AdSense Publisher Network Quality

One of the biggest concerns from some AdSense Network publishers is the so-called MFA problem within the AdSense Publisher network. The concern is that no-quality websites are arbitraging low paying clicks from the publisher sites, and with their cleverly written ads, pushing out legitimate advertisers that pay more, thus earning publishers less.

The money under the mattress
But looking at it that way completely ignores the big picture problem that may be affecting how much income website publishers earn. Most webmasters who complain about MFA's are completely oblivious to the larger issue that may be impacting how much money publishers earn. If they considered the factors that may be driving advertising away from the publisher network, they would stop worrying about the money left on the table and consider the money stuffed in the mattresses that is not flowing to their websites.

Advertisers versus Publishers: Google in the middle
The issue has to do with how advertisers perceive the quality of the AdSense Publisher Network. A common sentiment from many AdWords advertisers is that they would never advertise on the content network because it is full of low quality websites. The perception that the AdSense Publisher Network is full of spammy and useless websites may be driving away AdWords advertisers from content network- thus lowering the pool of advertisers and the amount of money Publishers earn.

What some AdWords advertisers say
Here are some comments from a recent WebmasterWorld thread in the AdWords forum:

"To me just google search works and nothing else."
"Worthless in my opinion."
"Conversion rates are ALWAYS lower on the content network..."

And from another thread:

"You should always turn content off."
"the problem with poor conversions... has to do with the fact that there are sooooo many ripoff scraper-type sites in the adsense program."

However, there are other advertisers who praise the content network:

"Some of our best conversions come from context. "
"there are cases where content makes more for my client than search."
"I... make lots of profit from the content network..."

You want crackers with that content network?
There are many, notably ewhisper, who contend that the content network converts. In fact, I myself believe that the content network has great conversion potential and personally have used it successfully.

Nevertheless, it's important to heed the concern of advertisers who perceive that the content network is crap. Some are of the opinion that the issue of low quality sites haunts the AdSense program and the negative perception won't go away until those advertisers who refuse to opt-in to the content network are satisfied that Google is doing their best to remove what they may perceive as blatantly cheesy AdSense sites.