Once upon a time in the golden days of the Internet circa 2003, small businesses were prospering because of a brilliant new way to generate revenue called pay per click (ppc).
PPC was inexpensive and – once you had some level of skill at using it – would deliver targeted visitors willing to buy!
Businesses could quickly and almost easily prosper! The party didn’t last too long though.
Originally the traffic was VERY targeted and it converted well.
Both Overture and Google AdWords worked very well for small businesses. Then Yahoo! bought Overture and it worked great until their new system dropped the results advertisers had been getting from Overture. Migrated accounts were as scrambled as that egg in the image would be if you took a whisk to it – so badly that starting over was faster. (As for Microsoft’s entry – it is not worth the time it would take to write about it.)
Google came out with an Expanded Broad Match – a change that makes advertising there extremely risky because their idea of a “match” is SOOOO expansive that it is dangerous to run anything but exact match keywords.
The mood of the ppc party had permanently changed for the worse.
Google has since added this Expanded Broad Keyword Matching page marked NEW! (note the changed phrase – this makes expanded broad match even broader) and sounds like what is described on their Automatic Matching page which indicates it was optional:
Opting in: Automatic matching won’t bring your campaign additional relevant traffic unless you opt in on the Campaign Settings page.
I do not see that option today so it appears that it is not possible to opt-out of these ever-expanding irrelevant ad impressions.
The only thing that MAY work is to ONLY use exact match.
The quality targeted traffic available from broad and phrase match has now been too diluted to be effective due to wildly unrelated search impressions and what PPC experts call Distribution Fraud: showing ads on MFA (Made for AdSense) parked domains and at the top of searches for videos, friends, and profiles at sites like MySpace.
As PPC Expert Richard Ball asks in his Apogee Weblog:
“How does Google explain the decision to detail clicks from individual domains on their pay per click advertising network but to hide the individual parked domains from advertisers?”
There is also Google-sponsored Fake Search Click Fraud – showing ads limited by the advertiser to search only on sites where NO search took place. These sites show your most expensive, targeted ad on generic searches thereby maximizing advertising spend and nearly eliminating the potential of closing any sales!
Spending spirals out of control and conversions dwindle or disappear altogether, resulting in HUGE jumps in advertising costs to make NO additional sales – or NO sales at all! is the worst possible scenario for a small business.
Finally there are artificial minimum bids that first appeared during critical sales periods such as the holidays and later became permanent. Google finally admitted that the placement auction wasn’t really an auction at all. Some don’t believe this is happening so the screen captures below are just for you.
Because NoBogies is a new site and I have extensive ppc experience we decided to see if we could manage to generate some highly targeted traffic without losing our collective shirts. They show the challenges of getting the keywords in one new ad group for golf gifts to display.
In case you can’t read this image clearly, the text says “
It doesn’t really matter much which error you get because in both cases your ad will not appear. So how many advertisers ARE willing to pay these artificially inflated “auction” prices? How many other advertisers are crowding our ad off that all-important first page? How many ads do you see in the image below?:
For those not familiar, Google ads appear above the regular organic listings on the left side of the page and/or on the right side where I have added the colored circles (above). Do you see all those ads that are outbidding us and pushing ours off the page? You can’t? That is because there are no ads there.
There are currently ads running for these particular keywords at this particular time; however, a page without ads is precisely what advertisers have seen during the critical holiday period. Ads that were appearing for minimal bids (anywhere between ten and seventy cents or slightly more) would suddenly refuse to run even when bids were raised to $20 a click! Then several days BEFORE the best holiday shipping ends (when you can still ship at the lowest rates) bids suddenly drop – all at once – and ads suddenly reappear!
What advertisers would be in there lowering their bids in the middle of their busiest season of the year? What advertiser would be lowering their bids when there are still 2-3 prime days of selling left in the season?
The only answer MUST be that GOOGLE dropped that artificial minimum back to normal.
This is ample indication that advertisers must immediately start diversifying. What percentage of your sales are dependent upon traffic from Google? How long could you operate if you suddenly dropped off the first page in the organic or paid search listings? One of my main reasons for working on affiliate programs is to find ways for small businesses to diversify.
