Another frustated Google adsense member

October 14, 2005

My daily income now sways so much that I can no longer set goals or have expectations from AdSense. I’m becoming frustrated.

Simply, it is just not worth it to me to lose a visitor for .03 cents.

This is especially true when the page contains .30 or .40 cent keywords.

I would rather the visitor move along and click a different PPC ad or even just enjoy the content and come back another day.

I understand the concept of inventory and bidding as I am also an AdWords advertiser, and when those are the cause, I can accept it.

However, when it is smart pricing, it is very frustrating. My site has great content with issues, original articles, etc.

As an advertiser myself, I don’t expect to pay only .03 cents for a click worth .25 cents. Market value should set the price. If it is too much for me as an advertiser, I bail and look for other keywords.

The frustration of smart pricing is exacerbated by the fact that we know absolutely nothing about reversing it except shared forum theory.

In the past few weeks, we have finally been given real alternatives to AdSense with YPN, possibly Chit, etc. If Google would just dump their smart pricing program and let the market set the price, I would gladly and loyally stay with them.

I never tried for one and two dollar keywords as I’m not going to add irrelevant content just for income. I’m fine with my .20, and .30 cent keywords.

I’m just sick of losing visitors for two and three pennies.

Thanks. Just needed to let off some steam.

Buz

Author: Buzliteyear

As an advertiser myself, I don’t expect to pay only .03 cents for a click worth .25 cents.

Yes, but do you want to pay 25 cents for a click worth 3 cents?

Market value should set the price. If it is too much for me as an advertiser, I bail and look for other keywords.

Look at it from Google’s point of view. If you were Google, would you want advertisers to abandon existing keywords if 25-cent clicks from the content network weren’t converting?

Also, the purpose of smart pricing isn’t to reduce the cost of keywords for advertisers, but to make sure advertisers are getting value for their money. In the long run, it’s a good thing for advertisers and publishers, because it keeps advertisers from bailing because of poor ROI and it protects publishers from a steady diet of PSAs when clicks aren’t likely to convert as well as clicks from AdWords search ads do.

Converting ….

It is hard to determine it in some niches.

For instance in Photography I really would not expect anyone clicks on ADs on my site and buy something
immediately on a site of advertiser. It is not how it works in my niche.
Most of the clicks is intended to be just for curiosity
(even advertisers could not count on more in this area).
So it is virtually impossible to detmine that visitors from my site converting or not.
They can buy later or they can bookmark, or they can just exchange links because lot of visitors on my site
are photographers too.

Yes, but do you want to pay 25 cents for a click worth 3 cents?

Of course I would love to bring in all traffic at a cap price. Everyone would.

However, if I chose bid .25 cents on a particular keyword, I expect to pay it. If it is not converting, I will try to find a different one or different form of that one. I have almost 200 words I bid on for my sites. Most are words I have found and gotten for just .05 cents. For some, I go as high as .20 cents, but that is my limit. My site doesn’t sell big-money items, so paying more would not be worth it.

Bottom line, if I purchase ad space in a magazine and it doesn’t get as many leads as I hoped, I don’t ask for a refund. I just don’t use them anymore.

How long have you had an AS account?

I’ve been with AdSense for 13 months now.

Converting ….
It is hard to determine it in some niches.

Exactly. As publishers, we are dependent on
1. The Advertiser creating an ad luring enough to click.
2. The advertisers website. Does it close the sale? Do they know anything about print advertising?
3. Is the “converstion” filling out an inquiry or purchasing a car? Is the designated converstion set by the advertisers unrealistic?

On some sites, it could be just about impossible to convert.

Photo200, a “conversion” doesn’t have to mean a sale. It can also mean what Google calls a “business action” such as a registration, an inquiry, viewing of a certain number of pages, etc.

In any case, smart pricing exists, and there’s no reason to think it will go away. Publishers can live with it or find other alternatives. (However, it’s important to remember that ad networks don’t just compete for publishers; they also compete for advertisers, and advertisers aren’t likely to pay more for clicks from AdSense’s rivals unless they can justify the added expense through a higher ROI.)

advertisers aren’t likely to pay more for clicks from AdSense’s rivals unless they can justify the added expense through a higher ROI

I’ll bet the advertisers whose ads are showing up right now on many of my pages are pretty steamed about ROI. I’ve contacted several to alert them to the fact that Google’s targeting system is so out of whack that their completely unrelated ads are showing up all over my pages. A few have written me back quite alarmed when they saw it themselves at my sites. I’m begging them to block my sites! I can hear the stampede to YPN now. OK, maybe not a stampede, but even a trickle should be noticed by Google. FIX THE DAMN PROBLEM!

FIX THE DAMN PROBLEM!

Amen. As soon as the revenue at Google dips and market share start to go up north on 101, Google will realize it has to devote more time to the issue for resolution.

Cheers,

CaboWabo

I always wonder when I read threads like this: how do publishers KNOW how much a click is supposed to be worth?

How do you know you’re being shafted by Google? Do you know what the advertisers are paying?

Sometimes I see people refer to the Overture price for keywords, but those are not tightly in sync with AdWords prices in my experience. And people only look at the top price at Overture, not the number 4, 5, or 6 bid. Further, the top prices on Overture for a given keyword vary over time. I’ve seen many cases where over the course of a month they rise 100% or fall 50%. This is very common.

AdWords (which is where AdSense gets its ads) is even less predictable than Overture. AdWords advertisers don’t even know what each other are bidding or paying. Sometimes a higher ranked ad will bid lower than a lower ranked ad. How can AdSense publishers KNOW what the words are supposed to be worth?

I really don’t get it. These complaints (which often blame Smart Pricing) seem to stem from the fact that publishers feel their sites deserve a certain cost per click, and the publishers seem to base this estimate on Overture bids or what their sites earned in the past.