new AdSense interface can seem a little overwhelming. With all that data at your fingertips, it’s hard to know where to start! To help you learn more about the reports you can run and how to customize the graphs, we’ve created two new videos that walk you through navigating our reporting features:





Check out some of our previous posts on the new AdSense interface to learn more about the different reports you can run to gain even more insight into your performance. If you missed last week’s videos on creating an ad unit and custom channels, be sure to check them out. We’ll see you next week for our last two videos on the Allow & block ads tab!

Posted by Katrina Kurnit - Inside AdSense team

We've heard that there are times when an ad appears on your site that you want to block from appearing again. How can you easily block a specific ad you've seen? If the ad is placement-targeted, you can now use the new AdSense interface to quickly search for and block that specific ad and future ad groups from a given advertiser.

To search for ads in the ad review center, first navigate to the Allow & block ads tab and click into one of the pages of the ad review center -- for example ‘Allowed’ -- for which you want to view ads. Look for the find ads box in the navigation sidebar. Here, you can search for ads based on text/url, ad type, and ad networks. For ads that are awaiting review, you can also search based on when the ads will be automatically allowed.


With recent updates we’ve made, you may also notice that when doing a keyword-based search, image ads in addition to text ads will be returned if the images contain text matching your search criteria.

Try it now! Navigate to the Allow & block ads tab and click into the Ad Review Center.

Posted by Pedro Diaz & Edouard Rosseel - AdSense Engineers

Searches on Yahoo! are spiking the week of the Royal Wedding:

Overall Trends:

Kate Middleton is still the top search on Yahoo! this week, related to the royal wedding, she gets more than double the searches of her prince (US) and more than double the searches of her prince in the UK. Kate Middleton is getting more searches in the US this week than in the UK.

In the US this week, searches for “Chelsy Davy” have surpassed searches for Prince William

In the US  this week, Kate Middleton is getting more searches than:

• David Beckham
• Lady Gaga
• Katie Price
• Barack Obama
• Victoria Beckham
• Angelina Jolie
• Britney Spears
• Sarah Palin
• Donald Trump

In the UK this week Kate Middleton is getting less searches than Barack Obama and Lindsay Lohan but more searches than: 

• Angelina Jolie
• Cheryl Cole
• Katie Price
• Barack Obama
• Victoria Beckham
• Angelina Jolie
• Britney Spears
• Sarah Palin
• Donald Trump

Spiking US Trends:

Prince Harry’s girlfriend Chelsy Davy is buzzing this week, as word that she will accompany the prince to the wedding. Searches for Chelsy are up 3713% this week.

• Searches for “Prince Harry Girlfriend “ are up 898% this week

Searches for the Royal Wedding Guest List are heating up. People are anxious to know who got the invite. Searches are up 3107% this week. .

• We are even seeing searches on Yahoo! for “Americans Invited To Royal Wedding”
• And searches are spiking for “is snoop dog a guest at the royal wedding”
• Searches are up for “royal wedding seating chart”

When, Where and What Time? People are still looking for answers on when, where and what time the royal wedding is.

• Searches for “Royal Wedding Time” are up 2604% this week
• Searches for “What Time Is The Royal Wedding” are up  1132% this week

There continues to be interest in how Kate is preparing her “look” for the big day. 

• Searches for “Kate Middleton Diet” are still of interest this week. Up 1705%.
• We also see searches on Yahoo! for her hair style, her hair color, her makeup and her style
• Searches are spiking for “Prince William bald”

Questions – some quirky questions that people want answered:

• Searches are off the charts for “who is Prince Harry’s father”
• Searches are spiking for:
  • What Time Is It In London
  • Who Will Be The Next King Of England
  • What Will Kate Middleton’s Title Be
  • When Did Princess Diana Die

Searches for “What Is Prince Williams Last Name” are up 1199% this week and “What Is Prince Williams Full Name” are up 774%

The big age question:

• Searches for “How Old Is Kate Middleton “ are up 672% this week
• “How Old Is Prince Harry” are off the charts
• “How Old Is Prince William” are up 224%
• “How Old Is Queen Elizabeth” are off the charts

The big height question:

• “How Tall Is Kate Middleton” are off the charts
• “How Tall Is Prince Harry“ are off the charts
• “How Tall Is Prince William” are off the charts

Royal Wedding Party Ideas:

• Searches are off the charts for “Royal Wedding party ideas”, searches are off the charts
• Searches are spiking for “royal wedding cake recipe”
• Searches for “royal wedding party supplies” are spiking

Memorabilia (searches are up 485% this week):