The most interesting thing I learned today about AdWords is that our ads (which I have opted out of search partners and should therefore ONLY appear on Google.com) DO appear in searches done on my favorite search engine Zuula which pulls results from Google.com. Apparently they are NOT considered a search partner and are considered the same as Google which means analytics for ppc ads just got even more complicated.
Google hopes you’ll pony up whatever it takes to get your ads to show. Sometimes raising your bids will work; often it doesn’t. My advice when you run into this problem? Ignore those messages and let your new ads run for a while. They may get some impressions and sometimes they’ll even take off and run.
During the holidays do NOT automatically start increasing your bids. First determine what your break-even rate is and then only bid when your sales are still generating a profit. It is rarely wise to intentionally lose money on every sale because your advertising costs are higher than your profit margins! Even though you won’t see your usual holiday increase at least you won’t be digging a debt hole.
AdWords is now so volatile that some of the very best ppc consultants no longer accept client’s money to manage them because the risk is so great.
Anyone who spends more than a minimal amount or uses broad or phrase match has only one way to prevent losses: automate your account using an independent Web analytics package such as Lyris (formerly ClickTracks) feeding a Bid Management program in real time.
Their PPC Management solution might do that. To safely use AdWords you must be able to immediately clamp down on out-of-control spending – and that takes a computer. It is not humanly possible to control spending manually. ClickTracks is the only solution I know of that uses live Web analytics to control a bid management program.
If you know of any other combination analytics bid management solutions or have experience with Lyris / Click Tracks we would love to hear from you. Please add your input in our dofollow KeywordLuv CommentLuv comments.
What we are hoping to see is Social Networking ppc advertising – and the sooner the better.
History of PPC:
- GoTo to Overture to YSM – Timeline
- Semvironment: The History of Pay Per Click Advertising and Yahoo! Sponsored Search
- PPC Advertising – The History of Yahoo Search Marketing & Other PPC Services
- Google AdWords: A Brief History of Online Advertising Innovation
- Originator of the PPC Marketing Concept
- Introduction to Search Engine Marketing: History of PPC Advertising
- Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Marketing Handbook Review
- AdWords Landing Page Quality Score and the History of PPC Price Inflation
Google AdWords Issues:
- NEW: Are You Getting Killed? – What to read when you’re stressed out over what used to work (Jul 16, 2009)
- In Case You Missed It: Google’s PPC Fraud Settlement (Apr 6, 2009)
- Beware – Expanded Broad Match – Is Google Helping Advertisers? (Mar 2, 2009)
- AdWords Management: When to Just Say No to Google AdWords (Feb 18, 2009)
- Google Groups AdWords Help Archive: Broad Match Ethics (Oct 9, 2008)
- Match Type Strategies; Lessons Learned (Sep 3, 2008)
- Distribution Fraud is Google’s Miserable Failure (Mar 22, 2008)
- Stomp the Google AdWords Expanded Broad Match Problem (Jan 8, 2008)
- Google AdWords Broad Match; How to Combat Google’s Cash Grab (Nov 11, 2007)
- PBS: I, Cringely: The Next Microsoft: Google is Learning Too Well From The Master (Nov 2, 2007)
- New AdWords Matching Type Discovered: “The BOGUS Broad Match Type” (Oct 21, 2007)
- Expanded Broad Match Warning (Oct 15, 2007 – Jennifer Laycock – Search Engine Guide)
- Expanded Broad Match and the Google 1-2 Punch (Oct 14, 2007)
- Expanded Broad Match Goes Loco on Local (Aug 31, 2007)
- Prevent Click Fraud From Eating You Alive (Aug 22, 2007)
- Be Careful of Google AdWords Expanded Broad Match (Jun 19, 2007 – Christine Parfitt – AUS)
- Yahoo SERP Lists Google Group That Redirects to MFA Search Page (May 31, 2007)
- AdWords Flaw Could Cost Small Business Millions (Mar 28, 2007)
- Google: Screwing Advertisers Over Before Christmas (Nov 6, 2006)
- Are You Paying for Irrelevant Clicks Because of Google Expanded Broad Match? (date unknown)
PPC Management Tools:
- Lyris (formerly ClickTracks) on demand Webinars on PPC, ROI and Analytics
- Lyris PPC and Web Analytics Guides – once you submit your information you can access the PPC white paper)
- What is Impression Share Exact Match? Reporting Tool Provided by Google
We have recently come across a brilliant PPC management company and highly recommend their blog posts:
- PPC: The Wrong Way to Improve Efficiency
- PPC: Holiday Bid Management Tips
Gail Gardner
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Google AdWords PPC ads gives you an immediate impact, allowing you to appear at the top of the search results for the terms you want in a matter of hours. Of course, PPC costs money whereas SEO doesn’t (apart from the time investment), but it can be a lucrative investment when an expert puts your campaign together.
