Forum Moderators: martinibuster
And do you think it depends on the ad... like depends on what industry it is? (like health, or technology, or law, etc.)
Any educated guesses, anybody?
You'll find some people on this forum disbelieve this, in truth no one really knows.
According to the SEC filings, on average Google is giving ~40% to AdSense partners. This probably means 80% go to partners like AOL and large content sites and 20-30% goes to the small fries.
What percentage do you think we make off of each clicked Adsense ad on our site?
Nobody knows, and Google isn't telling. And while the answer might be interesting, there's no good reason why Google should reveal that information.
AdSense isn't being marketed the way traditional ad networks were in the early days of banner ads. In those days, the ad networks' pitch was something like: "Instead of selling and serving ads, let us do it for you, and we'll split the revenues with you 50-50 [or 60-40, or whatever]." With AdSense, the pitch is different: "Unleash the full revenue potential of your website." It isn't being marketed as ad outsourcing (i.e., as a substitute for what publishers are already using); it's being marketed as a new or additional revenue stream. So, instead of obsessing over numbers that Google isn't likely to reveal, publishers should be focusing on the metrics that really matter: effective CPM (EPM) and bottom-line revenue. If AdSense EPM and revenues are worthwhile, great; if not, the publisher can drop AdSense or--even better--continue testing it on a random sample of pages to see whether EPM and revenues improve.
There are thousands of adwords customers (like me) who provide consulting services. It isn't possible to know who calls me (after clicking on an ad) and eventually signs up for a consulting contract.
A significant proportion of Adsense ads on my site are also consulting-type companies therefore this whole conversion rate thing puzzles me.
Am I correct in assuming that conversion rates really only apply to sites that have shopping-cart like purchasing methods?
There are thousands of Adwords customers (like me) who provide consulting services. It isn't possible to know who calls me (after clicking on an ad) and eventually signs up for a consulting contract.
sailorjwd: I think you have “hit the nail on the head.” I’ve often wondered how Google could possibly use “conversion” as a criteria for increasing or decreasing EPC since not all Adword advertisers use the conversion code provided by Google and there are many (as you pointed out) who selling product that lends itself to conversion tracking.
Am I correct in assuming that conversion rates really only apply to sites that have shopping-cart like purchasing methods?
AdWords lets advertisers define "conversions" in a variety of ways. As I recall, Google's definition of a conversion is "a sale or other business action," which can include such things as registration, a newsletter subscription, or simply visiting a designated number of pages on the advertiser's site.
So Google can track "conversions" for advertisers who don't have shopping carts. What it can't do is track conversions for advertisers who don't use that AdWords feature (as many don't).
proper decent content sites, with text content will get paid out more than the kind of sites we all know and see in the serps which are really just scrapings of search listings or some other computer generated pages with no real 'helpful' content.
but note what europeforvisitors says: at the end of the day so what about percentages, if it pays you better than other use of the space on the page then its in, if it pays less then its out.
Since those sites tend to depend on free SE listings in the first place, the quality of targeted traffic could actually be quite high.
a) type of ads being served
b) cost per click of those ads
c) conversion of users from your site
d) users' click through selection
In addition, Adsense does in fact reduce the price that an advertiser will pay, IF their data shows that a click from your page, is less likely to turn into a business result (like a sale, signup, subscription, etc.)
Recently, I've seen a 37% reduction in my site's revenue generation from Adsense. Everything within my control, specifically CTR and targeted traffic, have either increased or stayed the same.
What other ppc can be considered for us siteowners that are interested in shopping around, that pay equal to, if not better than Adsense?
Who is the competition?
c) conversion of users from your site
d) users' click through selection
As for competition, unless you are VERY big there really isn't anything that pays nearly as well - certainly nothing within 37% of what AdSense pays. Affiliate marketing can be as good as or better than AdSense, but as blaze says it depends on your site.
How smart pricing works
..
and if our data shows that a click is less likely to turn into business results (e.g. online sale, registration, phone call, newsletter sign-up), we may reduce the price you pay for that click. You may notice a reduction in the cost of clicks from content sites.
[adwords.google.com...]
We are constantly analyzing data across our network, and if our data shows that a click is less likely to turn into business results (e.g. online sale, registration, phone call, newsletter sign-up), we may reduce the price you pay for that click. You may notice a reduction in the cost of clicks from content sites.We take into account many factors such as what keywords or concepts triggered the ad, as well as the type of site on which the ad was served. 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.
Couldn't give you a specific name, nor would that be wise to post on forum. The information is genuine though.
2. "Not sure I understand this. Does this simply mean "which ad the user clicked on"?"...
I'm no expert, but your analysis is probably right.
3. Thanks for the tip on affiliate marketing. I do, in fact, have affiliate products sold on my site, and they do well, but that is complimentary alongside Adsense. I need the advertising revenue.
What about Ad-Sonar and CJ Evolution? They aren't up and running yet, but could they be the competition so needed against Adsense in the marketplace? Any others out there worth looking into?
Quality low, might have solid conversion, great CTR. Right?
In my view this could be quite encouraging to build template based, SERP copied pages to the boat load. Not quite sure if that could be G's intention...