Google AdWords

[computertim]

I'm thinking of using Google AdWords as an affordable way to promote my web site. Has anyone used adwords? What type of results have you seen? Any tips for using adwords?

Thanks.

[Logus]

We have been using it and the quality of the users is better than Goto.com but lately because they put approx 6 ads max the quality went down.


It really depends what ad words you are choosing.

[mfarmerhi]

I've used them in the past (about a year ago).

Horrible conversion rate, lousy customer service, poor reporting (usually three days to a week behind).

I swore I'd never use them again. I've kept my promise.

[Karl]

We use them, we get on average a 4% CTR which is good compared to the lousy CTR on banners these days. We've never had a problem with the reports etc. We've found them to be much better than goto.com

[Johan Malmberg]

Hi,

I was thinking of using them a while ago but changed my mind. I have never heard a good thing about them. And from what I can remember I have never noticed seing an ad searching google. I believe they place the add to the right which would be the last place I would look for info after a search. If you decide to use them please let us know if it worked out.

[1234screensavers.com]

I agree with the others. They have been much better to us than GoTo.com

[JohnR]

The great feature of self-ad system is its convenience. It makes you spend your money quickly. Clickthrough rate is ok or better than some sites. But the sales means nothing. At this time of year, hold your ad dollars for a while. If you want to spend it, take a vacation.

JohnR
http://DomainManual.com

[JohnR]

The worst nightmire or one of worst nightmires is goto.com.
Advertisers compete with one another just like dog eats dog.

JohnR
http://DomainManual.com

[steb]

ive used the adwords before. it all comes down to choosing the exact keywords you need to get a good CTR.

stupidly, I didn't dissallow the word "FREE" when I put my ad up. that meant my $$$ were gone in a matter of hours, and nothing to show for it..

CTR was about 1.5% if I remember rightly. CPM isnt a good system to pay for banner ads as far as I am concerned..wont be using them again, unless they introduce a PPC adwords system...

[Karl]

I always make sure I disallow the words: free and adult when I put a new listing up, as they are two things we don't provide. We get between 2.5%-5% CTRs on our keywords.

[fabienf]

Steb,

"CPM isnt a good system to pay for banner ads as far as I am concerned..wont be using them again, unless they introduce a PPC adwords system..."

Do you know if Google plan to switch to PPC like Goto?

[steb]

I have no idea, but they are bound to be thinking about it. looks like a solid business model to me (but then im not looking at it very closely)

as they are turning a profit already, it cant hurt to go PPC I guess. who knows

[Karl]

Google are in profit now. They will make more money by using CPM as they are guaranteed the money regardless of if people click or not and some people don't like PPC like myself as people abuse the system, like on GoTo.com I know people who will click on competitors ads if they are going to cost their competitor a large sum.

[steb]

PPC does guarantee money. Users have to pay at least $xx as a deposit.

although, the competitor clicking scenario you describe is a problem. But, it not googles problem..they already have their money. How can you tell who is a competitor clicking fraudulently and who isn't? someone could do the same for CPM by just reloading several times..(probably, depending on their system)

[Karl]

Originally posted by steb
although, the competitor clicking scenario you describe is a problem. But, it not googles problem..they already have their money.

If google were to take that attitude then there would be a great deal of advertisers who would not use their system, the same way that a lot of people do not use GoTo.com as the PPC system provides a lower CTR and for more money spent in most cases. It is always bad business sense to allienate ones customers and give them the, "tough luck it's not our problem line".

The CPM system is actually credited with being one of the major factors as to why Google is in the black now from what I remember hearing the other day.

[steb]

yes, when I wrote the sentence I was thinking its not the attitude they should take, but it happens I guess!

How could you do it any other way though? How could google define a click that was just someone trying to run a competitors cash down? (if someone is bidding high amounts of cash, they obviously are making more per visitor - its just the same as a bad debt. gotta write it off against your profit as somethign that will happen?)

[fredzepplin]

I have tried both. Far better results from GoTo. Google was just a high priced rip off.

The sad part about this thread however is that folks are debating the merits of PPC, and CPM indexing.

If it wasn't for web developers building sites, these companies would have nothing to index and would be out of business as fast as they started up.

It's a sad world now when we are looking at PPC style advertising. I lucked out and have been on the net for quite a while now, so most of my listings seem to be grandfathered and I don't have to pay these shark fees to get traffic.

No matter what a web site is a business just the same as a search engine is. They rely on us just as much as we rely on them, but they have turned the net as of late into a sheep following sheep strategy. You bid $.10 cents, I bid $.15 and knock you out of the top two or three spot that seems to count most. It's a sad world.

I'm a small business. I pay my share around to host, process credit cards, etc. I also spend my time beyond the average business working to keep my site current and professional. At one time that had value to search engines, as it meant that those that provided quality content got favorable reviews. Now you are competing with every Joe Shmow that has a couple of bucks to run an ad campaign. The only true winners here are the indexes.

It's time for a change in my opinion. I sure would never put a link to Google, GoTo, or any other scamorama site on my site unless they paid me a CPM, or PPC fee. If you want the Inet to be fair this is how it should be run. I put links on my site to Altavista, Yahoo, and HotBot, as they have brought me good busines for nothing, and they are listed as my prefered choices to search with. It's called fair trade, as I see over 500,000 uniqes per year, and I do believ they see some of that traffic as a result of what I've listed for them. Fair trade. That is what the Inet should be about.

Best to all.

JT

[fabienf]

"like on GoTo.com I know people who will click on competitors ads if they are going to cost their competitor a large sum."

Don't you think GOTO check the ip adress of each click? If someone clicks 100 times the same link within a day do you think Goto will charge you 1 or 100 clicks?

[Karl]

Originally posted by fabienf
"like on GoTo.com I know people who will click on competitors ads if they are going to cost their competitor a large sum."

Don't you think GOTO check the ip adress of each click? If someone clicks 100 times the same link within a day do you think Goto will charge you 1 or 100 clicks?

So what happens for people that come through an ISPs proxy server? Like AOL users or FreeServe (UK)? I don't think GoTo are going to charge for just on of those clicks do you? They aren't going to miss out on all that money just on the off chance that it was a competitor and not someone using a lrge ISPs proxy server are they? OK on obscure terms then it isn't very likely that you will get lots of people from the same ISP clicking on the same link, but then again it's not obscure terms that have a high price tag is it? Just something else to consider.