Conversion and SmartPricing

How does it happen?

[asas111]

We always talk about how certain Adsensers have been 'SmartPriced' because their Adsense is not 'Converting' well for AdWorders.

My question is: how do they know if someone clicking on an adsense page will go on to buy something or convert well for the advertiser? How does Google or the Advertiser know this? I have never used AdWords, so I don't know how this works. Is there something like a Landing Page, whereby an advertiser can distinguish between good and bad clicks?

thanks

[europeforvisitors]

Google offers a free "conversion tracking" service for advertisers, and it's reasonable to assume that Google has accumulated vast quantities of data from other sources over the years that it can use for sampling and making assumptions about the likelihood of conversion.

Also, it's important to remember that--according to Google--smart pricing looks at type of content, not just a site's individual conversion statistics. If history shows that clicks from forums tend not to convert as well as clicks from review sites, then clicks from forums are more likely to be "smartpriced" than clicks from review sites. (Google explained this back in 2004, when smart pricing was introduced, by comparing a page of photo tips to a camera review.)

[farmboy]

I have never used AdWords, so I don't know how this works

FWIW, I opened an AdWords account a while back and I have never been invited to institute any measure that would allow for conversion tracking. Maybe it's there if you go looking for it, but I wasn't offered it.

FarmBoy