Nice article though about the pay per click. I don’t know if this is true or not that ppc was alot easier before in the old days. But still loved it keep up the good work.
DigiDir would love you to read ..How important is Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses
Hello Gail,
You are right. The old is always gold. Previously, we can get success easily, low competition. Now present, there is too competitive, and Google, bing too hard to get approved.
What an eye opener of a post Gail!
And all the extremely insider information you have so freely
shared, makes me both realize and appreciate, why beginners
in PPC,such as myself, have to be extremely careful.
Because there are simply too many ways to lose your money, simply because
of a real lack of knowledge, real world experiences and skill development.
Thanks for pointing out so many potential pitfalls to be aware of! I simply had no idea!
Mark would love you to read ..How Savvy Entrepreneurs Literally Create Money Making Opportunities!Part Six
Crystal clear pay per click statistics, all the point is definitely excellent and it is not difficult to comprehend. I love it, I will add this PPC ads techniques on my business soon. Thank you, Gail.
Sara Marvin would love you to read ..Internet Marketing Benefits for Business Owners
Hi Sara,
Make sure you do some studying before you start spending money. All the defaults are set to make sure people spend as much as possible instead of being as profitable as possible. In particular, turn off content and only do exact match in new campaigns.
If you want current training on how to use AdWords, check out the AdWords course at Simplilearn.
There is a lot of free information online, but AdWords has changed a lot over the years and much of what you can find will not be current.
Keep in mind that Google will NOT provide refunds for mistakes you make or even when THEY make the mistake. So start very conservatively and keep your budgets tight.
Gail Gardner would love you to read ..4 SME Trends for 2017: Getting Personal with Your Audience
Gold means a lot to me. Actually, i’ve made more money and got more traffic from facebook than i ever did with Adwords. Maybe because i didnt fully utilize adwords monetization and got confused with it all. I find Facebook is pretty straight forward
There are so many things I haven’t heard about advertisement like Overture. Really a great share 🙂
There are so many things I haven’t heard about advertisement like Overture. Nice post!!
I never knew about old PPC services, but today to top of all it’s Google Adwords.. thanks for all old stuff..
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising could dramatically increase the number of qualified visitors to your website. However, it is important to realise that these potential advantages only come with a skilfully implemented and managed PPC campaign.
Leroy would love you to read ..How to Get Dramatic SURGES of Pinterest Followers and Re-pins (Part II)
Days are gone for that. Recently, PPC is not easy as earlier. Great post. Thanks for sharing it.
these days are over…Google has taken drastic maesures in PPC nowadays..it’s not that easy anymore
i tryed ppc on google and got immediately banned FOR LIFE. thats on a first time offense so I guess I was forced out of it.
Actually, i’ve made more money and got more traffic from facebook than i ever did with Adwords. Maybe because i didnt fully utilize adwords monetization and got confused with it all. I find Facebook is pretty straight forward.
Nicole would love you to read ..A Mother Speaks Out on Losing a Child to Diabetes
Hi,
Many believe that Facebook advertising is the next golden opportunity, but it is totally different than AdWords and so far I haven’t found a way to get it to convert they way AdWords once did.
