3 cents for 3 clicks

Are they paying per impressions?

[conjo_guam]

This is crazy, I went and checked the channel and that is displaying a very attractive image ad.
Is it possible that they are paying by impressions, rather than clicks?

Otherwise, how can one explain 3 cents for 3 clicks?

regards

[rfontaine]

Yes, this has happened to me: 1-cent clicks. One Cent! WhooHoo! Just 100,000,000 clicks to make my first million!

[hunderdown]

Or it could have been one three-cent click and two zero-cent clicks.

[ken_b]

Is it possible that they are paying by impressions, rather than clicks?

Otherwise, how can one explain 3 cents for 3 clicks?

It is possible that they are paying on a CPM basis.

But it's also possible to get a 1 cent payout on a CPC basis.

[BillyS]

Or it could have been one three-cent click and two zero-cent clicks.

That's my guess too.

[conjo_guam]

So your conclusion is 2 invalid clicks and i valid click.

Even in that case, minimum bid is 5 cents, so 2.5 cents should be reasonable payout.

[Angelis]

Not invalid clicks just maybe public service ads.

[paganini]

minimum bid is 5 cents

AFAIK a few rules has changed in the AdWords program. Have a look at their AdWord blog [adwords.blogspot.com], where it is written, they're

replacing the static USD $0.05 minimum bid for all keywords with a minimum bid that varies based on the quality of your keyword and ad text. High quality keywords (determined by the Quality Score) will have minimum bids as low as $0.01, while keywords with a lower Quality Score will be assigned higher minimum bids.

So it is quite possible, that you've had the high quality ads or, just as you've said, they were paid by impressions.

[hunderdown]

Regardless of the minimum bid, there's also smart pricing. No one outside Google knows the range of possible discounts given to advertisers via smart pricing, but it's also reducing the value of a click

If I were you, I wouldn't be trying to figure out what's going on with individual clicks, I'd be working on keeping your average EPC stable or growing. I've noticed clicks on my site range enormously in value, but the average has stayed within a fairly narrow range for a year and a half. And that's fine with me. Predictability is a good thing.

[sailorjwd]

In my adwords account I've been seeing recently a few ad groups with less than 3cent average CPC for the whole day.

I guess some of those ads are showing on your pages - tanks for the cheap clicks!

[rfontaine]

I have had channels with:

1-page impression
1-click
1-cent

in one day. So I know that 1-cent clicks exist