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I have spoken before in this forum about what I thought were very high rates for running Adwords Select on the Japanese Google. The minimum rate is 50 yen.
I was so concerned about this that I wrote to Google USA suggesting they lower the minimum rate and then let the market determine the rate. They thanked me for my concern, but felt they had set the correct rate.
To an extent they are correct. The market rate per click through is at least 50 yen or higher. I have seen rates as high as 150 yen for banner click through. The problem with using the current market rate as the basis for determining the minimum rate for Google Adwords Select is the volume of PPC advertising in Japan is very low. Google could or will make up the majority of PPC advertising in Japan, at least until Overture open their program. The current pricing for PPC ads is really working in a vacuum compared to the volume Google brings to the market.
The Japanese advertising market is very different to the USA or Australia. There are many cultural reasons for this. It appears Google has yet to understand them.
ンタルサーバー (rental server)
レンタカー (rentacar)
マンション (mansion, which means condo)
seo
キャッシング (cashing, which means short term loan)
For these words I don't think 50 yen is too expensive by Japan standards. My experience in marketing in Japan is this: set what you think is a fair price, then go ahead and double it (then give yourself a pat on the back and a 2 martini lunch). To me it seems like a lot of people in Japan think inexpensive = cheap = not worth buying. Especially when they are spending someone else's money. I'm no expert on this, but that's been my general experience. Granted, the return on purchasing PPC advertising is a bit more transparent than that of say, purchasing a Gucci hand bag, but I think the principle might still hold true because Google is the Gucci of the web here, is it not? Or maybe it's the Louis Vuitton of the web; I get the two confused.
I know that the web divisions of the big ad agencies in Tokyo are pushing both Adwords and Overture, perhaps because PPC seems to be in line with their thinking: must run ad campaign, must run ad campaign (grunt). I've yet to see a case study that clearly shows the results of a Japanese language PPC campaign. My guess is that someone will publish one after Overture's been up and running for a few months.
PPC in Japan is really in its infancy. Although LookSmart appears to have had a PPC type system in place since April, it has not been promoted and is relatively unknown. AdWords is probably the first mainstream PPC in Japan...and you're right, the volume is low. You've got a tiny number of SEO-types and the ad agencies who are the only ones who have a clue about AdWords...The general awareness of PPC in Japan is low, but that won't last for long. I think that once Overture kicks in you'll see a lot better information about this. Right now your AdWords campaign will probably bring you some cheap branding rather than a lot of clicks. However that's all speculation at this point in the game.
The Japanese advertising market is very different to the USA or Australia. There are many cultural reasons for this. It appears Google has yet to understand them.I'm not sure I see what part of the Japanese market Google is misunderstanding here. Could you elaborate on this?
