Google AdSense Ads on your website?

OK, I really don't know how to phrase this question, because I don't exactly know what I want to ask.........but.....

First of all, I have signed up for a Google AdWords campaign which in the last 3 days has sent more than 50 people to my site......I have also signed up for Google AdSense because I liked the idea of being paid for click thru's to other sites.......BUT! I DON'T like the idea of busy Google ads running on my site...I know - call me weird because what I just said was an oxy-moron....

This is just a trial run with Google - I just wanted to see if it would help steer traffic to my site....and it has......but over the next month or so, it will be a wait and see thing to determine how many of those click thru's turn into actual sales.

Thoughts?

Adwords = Good it brings people to your site

Adsense = Bad it takes people away from your site quite possibly to your competitors.

Adsense is a context based advertising. Whenever your place the code on a website a spider comes by and reads what you have written along with your meta tags then ads are displayed based on your page content. For instance if your page says "Winston-Salem NC Disc Jockey" and your competitor has setup an adwords campaign for "Winston-Salem NC Disc Jockey" their ad is likely to be displayed.

Thats exactly the type of response I was hoping for. Thank you Dan!

I stopped my google campaigns, because I was way past due updating my site, but will revisit it again in the near future.

I didn't like the ad-sense plan because of what Dan pointed out. But, there is another way to use it without landing your competitors right on your home page.

Create a content page related to your prospects interest - but not directly centered around your primary keywords. Put the ad-sense links there - along with internal links designed to attract your target prospects.

For example: a page about wedding plans, dresses, or other things a bride might find useful can be used to display wedding related ad-sense links - and be a landing pad where you can put some "sticky" links to your own local services.

This way a competitors "Wedding DJ listing" will never appear right next to your own pitch for DJ services. If you maximize the attractiveness of your own internal links you'll have at least an equal if not better chance of getting a click through than anyone who appears in your ad-sense banner.