Sulit.com.ph lifts revenue by 50% using Custom Search Ads on the Search result pages.

Sulit in Filipino means “worth it” and refers to the deals available on Sulit.com.ph. The site helps users in Philippines locate, buy, and sell products online. Co-founder RJ recently spoke to us to describe how he optimized AdSense performance and revenue by moving from AdSense for Content to Custom Search Ads on the search result pages of Sulit. As a refresher, Custom Search Ads is a special feature that allows publishers to monetize their search results pages with targeted and customizable search ads similar to those found on Google.com.

Inside AdSense: Can you tell us a little about how and when www.sulit.com.ph got started?
RJ: Sulit.com.ph started as a project for my then-girlfriend and now-wife Arianne and I in 2006. We launched it as an experiment to understand the online market potential for our business and we wanted to determine which category the users were looking for and where we could invest as an online business.

After a few months, the traffic to the website started to grow which made us decide to push through with the classified ads site. The decision to move ahead with Sulit.com.ph proved to be a great call as Sulit has become one of the most visited websites in the Philippines today. Our purpose was to help connect Filipino buyers and sellers online, in a marketplace if you may.

IA: What role does AdSense play in your business?
RJ: By November 2006, the traffic to the website had started to increase. Since this was a bootstrap project, we did not have any business model in place at the beginning. I was using AdSense on some of my smaller websites and understood the value of having AdSense on our site. So we decided to monetize the site by using AdSense. We signed up for an account in November 2006 and got our very first AdSense check in February 2007. It was easy to use and the returns helped us grow our experiment to a full blown corporation. AdSense served as our primary revenue source while we were growing the business.

IA: Why did you decide to try out Custom Search Ads on your pages?
RJ: I received an optimization tip from the AdSense team suggesting I maximize revenue by changing from AdSense for content to AdSense for search on my search result pages. AdSense for content was an effective system as it displayed related ads to the content of a webpage. AdSense for search takes the relevancy to a whole new level and hence its more effective. The code allows us to display ads related to what the user is actually searching for. It benefits us by providing value to our users. When our users see related ads and no clutter on our search result pages, we guarantee return and loyal visitors which in turn helps our business grow.

And since the the ads are relevant we’ve seen more click and this helps us to continue providing this free service through the revenue we generate through AdSense.

IA: What were the results? Would you recommend this strategy to other publishers?
RJ: It surprised me that it is possible to serve advertising that gives value to our users. It allowed us to add more development resources in tweaking and adding more innovative features to Sulit.com.ph which is helping to get more and more users to use the website.

I’d recommend that other publishers who have a search based site consider optimizing revenue by adding Custom Search Ads on the search results. If the ads are appropriately positioned, it will provide a great user experience and also ensure that you maximize your Google AdSense returns. I would also recommend that you test the ad units on your site since you the publisher will know how the user responds, and navigates through your site best.

Since the implementation of Custom Search Ads on our site we’ve seen a 50% increase in our overall revenue through AdSense, which is fantastic!

If you have a search-based site, we encourage you to learn more about Custom Search Ads and apply to use the feature.

Posted by Amrita Kamat, AdSense Partnerships Specialist