Forum Moderators: martinibuster
For example, a click on an ad for digital cameras on a web page about photography tips may be worth less than a click on the same ad appearing next to a review of digital cameras.
[edited by: markus007 at 8:08 pm (utc) on April 1, 2004]
Fortunately for Google and publishers, not all advertisers share your fears. :-) I routinely see ads for airlines, cruise lines, tour companies, and other major vendors on my own site, and many of those advertisers have made regular appearances for months. IMHO, we're likely to see even more competition for "content ad" space with the new variable-pricing scheme.
Today's revenue is *way* below average. Traffic and CTR are normal, but EPC is way, way down. EPC appears to be dropping with each report update as I tracked it throughout this morning. Site is large enough and has enough traffic that numbers are statistically valid.
It would be interesting to know if anyone here is experiencing a jump in EPC or revenue that cannot be attributed to any other factors, such as increased traffic or CTR. For every one of us losing revenue, another person should see a gain (in theory).
AdWords advertisers who are not currently bidding on content partner sites are highly unlikely to bid on the network in a meaningful way in the future.
By charging at that windmill, Google is losing a lot of money both for itself and its partners.
I am experiencing a serious jump in EPC that cannot be attributed to anything other than this change. At first I was concerned because most of my relevent ads had disappeared. That was yesterday afternoon. By last night (11 P.M. CST) the "good" ads were back.
I checked my figures this morning and yesterday's EPC was up 60% (though my CTR was way down because of the irrelevent ads). Today's EPC, though not really valid yet because very little data has been posted, shows my EPC up almost 300%.
I've always thought that my site, which is a highly targeted niche site, should provide great ROI for the AdWords advertisers. I just assumed that the EPC I was getting was all that could be afforded by the advertisers. If ROI is now coming into play more, I really believe that is why my EPC is up.
Perhaps those sites now experiencing lower EPC were not doing well from the ROI perspective? It's way too early to know that for sure, though, and that still doesn't explain why the sudden surge of unrelated ads. Thank goodness that cleared up.
I sure hope things continue to improve... here's hoping.
Glad to hear that you are getting more EPC than before. It's only fair that for those that lose revenue that someone else makes more. Otherwise, it would lead to the hopefully erroneous conclusion that Google is keeping more of the pie.
Naturally, it's too early to really tell how things are going to play out. I suspect that the pendulum will swing back a bit before it's over (i.e., high EPC sites will see a slight drop in EPC, those of us who got slammed will see a corresponding increase in EPC).
Unfortunately I also suspect it's too late for most advertisers who dropped content ads; they are unlikely to return once they feel they have been "burned". Hopefully I am wrong here.
After a couple of days we should start seeing post-apocalypse^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hchange channel data in our reports. That well help publishers who are using channels to better determine which sites are more "relevant".
I can't help but feel that Google had no choice in doing this: publishers had all but determined the % share they were getting, and through the recent Javascript code posted here (and later made somewhat redundant by Google's report additions), we were getting more and more refined data on how best to maximize revenues. While not all bad, it can lead to cheating but those less honest publishers.
Now with the "relevancy" variable, which is pretty subjective, us mushrooms are back in the dark again :)
This may have been mentioned here before, but a totally "open-source" system would be great. Or perhaps an auction-type system for both publishers and advertisers.
Just thinking out loud at this point, so I'll stop....
I too need to see other advertising options...
AdWords advertisers who are not currently bidding on content partner sites are highly unlikely to bid on the network in a meaningful way in the future.
I disagree, but in any case, whether current AdWords advertisers choose to use AdSense isn't all that important. PPC in general and AdSense in particular are still in their infancy, compared to other online and offline advertising media, and the real future for content ads is with traditional mainstream advertisers who are used to paying outrageous prices for leads via advertising or direct mail. By offering click pricing that's based on media type (and possibly audience) and not just on keywords, Google is making content ads more attractive to a much larger pool of advertisers.
My understanding is that the cost of a click for an advertiser can at best be what it was before. Or adjusted down.
The only way the changes can benefit the publisher is either by making the whole AdSense model more sustainable from the advertiser perspective.
Or if better targeted ads raise CTR or carry a higher per click price than the ads shown before on your site.
If you get the same ads as before the changes, you can at best keep the same earnings, or lose revenue.
According to Clickz, "Adjustments will only lower, not raise, the amount paid by the advertiser"
[clickz.com...]
?
My understanding is that the cost of a click for an advertiser can at best be what it was before. Or adjusted down.
This is my understanding also.
I also think that what was implemented yesterday was a pricing adjustment algo "nothing more". The fact that ad targetting was thrown into the whole thing is to appease the publishers and public relations.
The targeting is something ongoing, which should in theory only get better.