You are correct that search generates sales because the person searching is ready to buy.
growmap would love you to read ..Top 10 Local Search Directories By Importance
Great post,
I concentrate on Google Adwords and Adsense, and find that if i email them they often send free vouchers out for £10 or £25. This suits them as it costs you £10 to use them yourself, but heh, its free money!
Well, just want to let you know we like your blog.
Thank you Brendan.
growmap would love you to read ..Best of GrowMap – Our Most Important Posts All in One Place
I really miss those good old days… Today, PPC is very saturated, and hard to turn any kind of profit with. Better go with SEO.
God I wish we could go back to 2003 now. Getting traffic to your site is a lot harder now, monetizing opportunities have grown a lot but aren’t bringing in the gold we used to earn….
.-= MrBloom@Online Pharmacy Reviews´s last blog ..BM Pharmacy =-.
Actually, no. PPC can generate income for many small businesses but they do NOT turn into huge firms using ppc or any other method. Building a business from nothing (being a self-made millionaire) is a myth perpetrated by the haves on the have nots to keep their noses to the grindstone and keep them from rising up.
.-= growmap´s last blog ..My Review of The New Community Rules =-.
interesting, recommended to all my friends.
I burned through a few thousand dollars in PPC advertising last year. I think I spend $6 for every dollar I earned, not good. I was learning from the so called PPC experts. I did improve over the 7 months I was doing it but quite because sometime google would not show your ads because they didn’t like the landing page that was associated with the keyword. One thing I learned is if you write targeted ads and relay exactly what the person will see or expecting when they arrive at the offer. That way you’re not wasting any clicks (cash).
.-= Tim @ Raised Air Beds´s last blog ..Air Bed Mattress, My First Experience Using One. =-.
Hi Tim,
Most so-called ppc experts have taken training from the ppc engines who teach them to do what is best for the ppc engines and not the advertisers. Be very careful whose advice you use.
PPC was my specialty for years so if you ever have a question or could use some feedback on your account just ask.
.-= growmap´s last blog ..Why Marketing is NOT Evil =-.
After I read this article I know more about PPC and I want to be PPC consultant.
.-= Jobs´s last blog ..?????????? Theme ??????????????????????? =-.
I was a full time ppc consultant and I do NOT want to do that any more. There are too many ways the ppc engines are intentionally defrauding the advertisers and the more they “improve” their systems the harder they are to use and control.
Where once I loved ppc and encouraged others to learn it, today I would not wish managing ppc accounts on anyone. I still use them in a very limited manner but eventually will move away from them entirely as I develop more ways to generate traffic to replace them.
If you want to learn a skill that is in high demand and very valuable to businesses I recommend reading the post I will featured in CommentLuv in this reply. Learn to provide that service and you will have unlimited demand for your skills.
.-= growmap´s last blog ..Free Business Listings in Local Search Directories =-.
It can be true for some advertisers. For those who have strange niches and little competition who know that what the are doing it can still be a gold mine but for many bid costs may not be economically feasible.
Hello,
One of the issues that has always existed is advertisers who are bidding higher than they could ever be profitable. They usually don’t keep advertising for long. For most businesses it is unwise to spend more than your immediate profits. The exception would be sites with very good residual or repeat sales.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Top How to Make Money Blogging Resources =-.
I think if now that technique of pay per click is not working then its not a matter of worry because new and innovative ideas will definitely keep on coming and we can take advantage of new techniques.We can not stick to only one technique.We have to invent new one.
Hello,
Yes, there are always new techniques; however, none work as fast for generating an income as pay per click – when it works!
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Best of GrowMap: Our Pillar Foundation Content =-.
Well I agree what he said that When something works there is always going to be increased competition. The solution is to find a new niche that isn’t already saturated.But everyone has become so experienced and explored all the ways or to put it in a right way people have become more innovative…so as such there is no unexplored field left… 🙂
Hello,
The main problem with AdWords is not competition except for some niches such as mortgages and insurance. The big problems are what many ppc advisors call distribution fraud and the ever expanding broad match.
There probably are some unexplored niches out there; it would take a lot of looking to find them though.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..How to Evaluate a Merchant Gift Affiliate Program =-.
