CTR doesn't Matter at all

the lower page impressions the better

[thedreamt]

I found something very interesting in my two months. It is not the CTR that dictates your earnings.

1. Number of clicks divided by Page Impressions = CTR
2. The lower Page Impressions the better.
3. The more clicks with lower Page Impressions the better.

example:

2000 Page Impressions / 40 clicks = 2% CTR
3000 Page Impressions / 40 clicks = 1.33% CTR
2000 Page Impressions / 50 clicks = 2.5 % CTR

Why do many are worried about their CTR? Is it not the way they present their site that's important?

[edited by: thedreamt at 6:01 am (utc) on July 21, 2006]

[david_uk]

Earnings is earnings per click * number of clicks. Therefore the higher the number of clicks, and the higher the amount you get paid for the clicks, the higher your earnings.

Whilst it could be argued that ctr doesn't matter directly, many people here would argue that it does. What you get per click is determined by Google's smart pricing mechanism. Google have never said how smart pricing is done, but we do know it's a combination of many factors - one of which may well be ctr of your site.

I'd suggest that page impressions and number of clicks does matter - greatly.

[thedreamt]

So you would prefer more page impressions?

[Hobbs]

Why do many are worried about their CTR?

Hi thedreamt,

- CTR tells me how relevant the ads are to the topic of my pages.

- CTR tells me how well placed my ads are in my pages.

- CTR is my own conversion measure, for me a visitor that clicked an ad is a visitor that converted for me and earned me money.

With or without SmartPricing, CTR has a lot to say about how well I am doing.

[mack]

I still think if CTR as being very important. On my sites I have a ballpark figure that is my average CTR, I expect this to remain constant as a percentage of page views. If I see flux in this figure then I feel the need to investigate.

It can also be argues that having a very low CTR may adversely effect the quality of ads that are displayed.

Mack.

[Hobbs]

and mack remindied me of another reason to momitor CTR

- CRT tell you when you are having a click attack.