  We study the effects of gating and contact geometry on current through
self-assembled monolayers of conjugated molecules strongly coupled to gold
electrodes by sulfur ``anchor groups''. The current changes by more than an
order of magnitude depending on the angle between the axis of the
benzene-dithiolate molecules and the normal to the electrode on the less
coordinated ``top site'' position. The effect of gating is also much stronger
in this case compared to higher coordinated ``hollow site'' binding of the
molecule on a Au(111) surface. The large hybridization of the molecular states
with electrode states for the hollow site leads to practically ohmic
current-voltage characteristics. Changes in molecule-electrode geometry
accompanying the gating of the SAM may be the reason for strong changes of the
conductance observed by Schoen et al. in the ``slot'' geometry.