• Searches on Yahoo! up for “royal wedding 2011 shirts”

Wedding Dress:

• Searches for the “Royal Wedding dress” are up 999% this week
• Dresses of the past are spiking including searches for Queen Victoria’s wedding dress, Princess Diana wedding dress

Spiking UK Trends:

• Prince Harry’s girlfriend Chelsy Davy is buzzing this week, as word that she will accompany the prince to the wedding. Searches for Chelsy are up 805% this week.
  • Searches for “Prince Harry Girlfriend “ are off the charts
• Searches for the Royal Wedding Guest List are heating up. People are anxious to know who got the invite. Searches are up 1519% this week. .
• When, Where and What Time? People are still looking for answers on when, where and what time the royal wedding is, on Yahoo!.
  • Royal Wedding Schedule searches are up 1366%
  • Royal Wedding route searches are up 359%
  • Searches for “Royal Wedding Timings” are up 112% this week and “Royal Wedding timetable” are up 60%
  • Searches for “What Time Is The Royal Wedding” are up  72% this week

Souvenirs searches on Yahoo!:

• Searches for “royal wedding souvenirs” are up 297%
• Memorabilia searches are up 69%

Royal Wedding Party Ideas:

• Searches are off the charts on Yahoo! for “Royal Wedding party ideas”, searches are up 41%

The top “Royal Wedding” searches on Yahoo! in the UK:

• royal wedding guest list
• royal wedding date
• royal wedding spoof
• royal wedding schedule
• royal wedding memorabilia
• royal wedding time
• royal wedding timetable
• royal wedding security
• royal wedding bank holiday
• royal wedding site
• royal wedding list
• royal wedding bunting
• royal wedding video
• royal wedding route
• royal wedding souvenirs
• royal wedding dress
• royal wedding street parties 2011
• royal wedding cake
• royal wedding itinerary
• royal wedding dresses
• royal wedding youtube
• royal wedding news
• royal wedding timings
• royal wedding dance
• royal wedding activities for children
• royal wedding party ideas
• royal wedding cupcakes
• royal wedding activities
• royal wedding music
• royal wedding advert
• royal wedding invitation
• royal wedding for children
• royal wedding stamps
• royal wedding website
• royal wedding party supplies
• royal wedding quiz

———————–

What is Yahoo! Search Data?

People power: We sift through billions of Yahoo! searches to uncover trends, burning questions, popular personalities and hot ideas. Yahoo! has been extremely successful in sifting through searches for trend-spotting, historical insight, forecasting projections, and big-picture analysis.

Follow us on Twitter: @yahoosearchdata

Want analysis reach out to: Carolyn Clark at carolync@yahoo-inc.com

Frequently Asked Questions:

• What exactly is a search and why are they useful?:  A keyword(s) or term(s) that people enter in the Search box.
• How do you determine meaning from a search? Searches at its face are neutral. Motivation and intent cannot be defined, but analyzing a billion (or so) searches can give a sketch portrait of a culture in motion. Search insight can operate like an instant poll into what people’s interests are at a given moment—and unlike a poll which offers a constrained or directed parameters, searches spring spontaneously from people want to know.
  • What does spiking and off the charts mean? A “spiking” search refers to terms with the greatest percentage increase in searches from one period of time to the next (usually day, week or month). Significant increases don’t necessarily mean a huge overall interest in a subject, but reveals an accelerated interest in popularity. Something that’s “off the chart” refers to a term that had no meaningful number of searches in the previous time period.
  • How are rankings determined? Rankings, unless otherwise noted, are based on the total number of searches.

ShareThis

Change is good, but change can also be hard. This is true for everything from getting used to a new job or apartment to starting with the new AdSense interface. If you’ve been following our New Interface Wednesdays blog series, you know that there are a lot of new features and benefits to making the switch. To help ease the transition, we want to make sure that you not only know about all of these great benefits, but that you’re also able to navigate through the new tabs and are comfortable with the standard tools you’ve been using in the old interface.

To help you become more familiar with the new interface (and start using it if you haven’t already!) we’ve created a series of six videos -- each under two minutes -- to quickly demonstrate how to complete some basic actions in your account.

Today, we’re excited to present the first two videos in this series: one walking you through how to create an ad unit, and the other on setting up custom channels.





We hope these help you get comfortable with the new AdSense interface! Stay tuned for the next set of videos, which will walk you through the Performance reports tab.

