Here are some calculations, based on numbers from various press releases:
They have 100,000 domains in their portfolio, and they get 17 million unique visitors each month.
That makes (17m/100k) 170 unique visitors per domain, per month.
Their stated revenue is $19 million per year. (Various numbers thrown about, ranging from 17 to 19.)
Averaging that out, they make about $190 per yer, per domain. That's $15.83 per month, per domain.
So...
170 visitors, $15.83. At a CTR of 5%, they must make about $1.86 per click.
If their CTR were average, at 2%, they'd have to make $4.65 per click.
What do you guys think? You've seen their sites. I have a hard time imagining a really great CTR for them. But the earnings per click don't seem realistic at $4. The sites are automated (right?), so there's no super-targetted affiliate programs going on. What's going on? Any thoughts?
How do you get to 25% CTR?
People who employ direct navigation are often very focused on "getting there". SE's tend to offer near hits, plus a lot of SEO filler and the SERPSpam flavor of the month.
An intelligengly crafted direct navigation page will tend to have tightly focused results. IF the type-in URL is ElboniaWidgetManufacturer.com chances are pretty good that the landing page will yield that result.
There's a trend in the PPC landing page industry away from the junk generic type landing pages of the past and towards highly optimized landing pages, with URL or "domain word" specific links. No more pages filled with generic links. They're still around, but they're slowly moving towards extinction.
How do I know that the CTR's run 25% and ^? Experience. I've got some very long domains that get 50%+ CTRs. The more specific the domain the more likely the direct navigation surfer is looking "exactly for that" (keyword domain) and the better the ad inventory that fits that keyword string . . . well, the CTR is not magic. It's common sense.
Think of it this way, someone searching in Google is given 10-12 ppc choices plus 10 "natural" choices. If 80% of the searchers click on one of the choices, rather than trying a new search, the CTR for the average link will be something like 4%. However, Google's overall CTR will be 80%. The latter figure is analogous to the 50% that can be achieved with a well optimized ppc site.
We run some VERY specific results pages and have seen earnings as high as $194 per thousand visitors. That's twice the UltSearch average so I see no reason why they can't be earning those figures.
However, as several of you have commented that much of this derives from the specific targetting of the site -- how would UltSearch have targetted 100,000 domains? It seems feasible for 1,000, maybe, but 100,000? Seems to me, they would have to be less targetted than the sites you're talking about.
(But then, maybe my eyes are about to be opened again!)
ps > That's why I love this place -- so many smart people with perspectives different than my own. Tremendously valuable! Thanks, all.
Widgets.com
SmallBlueWidgets.com
Which gets the most type ins?
Which is more targeted?
They probably find their more generic domains (apart from a few) get less earnings per visitor than the more specific ones, although the generics will get far more traffic.
Think about how close people are to a purchase when they use one of the terms below in a search:
Jacket
Mens XL Waterproof Berghaus Ski Jacket
Advertisers are aware that the second searcher is about to buy, the first has no idea what he wants.
Generic is bad on an earnings per visitor level, it more than makes up for it by volume though.
