Everyone’s heard of Google content network these days. A set of sites that put Adsense banners and link units throughout the content for monetization purposes. When it comes to advertising on Google, the content network is the great unknown. You really don’t know what you are getting yourself into when you check that content network check-box on your campaign setting page.

Some folks have had great success with the content network. Others have become miserable. I used to work in the financial industry in the past. I know our CPA was way over the top with the content network. In fact, it was so bad it was bringing down the performance in the whole channel. Now we did a lot of things wrong (such as throwing more money at the network), but the content network just didn’t work out for us.

I personally have had mixed results with the content network. Based on my experience, I know that the content network traffic does not convert nearly as well as the Google search traffic. In fact, the placement advertising worked much better for me. Having said that, I feel blogs can use content advertising to attract folks. If you are providing valuable information to your visitors, then the content network could do wonders for you. But if you are plain selling a product, then you may have a harder time converting with the content network.

Should you try content advertising? It really depends. I know a lot of companies go into that direction once they hit a ceiling with Google search network. But you should be extra careful about what you intend to get from the content network. I would go with placement advertising as it lowers the risk, and you can pick and choose sites you want to advertise on easier. Content advertising can be a gold-mine for your niche, and that is why you should never stop testing.