koncept
msg:3028425 | 4:33 am on Jul 31, 2006 (gmt 0) |
I too went over to adcenter, and increased my campaigns at Yahoo over the past month. I was reluctant, but guess what?... Both are converting better for me than Google on the same keywords! Yes, volume is low, but conversion is key.
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ebuilder
msg:3028746 | 2:16 pm on Jul 31, 2006 (gmt 0) |
Same here, traffic is 1/3 which is only due to the limited number of campaigns that I have set up, but the conversion rate is 3 times higher than Google. So my revenue is the same, at least until I get more campaigns running at MSN.
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sailorjwd
msg:3028858 | 3:46 pm on Jul 31, 2006 (gmt 0) |
I'm not currently advertising on Yahoo but I'm seeing a nice increase in free traffic. MSN is about the same as it has been even though I'm advertising there.
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bostonseo
msg:3028870 | 3:50 pm on Jul 31, 2006 (gmt 0) |
Yahoo and MSN are definitely gaining on Google. Their natural search results are many time better than Google's. I rarely actually search on Google anymore, but part of that is that I want to level the playing field.
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ebuilder
msg:3028874 | 3:52 pm on Jul 31, 2006 (gmt 0) |
Sailor, same here, my free traffic from Yahoo has been up as well. I was using them for a couple of campaigns since the Google update but stopped them temporarily. Since doing so my increase has been phenomenal. A lot higher than Google's free traffic even.
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deep_alley
msg:3029044 | 6:00 pm on Jul 31, 2006 (gmt 0) |
What about absolute conversions? Is the number significant? Have stopped both my Yahoo campaigns (yahoo US gets me traffic from a lot of countries I am not interested in targeting and yahoo UK still has the minimum spend which I dont hit) and dont plan to restart them any time soon. But threads like these always make me re-think.
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venrooy
msg:3030476 | 6:32 pm on Aug 1, 2006 (gmt 0) |
It's quite obvious, even more now than before, that the newest google algo was nothing more than a money grab. The proof is in the pudding. Nothing about the searches has changed for the better. In fact most searches returned are even less legitimate now than they ever have been before. Legitimate advertisers, with their own tracking, can see right through this algo and are not putting up with it. Hence the increase in Yahoo and MSN.
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bostonseo
msg:3030538 | 7:15 pm on Aug 1, 2006 (gmt 0) |
I also think more advertisers, fed up with Google Adwords, are doing their personal daily searching on Yahoo and MSN as a way to 'stick it' to Google. I've started to recommend MSN and Yahoo as the best search engine to my friends and family, not only to send a message to Google, but because I think their natural searches are just as relevant/appropriate.
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MikaelTC
msg:3030708 | 9:21 pm on Aug 1, 2006 (gmt 0) |
That's interesting that people are noticing an increased conversion rate on MSN and Y!SM. To what do you attribute the improvement? Do you think that the quality of the search engine is related to the quality of the conversion percentage? I suppose that the level of click fraud is related (ergo miva et al. have low conversion rates) but generally I find that the main factors in site conversion are ad relevance, site quality and value proposition.
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koncept
msg:3031042 | 5:28 am on Aug 2, 2006 (gmt 0) |
After doing some research I have to say that I believe it's due to the difference in click fraud. MSN bills me less than the actual number of unique visitors I am getting, and Google bills me for a whopping 15-20% more clicks than unique visitors. They got the volume, they don't have the value.
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Lady Seraphim
msg:3031197 | 9:22 am on Aug 2, 2006 (gmt 0) |
Yahoo are also starting to clamp down on click fraud (although not enough IMO) which is also maybe affecting converstion rates positively?
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joeventura
msg:3031293 | 11:27 am on Aug 2, 2006 (gmt 0) |
I am using a simple system, everytime Google raises the click cost on one of my keywords to $5 or $10 I just move that word over to MSN and YAHOO, so far I have had a 9% increase in revenue. Keep up the good work Google!
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pdivi
msg:3031431 | 1:29 pm on Aug 2, 2006 (gmt 0) |
| everytime Google raises the click cost on one of my keywords to $5 or $10 I just move that word over to MSN and YAHOO |
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Google expected you to kill the hard hit KWs, so it's no skin off their back. When you get tired of losing sleep over Google algo changes, start getting more familiar with YSM and MSN than with Google, and start moving HEALTHY KWs and campaigns off of Adwords -- that's when it'll really start to hurt Google. My prediction; Google sees a jump in profit from the algo change, but there's a slow steady erosion Q3-->Q4, mostly b/c professional PPC managers cannot afford to keep too much weight in Adwords with its fickle nature. I could be dead wrong about the profit erosion, but it's hard to refute that unleashing the quality algo was a risky maneuvre with an uncertain long-term outcome. Many analysts have been critical of Google for having virtually all of its revenue coming from a single product. I imagine when they learn that Google has been playing fast & loose with the product, we'll hear them speak-up.
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bostonseo
msg:3031483 | 2:10 pm on Aug 2, 2006 (gmt 0) |
Google reported record profits 2 weeks ago and the stock is down 11% since. Every analyst (and smart investor) knows that Google is a one trick pony and that their profits are padded with click fraud. What goes up, must come down.
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ebuilder
msg:3031930 | 7:13 pm on Aug 2, 2006 (gmt 0) |
Yea look whats happening today alone. Down $12 in 2 days. I wish they would just go back to the good old days. I did a search on one of my old keywords today. I was interested in what the ad in the number 1 position was offering. When I clicked the ad I went a directory folder tree. I guess if they want to pay top dollar for someone to see their web directory that is fine with me but what about the user experience. No wonder thier stock price
is going nowhere but down like their server.
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