rehabguy - 8:23 pm on Jul 13, 2006 (gmt 0)

europeforvisitors writes:

What kinds of small businesses are being hurt by the changes? More to the point, how many of those businesses are MFA sites, pure affiliate sites, adult sites, and other types of Internet businesses that the mainstream press and advertising community might regard as marginal?

I sell medical equipment. I make $150 on a particular product that sells for $700. I convert 1 out of 75 or so, because there's alot of competition in my area, and relatively low search volume.

At my original bid of .75/click, I would spend $56 per sell. Google now wants $15.00 per click? The highest bid prior to this was approx $4.50 per click!

I can't spend $1,125 to make a $150 profit on a $700 item.

There is absolutely no logic to this type of change.

During the Hurricane Katrina crises, the US Govt brought charges against gas stations that performed "price gouging" - raising the price $1 to $2 higher than the norm based on fear perception vs. supply/demand.

Therefore, I would put this Google situation into the price gouging category...