Google Adwords Select ..The Catch

So called minimum bid isn't what it seems

[uk_dokey]

I just signed up with this service hoping to get some good value CPC however I was pretty surprised to find out that the minimum bid is not 0.05c. It stated that to be fair to other customers using the Adword scheme (pay per impression) the minimum bid for my keywords was 0.45c...ouch. I use overture also and that keyword is only worth tops 0.19 for a top position. So be warned guys just check it out first. There is an option when you sign up that calculates minimum bid to make top rank but it didn't work. It then mysteriously worked after I had signed up then it was too late. Goodbye my $5.00 deposit. Not much you say but the moths in my wallet were pretty peeed.

I have to say I was less than impressed by the whole sign up procedure. I found it pretty tough to comprehend (I don't mind admitting this) The FAQs section made me reach for the aspirin. I guess I'm used to Overture they are far better in my opinion. Anyone else had similar problems?

[gburg]

I have also tried the AdWords Select. I have been VERY surprised how poor the service has been. I had been told by some of the larger ad agencies to stay away as it was experiencing problems - they were right! Many times their rates and estimates do not correlate. Horrible performance when accessing the system. Support has been very poor - I guess it is all new to them. They certainly should have let this one bake a bit more before bringing it out!

[WebGuerrilla]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld gburg.

>>I was pretty surprised to find out that the minimum bid is not 0.05c.

All the information on the minimum bid requirements is contained in the AdWords Select FAQ. I'm not sure what you read the gave you the impression that the minimum bids were only $0.05.

There are certainly situations where the CPC program works out to be more than Overture, however, there are also many situations where Google's system works out to be much better. With Google's price structure, your bid will automatically be lowered as your clickthru rate increases. If you are running ads for a highly competitive phrase, you will often find that your initial bids will start out higher than Overture, but over time, they will drop.

We've recently seen a keyword phrase that usually runs over $10.00 per click at Overture drop down to just under $5.00 in Google's program.

Another benefit is a high clickthru will help you maintain a steady top spot. With Overture, we have to rebid constantly to keep the ad in the partner distribution. Even with bidding tools, Our competitive ads tend to spend more time on Overture's site than they do on the partners sites.

At Google, that doesn't happen. We stay consistantly at the top, and we pay half the price.

There are many similarites between the two programs, but there are also many differences as well. The key is to figure out which one works best for your particular situation.