ccDan - 9:23 pm on Jan 6, 2007 (gmt 0)

I'm not sure how much I've helped divert away from Google exactly. Several million dollars for hundreds of clients perhaps...so no, they don't care when they are making billions. But, it was for the clients ROAS that it was done and not once was the thought of whether Google would care put into the equation.

Don't throw in the towel completely. Keep a watch on AdWords--things can always change.

I quit using AdWords to advertise one of my sites over a year ago. It had gotten to the point where I would have needed around a 20% conversion rate just to break even.

A couple weeks ago, I started advertising on AdWords again. Now, I only need a 2% conversion rate to break even.

Given that this is just a single niche, it's inaccurate to draw any conclusions about it. But, I would suspect that, since most people in my niche have the same relative profit margins, sooner or later, advertisers will stop paying the higher rates. Then the rates will just have to drop if Google wants to continue earning advertising revenue.

I know that if my current bids are raised, I'll just cease using AdWords again.