After all is said and done I've come to the conclusion that for all intents and purposes the AdSense/Content network is completely "broken".
We are seeing huge amounts of worthless/fraudulent clicks from the worst of the worst scaper/autogenerated sites. 100s of them. Blocking the "top 25 worst offenders" barely makes a dent in the profitability (or lack thereof) of advertising on the "content" network.
Now I realize that it could be different in other industries but I highly doubt it. I'm sure these jerks have setup identical scraper/autogenerated pages/sites and clickbots for every possible money keyword that exists.
In my opinion the first step Google needs to take is to immediately allow advertisers to block as many sites as they want. This 25 site limit is a joke. I realize it's a new feature and they might still be testing and/or building up their infrastructure to handle more blocking, but they need to get this out there immediately if you ask me.
If Google does not fix this ASAP we will have no choice but to go direcly to the sites that do perform and work with them directly, cutting Google out of the profit loop.
This is just so blatantly broken I'm amazed that Google has allowed it to go this far. It really sickens me they know exactly what is going on, and have allowed this to happen. This is starting to smell like another FindWhat if you ask me. I could even see a class action lawsuit on the horizon.
For the record we have developed a custom tracking system that allows us to track clicks, conversions, etc. back to the original "content" site where our ad was clicked, and I know with 100% certainty that my figures/analysis is correct.
Anyone else have any comments on this?
Some fraud is inevitable but as this post attests, it appears to be getting to confidence-breaking levels. That can only be bad. I think Google will come to realize - if it doesn't already - that allowing scraper and other sites by those without basic standards of decency are only encouraging unethical behavior across the board. And that can only be bad for medium- and long-term profits.
In my opinion the first step Google needs to take is to immediately allow advertisers to block as many sites as they want. This 25 site limit is a joke.
No, I think the right way to go would be an opt-in, rather than opt-out, that is "Display my ads on these websites only." Otherwise it'll be a part time job to block new websites that carry your ads
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Until then, i'm not running with the content network because I simply got scared off watching my logs. Click after click would hit the home page, with no follow up CSS or image requests. I don't care if there might be a positive ROI; I refuse to pay for any clicks that are so blatently automated.
My logs reveal hundreds of sites I would have never known about that convert great and we want to advertise on those. If it was an opt-in model, how would you identify all the sites you want to advertise on?
It's no big thing to fully automate the process. We could easily extend our tracking system to automatically block any domain with less than X conversion ratio.
No, I think the right way to go would be an opt-in, rather than opt-out, that is "Display my ads on these websites only
That would be a major step in the right direction (speaking from a publisher point of view).
we will have no choice but to go direcly to the sites that do perform and work with them directly
It's happening now. I'm taking several calls and numerous emails a week from AdWords advertisers who have opted out of content sites and want to go direct.
Bring it on, it's far more profitable. For both sides.
TJ
Hey Google! I'm always reading about how you have all this cash and don't know what to do with it. Why not hire some people to review the sites your ads are run on?!
... hmm ... maybe this is HOW they ended up having so much cash they don't know what to do with it - by scamming us advertisers. This really is starting to stink.