Posted by Katrina Kurnit - Inside AdSense team

As Earth Day approaches, the three R’s (reduce, reuse and recycle) take a back seat to more revolutionary technology as searches on Yahoo! Green for “recycling” are down 56% this month compared to the same period in 2010, and down 93% from 2009. Online searches indicate that the recent nuclear crisis in Japan is making consumers think about alternative energy sources such as wind and solar energy. Consumers are more interested in solar energy and organic green living this year with searches for “solar energy” spiking 208% and “wind power” up 1,307% this month on Yahoo!.

Wind & Sun, The New Green. Women may be more interested in organic food and green living, but men seem to be more interested in alternative energy sources as 61% of searches this month for both “wind power” and “solar energy” are by males, with Illinois, Ohio, Texas and New Jersey searching the most on Yahoo!.

• Searches this month for “wind power” are 602% higher than the same period in 2010. 
• Searches this month for “solar energy” are 141% higher than the same period in 2010.

Nuclear Energy. It seems Japan’s nuclear crisis (spiking 3,634% this month) may be the driving force behind online searches on Yahoo! for alternative energy sources such as wind and solar energy.

• Searches for “radiation detector” are spiking 2,378% this month on Yahoo! Green.
• Yahoo! Searches for “what is radiation” are spiking 488% this month with 76% of searches coming from males and 3-out-of-5 searches from adults aged 30-54.
• Curious minds are searching for “how nuclear power plants work,” spiking 281% this month on Yahoo!, with 43% of searches from 30-44 year olds.

Energy Savings: Who doesn’t love a good deal? Well going green is no exception, searches for “solar panels” are up 5% this month on Yahoo! and 67% of searches are by men whereas searches for “hybrid cars” are up 212% this month on Yahoo! and 55% of those searches come from women.

• With the rising cost of gas, it is no surprise that searches for “hybrid cars” are coming back and are in fact up 409% compared to the same time period in 2010, and up 159% from 2009.

Freebies and Discounts. Wind and solar energy are not the only hot topic as retailers give away products and coupons this Earth Day. Yahoo! Green has a list of the top Green related freebies for this Earth Day:

• Bring in a reusable mug on April 22 to get free brewed coffee or tea at participating Starbucks stores.
• Origins is offering a trade-in program on Earth Day. Receive a free full-size face cleanser when you bring one of your empty skin-care bottles.
• Evos is giving away free organic milkshakes on Earth Day. The healthy-fast food chain has locations in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina.
• Trade in five disposable plastic bags for recycling and receive a free reusable shopping bag at the Disney Store.
• Gain free admission into all 394 U.S. national parks now through Sunday, April 24.
• Add a green pledge to the Sierra Club’s Earth Day map for a chance to win a trip for two to Vieques Island in the Caribbean.
• Get up to 60% off on green and natural products at drugstore.com through April 22.
• Barnes & Noble is offering discounts on eco-friendly kids’ books.
• Save up to 40% on Green Hotels on Travelocity.

Is Organic Coming Back? Searches on Yahoo! this year for “organic food” have decreased 44% when compared to the same time period in 2010, but there is an upswing this month as searches spike 8% for “organic food” with Ohio, Illinois, California, Missouri and Texas searching the most.

• It’s not just women who search for organic food. According to Yahoo!, one-out-of-three searches for “organic food” this month are by males.
• It seems organic food is becoming more mainstream as 44% of searches for “organic foods” on Yahoo! this month are by consumers with an average income of less than $25K.

Searches for the term “organic” are up 59% this month and seem to be rebounding from a search dip in 2010.

*

What is Yahoo! Green?

Yahoo! Green gives people information and tips to be greener in their daily lives.  By delivering the right information to make greener decisions, we’re helping more people to make a positive environmental impact.  That’s How Good Grows on Yahoo!. 

What is Yahoo! Search Data?

People power: We sift through billions of Yahoo! searches to uncover trends, burning questions, popular personalities and hot ideas. Yahoo! has been extremely successful in sifting through searches for trend-spotting, historical insight, forecasting projections, and big-picture analysis.

ShareThis

We’ve heard some amazing stories over the years about how AdSense has changed your businesses and your lives. Whether allowing you to retire early, send your kids to college, or quit your day job to pursue your true passion, success with AdSense looks different to everyone.

We want to celebrate AdSense and you, our amazingly creative publishers, by launching our first ever Doodle 4 AdSense showcase. What’s Doodle 4 AdSense? It’s the opportunity to create your own AdSense logo to be featured on the Inside AdSense blog, our Facebook page, and Twitter channel so publishers around the world can see what AdSense means to you. Submit your own here!

