Quote:
Originally Posted by Bmc
Mistake 4 - Using the Content Network
The content network is Google Adsense, and if you are not experienced you definitely do not want your ads to show on Adsense. Adsense users are many times involved in click fraud and other practices such as made for adsense sites. These site often produce non-targeted traffic and can really cost you. When creating an adsense campaign you should only leave google search and search network clicked.
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First off, this is a really good post, particularly for people who haven't delved into PPC far enough to understand the implications of their choices - thanks.
I did want to ask about a couple of things you wrote, though, and this one seemed like the more interesting of the two questions I had. I believe what you've said is a good general rule for new users (and I recognize that you made note of the difference between advanced users, so this is mostly just a general point), but I'm curious why you didn't suggest turning the content network off until you've ironed out the statistical anomalies and have a general idea of your daily CPC. Once you have that, you can turn on the content network, turn on content network bidding and then lowball the crap out of the content network bids. After that, you just have to track conversions to see if content network ends up being worth it with your lowball prices. Your point is obviously correct about click fraud and with respect to newbies just lumping content and search together, but the content network can provide some pretty decent conversion numbers depending on your niche and your daily PPC outlay. Seems like it would at least be worth saying, "Start with it off and turn it and content bidding on to lowball the content network bids and test."
The only other thing I'd add is to, on the search network, avoid bidding up to the point where you're getting a lot of specualtive clicks. This is a problem with the content network to be sure, but if you lowball the bid it's not as big a problem. However, on the search network it's been my experience that if you get in the top block you get many more speculative clicks that don't convert as well - consequently, the current client I'm working with tries to hit the 1-3 spots in the sidebar, which is usually position 3-5 depending on how many people are bidding on the current keyword(s). Certainly this has been the experience of my current client in the financial area, though it may not be true for most or all. I'd be interested in your opinion on the whole speculatvie clicks area, because it's been my experience that you can save some money and convert better by not trying to "win" for a given keyword, but instead to "place." |