I have recently been using facebook ads to promote my brand but havent had much success what is your experience with this?
Hi Brad,
Ads on Facebook would usually be considered content ads and get curiosity clicks more than active buyers. Because of that it is unlikely they would be profitable UNLESS you can carefully target them to a particular audience. I have not run any ad campaigns on Facebook to date so I do not have any additional experience to offer at this time.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Instantly Acquire 76 High Quality Incoming Links =-.
I normally run exact match in very, very tight groups. Something like broad match is financial suicide.
Helo Hospedagem,
Exact match is definitely the safest. The original broad match worked really well; expanded broad match can be a money pit of huge proportions. That is unfortunate because about half of that good traffic originally came from broad match so never using it cuts potential sales in half.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Best of GrowMap: Our Pillar Foundation Content =-.
The internet used to be a goldmine, now it’s really hard to make some bucks 🙁
.-= Tom@Priligy´s last blog ..Dapoxetine in the US =-.
Hi Tom,
When something works there is always going to be increased competition. The solution is to find a new niche that isn’t already saturated. Personally I would like to see more people offer real products and services and avoid the get-rich-quick bandwagons and pushing what many consider questionable or unethical.
Quality content is still king. Why not write about something you are truly interested in and become “the” site for information about that subject? There are far more quality affiliate programs available now than there ever were and many products and services that don’t have programs but would be interested in Joint Ventures.
If you don’t feel you know enough about your interest yet you have the perfect reason for researching it and sharing what you learn. Only recommend what you truly believe in. An honest site that solves a common problem of what is worth buying and what isn’t is still a winner.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Success IS a Numbers Game =-.
Wow, Must say that reading this gave me more info, than the last year of search for learning how to use adwords…. Wish i hadn´t… Feels like Waste of time??!!
Now i am just wondering, what else can i do??? Is there an compareable alternative yet?? Where should i put my focus instead of Google PPC??
My compliments again, for great content on this Blogsite..
Sonny
Hi Sonny,
It isn’t a waste of time but it is higher risk than many other ways of generating traffic. You can not trust the ppc engines but you can still make money using them if you really know what you’re doing. For those who can afford it I highly recommend attending the ppc Seminar produced by ppcSummit.
For those who can’t be very cautious using ppc. Develop your skills through free information or ask me if you have specific questions. Focus on learning to use Social Networking to drive traffic. I’ll have new posts on advanced methods for doing that soon.
To maximize organic traffic and positions in the serps be sure to read Select Keywords FIRST when creating new content.
See Blog Traffic Up 54.87% for another way to grow traffic that doesn’t have any monetary cost. We actually doubled traffic using that strategy for only a few days.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Save 25% ppcSummit Deadline Extended to Sept 15 =-.
Nowadays you’d be better off handing strangers $5 each to visit your web site. Of course each campaign is case per case
.-= Miami Web Design´s last blog ..visiblexposure Miami, FL =-.
Hi Miami,
We feel your frustration. That can be true for some advertisers. For those who have unique niches and little competition who know what they’re doing it can still be a gold mine but for many bid costs may not be economically feasible.
We are all up against it as there simply is no other way to get so much traffic from one place so fast. Businesses and agencies must learn to pull traffic from thousands of places instead of just ppc.
I can tell you from experience that there are some keywords that are just too expensive for anyone to profit on; however, if you are very imaginative and know enough about ppc there is always some new angle you can play. Check out the ppcSummit review in the CommentLuv featured post on How to Optimize Your PPC Advertising for more details.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..How to Optimize Your PPC Advertising to Benefit YOU =-.
Hi Martin,
Yes it is very easy to lose money using AdWords. That is why I wrote this post. You can obtain a huge amount of traffic but you really only want the RIGHT traffic.
I could have sworn I visited your site when you first commented here; however, I just did again and realized your site now contains visible adult content. I do appreciate your commenting here and hope you understand that I feel it unwise to link to adult content and removed the links in your comments.
Besides the potential for upsetting readers who object to nudity and suggestive activity there can be serious repercussions for allowing links to adult oriented sites.