We’ll post the first round of submissions that adhere to our Terms and Conditions on May 3rd, and close the form on May 20th. Get doodling!

Posted by Katrina Kurnit - Inside AdSense team

Have you ever wanted to understand your AdSense performance based on where your users are? Now you can do just that with the countries report.

To report by country, simply navigate to the Performance reports tab. In the navigation sidebar, click on the "Countries" report. This report will show your site's earnings by visitor country.


Please note that the countries report won't contain historical earnings data prior to when this feature is made available in your account. You can view earlier click and impression data by countries, but historical earnings data won't be visible.

Try it now! Navigate to the Performance reports tab, and select the countries report.

Help us figure out what you need and want in your reports by sending your feedback through the ‘Report issue’ link in the upper corner of your account or joining the conversation in our forum.

Posted by Vincent Zanotti - AdSense Engineer

Fitness Trends:

With spring and marathon season in full swing, it’s time for many of us to get back into shape. Searches this week for “best way to lose weight” are spiking off the charts this month on Yahoo!.  This month, it seems more folks are ditching their indoor workout and opting for training outdoors. According to Yahoo!, searches this month for “treadmills,” the quintessential indoor workout machine, are down 26% when compared to the same time in 2009, and down 9% from the same time in 2010.

As more folks opt for the outdoors, here are some of the outdoor workout trends we’re seeing this season:

• Yoga’s New Interval. You’re probably familiar with conventional yoga or classes that take place in extreme temperatures, but it seems folks opting for fresh air as searches for “outdoor yoga mats” spike this month on Yahoo!. Another trend we’re seeing spike this month on Yahoo! is for the outdoor hybrid workout, “hiking yoga,” which combines the cardio from hiking, with the core-strengthening power of Yoga.
• Not Your Grandmother’s Workout. Searches on Yahoo! this month for “tai chi,” illustrate that the outdoor martial art is no longer just for seniors. In fact, nearly one-in-four (24%) searches for “tai chi” this month are by people under the age of 34, according to Yahoo!. Top states searching this month on Yahoo! are Oklahoma, Ohio, California, Pennsylvania, and Missouri.
• Boot Camp. Searches on Yahoo! this month for “boot camp excercises” and “boot camp workout classes” are spiking. This trend seems to be of more interest to the females, who make up 63% of searches. California, Texas and Georgia seem most interested in the past month, according to searches.

Eating Right. As folks get trained for marathons, such as the Boston Marathon (spiking 1,579% this month on Yahoo!) or just to get fit, we’re seeing searches for “diets that work” spike 95% this month on Yahoo!. Besides the typical diets like Atkins and the South Beach, we’re seeing searches spike 106% this month on Yahoo! for “raw food diet,” up 90% for “paleo diet,” and up 52% for “Mediterranean diet.”

Summer jobs:

Searches for “summer jobs” are spiking 31% on Yahoo! as teens look for ways to earn money over their break. It seems teen girls are more “responsible” as 76% of searches are by females. Heather Cabot, Yahoo! Web Trend expert calls out a few other spiking trends, see below…

• Searches for “summer jobs for teenagers” are spiking 85% this week on Yahoo!
• Searches for “summer jobs” are spiking 393% this month on Yahoo!. It seems teen girls are more “responsible” or at least want some spending cash, as they accounted for 69% of searches.
• Searches for “summer jobs” on Yahoo! started spiking in mid-February of this year.
• Among the searches for jobs this month on Yahoo!, we’re seeing spikes for jobs at McDonalds, Macy’s, Starbuck’s, Walgreens, and Whole Foods
• Top areas searching for “summer jobs” this month on Yahoo! are District of Columbia, Illinois, Michigan, Georgia and California

Compared to 2010:

• According to Yahoo! searches for “summer jobs for teenagers” have decreased 66% when comparing the last 4 weeks to the same time period in 2010
• Searches for “summer jobs” on Yahoo! have decreased 31% when comparing the last 8 weeks to the same time period in 2010
• College summer jobs seem on the rise. Searches for “summer jobs for college students” have doubled when comparing the last 4 weeks to the same time period in 2010

Other interesting note:

• Are parents doing the job hunting for their teens? While searches have decreased by teens, searches for “summer jobs for teenagers” are up 6% by those over age 45, compared to last year.

———————

What is Yahoo! Search Data?

People power: We sift through billions of Yahoo! searches to uncover trends, burning questions, popular personalities and hot ideas. Yahoo! has been extremely successful in sifting through searches for trend-spotting, historical insight, forecasting projections, and big-picture analysis.

