If you've been in online or internet marketing over the last year and a half you've probably noticed a sharp decline in contextual ad payouts. There are actually a few very strong reasons this could be happening to you and it simply doesn't matter where or how you have your ads positioned at all. In fact it goes far beyond anything you can control.

As with all forms of advertising eventual people grow immune to them. Think of the first time when sexual content was used to get your attention in a tv ad. In today's society that is no longer shocking. Thats not as off the wall of a comparison as you may think as the first time Adsense ads were introduced to the marketing world everyone was blown away. We hadn't seen anything like it and it was unique. It was the talk of the online world, nothing was bigger & if you didn't have Adsense on your website you simply weren't in "the know". Money was there and there in abundance.

Now fast forward to today. The internet is flooded with useless sites that feature no content or stale useless content and flooded with Adsense banners left and right. You may already now see where I am going with this as people are simply tired of seeing the same old boring content ads without any substance. People are simple turned off and to make matters worse for affiliate and internet marketers that thought this was the big ticket to riches; Google allowed Adwords publishers to place content bids which was good for the publishers of Adwords not of Adsense though. Many clicks that would once net high click profits were now reduced to mere rubble or best case scenario simply just not as profitable. The entire internet rushed to a program that promised to get them rich and rich fast.

Now make no mistake about it you can still make money online through Adsense, its just not as effective anymore. I would never discredit anyone trying to make money with Adsense especially as they try a new push into the web 2.0 realm buy offering a more affiliate styled sale system with choice publishers. Other ad forms have now started to climb into the spot light and make a name for themselves. Take auction ads for example. Auction ads features ads that connect web surfers to auctions on eBay. Now picture this scenario; you are at a website that features huge write ups and spot light focuses on your favorite celebrity. As you are reading the content you look to you right and notice an ad that says "(insert various celeb' name) authentic autographed magazine, current bid $17". Now I don't know about you but if this was an idol I look up to or simply have to have their stuff I am going to click that and potentially bid. New companies like this are really starting to pull in recruits fast as they are eager to embrace the newer web 2.0 ideas. However that being said I highly doubt we'll ever lose the existence of a conventional website that features advertisng in general.

New ideas are popping up all the time and the internet community is moving in new directions, many old techniques and ideas are becoming obsolete by the day. As internet marketers we have to be on the lookout for even the slightest marketing pitfalls or trend shifts and be ready to move at any point. This is one of those markets where one minute you could be on top of your game and the next minute looking for a new job unless you stay focused and trust your instincts.