Although I know there are potential visitors for you everywhere you would probably have more success commenting in adult sites that use dofollow. I have never looked; however, I feel sure they probably exist.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..TwtPoll: Where Should Tweet Links Go? =-.
I have been in Seo for not so long and your article is just a discovery for me.
Hello Abbey,
PPC and SEO are both very complex subjects. I hope you’ll be cautious, especially with buying clicks. If there is anything in this post you do not understand do ask and let me provide answers before you start bidding.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..How Much Is A Memorable Logo Worth? =-.
It’s true that we miss the golden days of the internet. I hardly get 2 cents per click on an average now (domains parked at sedo)! – Mike
Mike’s last blog post..Science and it’s quirks
Hi Mike,
While the per click cost to advertisers continues to spiral upward publishers get paid less and less while the middle men making larger profits. I am no fan of parked domains though. They provide almost no value, increasing advertiser costs by diverting searchers from what they are seeking while tying up desirable domain names that could be used to create quality content.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Select Keywords First to Make Your Content Easy to Find =-.
Hello London,
This post is about AdWords and doesn’t really cover AdSense. AdWords is the system advertisers use to buy ads while AdSense is what publishers (Web site and blog owners) use to display ads to generate ad revenue.
To use AdSense you simply get an account and then paste the code on your site. Google’s system determines what it believes each page is about and automatically displays ads related to that topic on that page. (This is not totally true if you allow them to match ads to each visitor but I recommend opting out of that option.)
You may see free public service announcements for a day or two until ads start displaying. Be sure to read the TOS (Terms of Service) and never, ever click on an ad on your own site. Google bans AdSense users all the time and there is no recourse so do what you can and hope you don’t get banned.
You can increase your income from AdSense ads by creating content for specific search terms (keyword phrases). The more interest in a phrase the higher the bids usually are and the more each click is worth to the publisher (you). If you have an AdWords account or know someone who does you can get an idea what phrases cost most.
Read the post I’ve used as the Comment Luv featured post in this reply for specific information on how to create content for specific keyword phrases.
Internet Strategist’s last blog post..Select Keywords First to Make Your Content Easy to Find
Bing.com is already in the market, I hope it will beat google so that google will not able to monopolize this industry, although there are other search engines but google is too big.
Hi Laura,
Funny you should mention Bing.com – I just heard them mentioned on television tonight. The image on their site today didn’t do anything for me and I really like http://DuckDuckGo.com so I will probably stick with them.
Anything we as individuals can do to reduce monopolies is worth doing. I switched from Windows to Ubuntu and use Open Source for everything I can.
Internet Strategist’s last blog post..How to Add Your Free Business Listing to infoUSA
Hi Bid,
I really like DuckDuckGo and would love to see others recommending them. If they could see the stats I see that show how dependent businesses are on Google traffic they would be encouraging everyone to use other search engines too.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Instantly Acquire 76 High Quality Incoming Links =-.
As long as Google is the major player in both search and search advertising,
such arrogance will continue. I wish there were more viable alternatives!
Hi woot,
True and that is why we have to make the effort to use other search engines and means of driving traffic. I’ve switched to using http://DuckDuckGo.com and hope they will offer great ppc ads sometime soon.
Internet Strategist’s last blog post..Select Keywords First to Make Your Content Easy to Find
Valuable CPC and online advertising information. There’s no time like the present.
Hi Ben,
Thank you. Anyone using ppc and especially AdWords needs to really know what they’re doing to avoid losses.
Internet Strategist’s last blog post..Freelancer Challenges – Logo Graphic Designers
Its still the best time to grow up and make effective productive results.
Hi Kent,
The best time is always now.
InternetStrategist’s last blog post..How to Create a Successful Blog Based Business Part 1
@Andy I agree that AdWords was the golden goose and am happy that you have found a niche that Google has not yet broadened to the point of non-profitability. I strongly recommend you “make hay while the sun shines” for them because it rarely lasts.
Here is one example. When I first advertised Gazebos for a family business, we could target long tail keywords for octagon gazebos, outdoor gazebos, cedar gazebos, Amish gazebos, oval gazebos and so on. The cpc was low and conversions were excellent.