Follow us on Twitter: @yahoosearchdata

Want analysis reach out to us: Carolyn Clark carolync@yahoo-inc.com  

Frequently Asked Questions:

• What exactly is a search and why are they useful?:  A keyword(s) or term(s) that people enter in the Search box.
• How do you determine meaning from a search? Searches at its face are neutral. Motivation and intent cannot be defined, but analyzing a billion (or so) searches can give a sketch portrait of a culture in motion. Search insight can operate like an instant poll into what people’s interests are at a given moment—and unlike a poll which offers a constrained or directed parameters, searches spring spontaneously from people want to know.
• What does spiking and off the charts mean? A “spiking” search refers to terms with the greatest percentage increase in searches from one period of time to the next (usually day, week or month). Significant increases don’t necessarily mean a huge overall interest in a subject, but reveals an accelerated interest in popularity. Something that’s “off the chart” refers to a term that had no meaningful number of searches in the previous time period.
• How are rankings determined? Rankings, unless otherwise noted, are based on the total number of searches.

ShareThis

A few weeks ago, we posted about how you can help Japan by donating via our crisis response page. We’ve been working to enable you to directly donate your AdSense earnings, and are happy to announce that you can donate a portion or all of your entire unpaid balance as of March 31, 2011 to the Japanese Red Cross via the Tides Foundation by filling out this donation form. If you have at least $10 in your account, we invite you to donate your earnings between April 1 and April 12.

Please keep in mind that all our normal policies still apply -- so please don't ask others to click on your ads in order to increase your earnings.

Due to technical limitations, we can only provide the opportunity for you to donate your earnings directly from your AdSense account if your reporting currency is in U.S. Dollars. If your reporting currency isn't in USD, and you'd still like to donate your AdSense earnings, please use the crisis response page instead.

We know that you may be interested in donating your earnings to additional charities and causes, and we're working to enable this functionality soon for all publishers. Stay tuned to the Inside AdSense blog for future opportunities to donate in other ways!

Posted by Julia Peppiatt - AdSense Payments Specialist

This blog has been updated to remove information that is no longer current.

These features are found in the Performance Reports tab, under Custom channels. Depending on the number of channels you’re using, you might be asked to filter the list and then click Update report button. Once your selected channels are listed below the graph, you can view the combine and chart buttons.

Let’s review the combine feature first, which can be used to easily total items in your list and allow for deeper analysis. Click a few of your channels that you want to view earnings for together, then click the Combine button. The total of these channels is now shown on the graph and you can do further analysis using the view drop-down.



In contrast, the chart feature lets you visually compare the performance of up to five items. First reset your channels report by clicking the word Custom channels above the graph. From here, select a few channels in the table and then hit the Chart button. The lines in the graph represent the statistics you have chosen. Just like with the combine feature, you can now refine your report further using the view drop-down above the table.



Try it now! Navigate to the new interface and click on the Performance Reports tab, and then click Custom Channels and Update report.

Posted by Vincent Zanotti - AdSense Engineer

Surgery Squad adds a third ad unit to its pages to boost performance and AdSense earnings by 200%.

SurgerySquad.com educates patients about what takes place during surgical procedures through interactive, virtual surgery modules. Creator Eric Bort recently spoke with us to describe how he’s optimized Surgery Squad’s AdSense performance and revenue by simply adding a third ad unit to his pages.

Inside AdSense: Can you tell us a little about how Surgery Squad got started?
Eric Bort: I launched Surgery Squad in August 2010 after having spent more than a decade developing corporate training and e-learning programs. As part of these programs, I’d created some virtual surgeries which were well-received, so I decided to make a website devoted to this topic. People have lots of questions about surgeries. They want to know, “What happens to my body while I’m asleep on the operating table?” It’s a very intriguing topic from a human perspective.

IA: What role does AdSense play in your business?
EB: We’ve used AdSense on Surgery Squad since its launch, because we’ve previously seen a lot of success with AdSense on some of our other sites. AdSense is currently responsible for all of Surgery Squad’s revenue. It was really quick to set up – once our account was approved, we were up and running within 10 minutes. And with the breadth of advertisers in the network, I know that AdSense will always have high quality ads to display.

IA: Why did you decide to add another ad unit to your pages?
EB: I received an optimization tip from the AdSense team suggesting I maximize revenue by adding an additional ad unit to my pages. Initially, I was wary of overwhelming visitors with ads, because it’s very important to me to create a good user experience. But I decided to give it a try because I know how important it is to test new strategies and see what works best. So, I added a third ad unit to all my pages, toward the bottom of each page.

