Forum Moderators: martinibuster
It seems to me the solution to this is that Google starts charging based on conversions rather than clicks.
After reading a post in here, a completely reputable website could lose its AdSense account if a pissed off competitor decides to start clicking on your adsense ads.
Advertising is all sorts of things above and beyond immediate conversions. How often do you see a Coke commercial on TV and immediately walk down to the shop to buy a can?
I agree that AdSense isn't "pay per action" advertising, nor should it be. But it is direct-response advertising, whether the desired response is an immediate purchase or an inquiry.
Some might argue that CPM is more desirable for publishers than CPC is, and that publishers are sharing the advertiser's risk when they're paid by the click instead of by the impression. I prefer CPC myself because shared risk means a larger reward for success. (If AdSense paid flat CPMs to publishers while being compensated on a CPC basis by advertisers, some money would have to be held back as insurance against poor clickthrough rates.)
BTW, advertiser fraud with CJ simply does not exist. That is a lack of education that people have.
This is simply not true. There are plenty of CJ advertisers who partner with 'parasite' programs, and I recently went to a CJ merchant's site where the merchant was overwriting CJ cookies as soon as a visitor clicked off of their home page - effectivly stealing commissions from all affiliates...
No cashy no linky. How hard can that maxim possibly be?
Yes, the naive, uneducated affiliate might link without doing a background check or doing a trial run. However, I say again, if you're linking to someone who isn't paying you there is only one person at fault in this equation, and it certainly isn't the rather clever fellow who is getting free marketing.
Not everyone that advertises on adwords sells things. I certainly do not sell a single thing, how would i get charged for my adwords if it were based on conversions?
The Adsense and the Adwords program is a per click advertising program, not an affiliate program.
Suggesting this kind of measurement method is like asking a MBA to cook fries at McDonalds, it its not a worthwhile alternative, and it just does not make sense.
Maybe you are an adwords advertiser who has spent lots on adwords and has very few conversions?
Maybe you are an adwords advertiser who has spent lots on adwords and has very few conversions?
That question raises a valid point: Basing AdSense rates (and publisher payments) on conversions would put Google and the publisher at the mercy of the advertiser's sales ability or the lack thereof. Those of us who have used affiliate programs know that some merchants do a poor job of converting inquiries to sales. With affiliate programs, we can easily pull out if the merchant isn't performing, but that would be tough to do in a PPC advertising situation where hundreds of ads (and advertisers) may be cycling in and out of one's pages.
At any rate, this discussion is getting pretty academic. IMHO, there's absolutely no chance that Google will overhaul its AdWords/AdSense programs and replace PPC bids with conversion-based fees. Transactiongeek, if you're really convinced that your idea has merit, why not hook up with a venture capitalist and start a new conversion-based ad network? Who knows--maybe you'll leave AdWords/AdSense in the dust and become richer than Larry, Sergey & Co. :-)