Then one by one those long tail phrases got “matched” to the generic search for gazebo and/or other advertisers using broad match and bidding higher pushed their ads off the page. Eventually even though we were the ONLY gazebo builder who actually HAD oval gazebos every other gazebo seller’s ads were appearing for that phrase.
When retailers who do not carry an item are showing ads for them everyone loses. The potential buyer can not find what they’re seeking, the seller who HAS the item lose out on the sales and those who do not have the item are throwing money away.
Overpriced resellers of Amish gazebos were bidding huge amounts. My Mennonite friends refused to charge more to cover the ever-increasing cost of advertising. The only company that benefited from this change to AdWords was Google.
I agree that many lose money because they lack skills; however, I can guarantee that few know more about AdWords than I do. Where I once made a very good living charging $100/hour cash in advance to evaluate, set up and manage ppc campaigns I stopped doing it altogether when I no longer felt it possible to protect those businesses from the unethical actions involved. While I do run a few ads and look into some accounts from time to time, I consider it a high risk for the average small business.
@Nancy There are some keywords that are far beyond $10 and that would include almost anything related to insurance, mortgages, and making money online. If Google had not implemented expanded broad match and made it ever broader there would be room for every business to buy some long tail traffic and make money.
It appears that their intention has always been to favor the deep pockets of the Fortune 100/500 and they are continually moving in that direction. I have often felt it is so sad that they are intentionally killing a truly golden goose. They could make far more money honestly than they are through greed.
Insurance is a very competitive niche and not really suitable for ppc unless you have sites highly optimized to capture leads. For niches such as insurance that are so saturated I recommend finding something unique you can target. For example, I knew an agent who specialized in difficult to find oilfield coverage. Everyone advertises vehicle and home insurance. What other types of insurance could you specialize in?
Prior to blogs I would recommend creating a site loaded with answers to the most commonly asked questions about insurance. Those sites attract links and those links bring you potential buyers. If someone wants to buy insurance they are going to buy from someone they feel knows what they’re talking about and from an agent willing to go to bat for them when they have a claim. A great site can do that and today that site really should be an SEO optimized upscale WordPress blog
Another angle that can work is to use a blog to reach others with similar interests. Develop relationships with your regular readers, make sure they know you are an insurance agent by mentioning your work in your posts, and offer your services on your about page and to those who inquire. When you go to bat for a client blog about that or at least mention it in other posts.
The perfect example of using that last suggestion is golf. Many businessmen and executives take up golf to develop relationships with Corporate decision-makers. Use any existing hobbies and interests to find others who enjoy them. If you like horses you could be the insurance agent in a particular horse niche. Ride motorcycles? Sell insurance to other cyclists. Like gardening, cooking – anything really. People buy from those they know.
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I think PPC was bound to die…it’s only logical. As more and more businesses use PPC advertising, the per click rate increases exponentially, making it harder for businesses to afford. I’ve seen PPC rates as high as $10 per click. To me, that seems insane.
Nancy’s last blog post..Life Insurance Quotes For Planning The Future
@Sean LOL – yes, it is so sad to me that they broke ppc so badly. It really was an awesome way to increase business. I took one client from $180,000 a year to $1.1 million using just ppc and another from $4000 a day to $20,0000 and then $40,000 a day in only a few months! Those were the days.
I am hopeful that eventually the Social Networking sites will get it together and create fast, easy ways to locate niche information and subject matter experts. When they do they will have the perfect ad platform – as good or better than ppc was.
@ken I don’t think the Internet was ever an “elite club”. Up until now it has been open to anyone able to figure out how to use the technology. Originally it was only the most technical; now it is much easier.
What few see coming though are calls for censorship and the power struggle over who controls the Internet. It may eventually become an “elite club” although I sincerely hope it doesn’t.
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Obviously internet was easier to exploit when it was kinda “elite club”. Now that everyone uses it it’s a lot harder to find bugs and mistakes of other people.
@Miami Web Design I predicted they would do that the day they announced conversion tracking – even before they made Google Analytics free. They will use all the data they have to squeeze the lemon (advertisers) dry.