IA: What were the results? Would you recommend this strategy to other publishers?
EB: I was surprised to see the new ad unit performing just as well, if not better, than the other two ad units. I think it’s due to visitors who scroll down to the bottom of the page to add comments, and then find ads they want in addition to our content. Our clickthrough rate has increased substantially. It’s amazing. Our eCPM has also increased 168 percent and our overall revenue earnings have grown by more than 200 percent. With this additional revenue from AdSense, we’re able to cover our costs and sustain our business. To know these costs are covered is hugely important when you’re running a small business.

I’d recommend that other publishers consider optimizing revenue by adding new ad units. If presented in the right way, ads can enhance the user experience. But it’s really important to test and see what works best with your content, format, and user behavior. Have the patience to wait and see what works and what doesn’t.

If you want to add an additional ad unit like Surgery Squad, sign in to your account today.

Posted by Meredith Blackwell - Inside AdSense team

Two weeks ago, we had the pleasure of welcoming 120 of our publishers from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and France at an AdSense publisher event in our Google office in Zurich.

The agenda of the day included seminars and presentations about:

• Trends in the online advertising market and how to use them for your site
• Our best tips to optimize your AdSense earnings
• Using DFP Small Business to get more out of AdSense
• Website usability
• The truth about common SEO myths

We also offered attendees 1-on-1 site consultations with a Google AdSense optimization specialist and ended the day by kicking back with pizza and beer to get to know one another a little better!

It was great to meet you in person to learn more about your businesses and experience with AdSense. We were thrilled to hear positive feedback from the attendees on the event and hope to offer a similar opportunity in a city near you soon!

Interested in attending future Google AdSense events? Check your Account settings and make sure you’re opted in to our mailings so we can inform you about our upcoming events!



Posted by Marcel Puppik and Sophie Emmerich - AdSense Optimisation Specialists

We constantly strive to provide more payment options to our publishers around the world so you can receive your earnings as safely and quickly as possible. As part of this effort, we're very excited to announce the arrival of Western Union Quick Cash® payments for Mexico!

For those of you who aren't familiar with this form of payment, Western Union Quick Cash payments are free and will reach you faster than checks. Payments will continue to follow our normal payment schedule and are available for pickup in your local currency at your local Western Union agent the day after they're issued.

A couple of things to note: We can send Western Union payments only to publishers that have an individual account at this time. Also, the payee name on your account must exactly match the government-issued ID card that you'll use when picking up your payments. For more information on how to sign up for and pick up Western Union payments, please visit our Help Center.

We know that many of you are still waiting for new forms of payment and new delivery options for your country, and we’re working hard to make this possible. Stay tuned to the blog as we work to improve the payments experience for publishers around the world!
To read this article in Spanish, click here.

Posted by Julia Peppiatt - AdSense Payments team

The new and improved Yahoo! Search BOSS is here and we can’t wait to have developers try it out.

BOSS V2 provides a unique combination of data, display flexibility and monetization to empower you, the developer, to build great applications. BOSS is our way of sharing our cloud and the data in it with you to foster innovation on the web. 

What is BOSS?

BOSS is a data API that gives you access to web search, image and news content for a low usage fee. There are no limits on how many times you query it, and very few limits on how you display and use it alongside other data.  It is not just a site search API, nor is it just a search API; it is whatever you the developer, dream a search offering to be.  What makes it extra special is that we offer you search advertising to help you make money. So make the Internet a magical place and remember that Yahoo! Search helped you do it.

In addition to the details on BOSS V2 that we first announced in October 2010, we provided the pricing details earlier this year and released the technical documentation last month. For the launch, we decided to throw in an additional service: Spelling.  A number of you asked us for this after our prior announcements and so we added it back in. We are only charging $0.10 CPM for it, which means we can answer 24,000 spelling queries for around the same price as the average espresso!

Ready to get started?

Visit the Yahoo! Search BOSS Page and go to the “How do I get Started section.” We have a helpful tutorial on how to sign up and documentation on using the API. If you have any questions reach out to us on the BOSS Yahoo! Group – we are always listening.  This release also means we are shutting down BOSS V1 this summer, scheduled for July 20, 2011.

For the past several months we have been working hard to keep BOSS alive and affordable. We will continue to make BOSS more useful to you through new features and services. Thank you again for your support and we look forward to your continued usage of BOSS.

Rahul Hampole and Nagesh Pobbathi

Yahoo! Search BOSS Product Guys

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CrowdGather uses the new AdSense interface to efficiently track and improve performance across its large network of forums.

