AdSense Color Palettes: How Multiple Palettes Worked and What Boosts Revenue Now

AdSense color palettes were once a simple way to lift Google AdSense revenue: you could pick several colour schemes for one text ad unit and let them rotate. This article explains how multiple palettes worked in 2010, what changed since, and what actually helps AdSense earnings today.

Quick answer: In 2010, AdSense let you choose multiple color palettes for a text ad unit so the ad colours rotated on each page view, fighting ad blindness. That option belonged to the old AdSense for Content setup and is no longer part of AdSense. Today, earnings depend more on placement, page speed, Auto ads and testing than on ad colours.

In an earlier article on 7 key factors to build a successful AdSense income blog, one factor deserved a closer look: multiple color palettes.

How multiple AdSense color palettes worked

Multiple color palettes was a feature that let you choose different colours for your AdSense ads in one ad unit. The ads rotated automatically when a page was refreshed or a new visitor arrived. Regular readers saw a “new” ad instead of the same block they had learned to ignore, which could lead to a better click-through rate (CTR).

Setting it up in 2010

1. In the AdSense Setup tab, create a new ad unit, pick AdSense for Content, then Text ads only, and choose a size such as 300×250.
2. In the Colors section, open the Palettes drop-down and choose “Use multiple palettes”.
3. Hold Ctrl (or Command on a Mac) to select several palettes, or create your own.
4. Create a channel for the unit to track how it performs, then copy the code into your blog.

Selecting several palettes at once looked like this:

What happened to AdSense color palettes

AdSense has been redesigned several times since 2010. The old AdSense Setup tab, AdSense for Content and the multiple palettes option are gone. Most ads now run as responsive display ads and Auto ads, where Google picks the ad format, and many ads are image or rich media ads whose colours you can’t change.

So rotating colour schemes is no longer a lever you can pull. The idea behind it, keeping ads from blending into the background so readers notice them, still matters, but it is handled differently.

Is there a best AdSense color palette?

There never was one palette that worked for every site. The colours had to be chosen to suit your design, background and fonts. You could not use red ads on a red background, as no one would see them at all. The same “no size fits all” rule applies to placement and formats today.

What boosts AdSense revenue in 2026

• Use Auto ads wisely: let Google place ads, then adjust the ad load and excluded areas. See our guide to AdSense Auto ads.
• Test, don’t guess: run controlled tests instead of changing many things at once, as in AdSense experiments.
• Keep pages fast: slow pages lose visitors before ads load, especially on mobile.
• Write for readers first: useful content brings search traffic, and traffic matters far more than ad colours.
• Follow the rules: never ask for clicks or place ads where they can be clicked by mistake. Check the Google AdSense policies before changing layouts.

FAQ

Can I still use multiple color palettes in AdSense?

No. The multiple palettes option was part of the old AdSense for Content text ad setup and is not in today’s AdSense.

Do ad colours still affect AdSense CTR?

Much less than before. Most ads are now responsive or image ads, so placement, page speed and content quality matter more.

What was the best AdSense color palette?

There was no single best palette. Ads worked best when the colours suited the site’s background, fonts and link colours while still being visible.

What replaced manual ad styling?

Responsive ad units and Auto ads, where Google chooses the format and placement within the settings you control.

Originally written by guest author Tran Tinh, a disabled blogger from Vietnam who blogged at A-Z Blogging Tips. Updated for 2026 by QuickOnlineTips.