I am glad someone has the ability to recognize that they are doing that and the courage to mention it. I am working on a follow-up to this post about organic search rankings and ppc. Hopefully I will have it completed in the next few hours.
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Its really great that you have raised such an important issue out there . I feel that there is some loopholes in google adwords .My personal experience is google automatically increases the minimum bid amount for the keywords which they track are effective for their campaign .I would prefer adbrite because they show more relevant ads than google adwords
@Mark I mourn the days when any advertiser could make money with ppc ads. They really did work fantastically well. Broad match originally worked and phrase match coupled with negative keywords was an excellent way to greatly increase sales.
Now we’re lucky if exact match will work and using only exact match eliminates half of your potential buyers because it is nearly impossible to guess all the variations searchers might use to find a specific item.
I am glad to have you here; only those with pure hearts are concerned about the losses of their “competitors”. I hope you’ll be a frequent visitor. If I can ever be of assistance do ask.
While I can no longer guarantee my work and advice in ppc advertising will generate profits as I once did I still know more about making ads and especially AdWords work than most anyone. I can also recommend several others who are exceptionally talented and honest.
@Dennis You’re right but just remember that the same folks who created these ethical issues are the ones who decide where your site ranks.
I just saw a post Darren Rowse did many years ago about what heppened when his listings dropped like a rock. THAT is what concerns me for small businesses and bloggers more than anything. You can easily just disappear. * Poof *
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AdWords is still extremely powerful if done correctly. Do a Google search on “AdWords Triangulation Method”. This method is used to effectively target the most effective keywords – mostly long tail – which keeps your AdWords costs down.
The problem is that 90% of small businesses try this themselves and end up spending way more than their budget – because they did no keyword research and left broad match and other default settings on.
When done correctly – proper long tail keyword targeting using exact match can be very effective and low cost. We spend under $10/mo for one client yet it’s creating very valuable (valuable = high conversion rates) click throughs using extremely targeted, exact keywords.
It’s definitely a science and one thing we recommend most businesses hire a local consultant/expert for
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Boy am I glad I’m learning my SEO. lol
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@Killer AdWords and AdSense USED TO BE awesome. I increased sales for dozens of businesses dramatically – some by thousands of dollars a month almost instantly. My old original Web site made $400+ a month from AdSense and showed highly relevant ads.
I do really know what I am doing with AdWords. I can count on one hand the number of others who recognized and blogged about these issues when they first started showing up. That is one reason I linked so many posts from so many ppc consultants over such a long period of time.
Those who manage Fortune 500 and Corporate accounts are at a major disadvantage to those of us who work with very small businesses. These actions are REALLY obvious when your entire budget is $500 a month or less. They are easily overlooked in a huge account spending thousands or tens of thousands.
I gave up an exceptional income managing ppc accounts at $100/hour because I could no longer protect my clients from what is going on. Anyone who wants to use ppc ads must be aware of and able to absorb the potential risk.
@Matt PPC was so awesome – they truly killed the goose laying the golden eggs for businesses and themselves! Where once I recommended everyone use it I no longer recommend most even dabble in it.
If the traffic were still targeted and they weren’t taking money unethically I would still be using it. Properly done, the ads take you directly to exactly what you want while most organic results do not.
Remember one thing about organic listings though – just search on Google Dance to see how quickly feast can turn to famine. I may do a follow-up post on that issue.
We MUST get REALLY SERIOUS about diversifying – and it takes far more work to get even a fraction of the traffic from other sources that you can get from search engines!
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From an advertiser perspective, I know firsthand how difficult it is to run a campaign that breaks even – let alone one that is profitable. I normally run exact match in very, very tight groups. Something like broad match is financial suicide. I cringe when I see competitors using it!
Wow….that is an incredible article and only illustrates the importance of Organic SEO. I’ve never used PPC in my entire internet existence, and do not plan to start! Many studies of internet users have shown that nearly 60% of the “white collar” (intelligent, college educated) web surfers will not use “Sponsored Links” and will instead click on the top 3-5 non-sponsored results.