CrowdGather.com is a leading, publicly traded network of online forums, consisting of tens of thousands of online communities. Sanjay Sabnani, CEO of Crowdgather, recently sat down with us to share his site’s story as well as some tips on using the new AdSense interface to track and improve performance.

Inside AdSense: Tell us about the origin of your site.
Sanjay Sabnani: In 2002 I acquired my first forum, GenMay.com (short for General Mayhem), a place for off-topic humor, where gamers hang out. General Mayhem grew pretty rapidly and I started acquiring more forums, which ultimately led to the creation of CrowdGather one year later. CrowdGather now receives 5 million unique visitors a month and 90 million monthly page views across its tens of thousands of communities, including hosted forum sites Lefora and FreeForums.org.

IA: What role does AdSense play in your business?
SS: I used Google AdSense from the get-go on GenMay.com, and began using it across the entire CrowdGather network once it was established. AdSense was the first ad network I had found that I actually understood and could implement and it became a very easy way to begin to monetize. These days, AdSense is a key component for us, and we’ve worked on optimizing it across our network. We’ve found that AdSense displays the most relevant ads out of any contextual partner we’ve worked with. Since forums are very text-rich and the ads are so relevant, AdSense converts very well.

IA: I understand you’ve recently started using the new AdSense interface. What do you like about it?
SS: The new interface is like a monitoring system to ensure that all goes well across the CrowdGather network. For a network like CrowdGather comprising tens of thousands of online communities, the detailed performance reports are important tools for tracking individual site performance. We’re always looking to see if any one particular site is acting differently than the rest of the network. With the new interface, we’re able to track traffic down to that individual subdomain level which is valuable for us, since before it was all lumped together as a blanket effective CPM.

Based on the quicker feedback, we’ve been able to adjust the overall positioning and placement of the AdSense units across our network more rapidly. Before, we’d look at aggregate data for a few weeks to decide if a certain location was performing better on a certain community. Now we’re able to play around a lot more quickly, and get that feedback much quicker, in terms of testing.

IA: If you had to sum it up, what would you tell other publishers about the new interface?
SS: We can see all this data more rapidly, and get an overview of the week to see the revenue direction. The new interface has made AdSense a bigger part of our analytics routine.

If you’d like to see how the new AdSense interface can help reduce time spent managing and monitoring your account, sign in to your account and switch to the new interface (you can get there from the link in the upper corner that says “Try the new AdSense interface”). To learn more about the new reporting functionality, visit our Help Center.

Posted by Meredith Blackwell - Inside AdSense team

Most successful AdSense publishers have something in common: users who are passionate about their content. Today we’re making it easy for the users who love your content to recommend it to their friends and contacts with the +1 button.

We think sharing on the web can be even better -- that people might share more recommendations, more often, if they knew their advice would be used to help their friends and contacts right when they’re searching for relevant topics on Google. The +1 button is an easy way for users to recommend your content right from the search results pages. The +1 button doesn’t affect the AdSense ad units on your site, but it can improve the way your pages appear in Google search.



+1 is a simple idea. Let’s use Brian as an example. When Brian signs in to his Google Account and sees your site in the organic search results on Google (or search ads if you’re using AdWords), he can +1 it and recommend your page to the world.

The next time Brian’s friend Mary is signed in and searching on Google and your page appears, she might see a personalized annotation letting her know that Brian +1’d it. So Brian’s +1 helps Mary decide that your site is worth checking out.

We expect that personalized annotations will help sites stand out by helping users see when your Google search results are personally relevant to them. As a result, +1’s could increase both your quality and quantity of Google search traffic.

But the +1 button isn’t just for search results. We’re working on a +1 button that you can put on your pages too, making it easy for people to recommend your content on Google search without leaving your site. If you want to be notified when the +1 button is available for your site, you can sign up for email updates at our +1 webmaster site.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll add +1 buttons to search results and ads on Google.com. We’ll also start to look at +1’s as one of the many signals we use to determine a page’s relevance and ranking. For +1's, as with any new ranking signal, we'll be starting carefully and learning how those signals affect search quality over time. At first the +1 button will appear for English searches only on Google.com, but we’re working to add more languages in the future.

We’re excited about using +1’s to make search more personal, relevant and compelling. We hope you’re excited too! If you have questions about the +1 button and how it affects search on Google.com, you can check the Google Webmaster Central Help Center.

Posted by David Byttow - Software Engineer, +1 Button

With the Final Four only days away, we wanted to share the below data from Yahoo! Search showing the tournament teams, topics and trends people are most searching for online this week.

If Yahoo! search trends determined the winner…
• VCU would beat Kentucky in the title game; according to Yahoo!, VCU is the top-searched team in the Final Four with searches for “VCU basketball” up 143% this week. Kentucky is the second-most-searched team, followed by Butler and UConn.

According to Yahoo!, this Week’s Top Searched Final Four Teams are:
1. VCU Basketball (searches up 143% this week)
2. Kentucky Basketball
3. Butler Basketball
4. UConn Basketball

Overall Final Four Search Trends
• Butler Pride: Butler’s improbable run to a second straight Final Four has basketball fans buzzing. According to Yahoo!, there are 119% more searches this week for “Butler basketball” than there were during the same week last year.

• Bracket Busters: It seems this year’s Final Four lineup surprised just about everybody. Searches for “unthinkable Final Four” and “lowest seed to make Final Four” are spiking off the charts this week on Yahoo!

• Staying Home: Fewer fans seem to be scrambling for Final Four tickets. Searches this week for “Final Four tickets” on Yahoo! are 42% lower compared to searches last year (when Butler, Duke, Michigan State and West Virginia participated) and 94% lower compared to searches in 2009 (when Connecticut, Michigan State, North Carolina and Villanova qualified).

Coaching Intrigue
• VCU coach Shaka Smart has caught the country’s attention. According to Yahoo!, searches for him are up 2,199% this week, most of any Final Four coach. People seem most interested in his bio, wedding and ethnicity with searches for those things spiking off the charts on Yahoo!

• Butler’s Brad Stevens is the second-most-searched coach. Searches for him are up 416% on Yahoo! this week, while searches for Kentucky coach John Calipari are up 252%.

According to Yahoo!, this Week’s Top Searched Final Four Coaches are:
1. Shaka Smart, VCU (searches up 2,199% this week)
2. Brad Stevens, Butler (searches up 416% this week)
3. John Calipari, Kentucky (searches up 252% this week)
4. Jim Calhoun, UConn

Head-to-Head
• UConn’s Kemba Walker is the most-searched player in the Final Four. According to Yahoo!, searches for Walker are 2.4 times higher than searches for Kentucky’s Brandon Knight, 6.4 times higher than searches for Butler’s Matt Howard and 13.6 times higher than searches for VCU’s Jamie Skeen.

Mascot Madness
• The Bulldogs of Butler are the most-searched mascot in the Final Four, with searches up 254% this week, according to Yahoo! The Wildcats (Kentucky), Rams (VCU) and Huskies (UConn) follow.

———————

What is Yahoo! Search Data?

People power: We sift through billions of Yahoo! searches to uncover trends, burning questions, popular personalities and hot ideas. Yahoo! has been extremely successful in sifting through searches for trend-spotting, historical insight, forecasting projections, and big-picture analysis.

The latest Yahoo! search trends can also be found on Twitter:
@YahooSearchData

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Here at Google we’ve put a lot of work into displaying the best ads on search results pages, and we want your results pages to benefit too. If your site is search-focused -- for example, if your users are looking for jobs, travel, products, or local businesses -- the ads you display can now be targeted to the same search query you use to return results. This means more relevant ads for users, more revenue for publishers, and better value to advertisers. Today we’re excited to share our latest AdSense for search product: Custom Search Ads.

In addition to great targeting, Custom Search Ads are designed to fit your existing search results’ look and feel. Instead of pre-defined sizes, you can specify the precise width of each ad unit along with the number of individual ads to display, the ad layout, font size, font face, and much more. You can take a look at how some of our first publishers are using these today on LemonFree.com or eCrater.com.

With Custom Search Ads, we can rapidly develop and launch new search ad formats and extensions without requiring you to update your search code. For example, on Google’s results pages we’ve been busy testing new search ad extensions to provide users with information like locations, product images, page links, and merchant information. Two of these new formats are available today in Custom Search Ads: Ad Sitelinks and Seller Ratings. Ad Sitelinks extend the value of ads by showcasing up to 4 additional links to specific, relevant content within an advertiser’s site. Seller ratings add star ratings below a merchant’s ad aggregated from review sites across the web. These help highlight ads for merchants highly recommended by online shoppers. As new formats are developed in the future, we’ll continue to bring them to Custom Search Ads so you benefit automatically.

To get started with Custom Search Ads, sign up today! We’re currently only able to accept and support a limited number of publishers, but we’re excited to review your application and expand this program in the future.

Posted by Ben Lisbakken, Software Engineer and Michael Brandell, Product Specialist