Site Targeted Myself, But had to Bid $3.00

How can this be?

[vivalasvegas]

My main website running Adsense makes around 15-20 cents per click. I wanted to do an experiment and created an Adwords campaign targetting my website only. I had to bid $3 per click to have my ad displayed on my website. I paused the campaign after receiving a few clicks costing me around $2.50 each. From my Adsense reports I could see that Google paid me back a large portion of that money, so this is not the issue. What I can't understand is the discrepancy between what I paid for the clicks and what the other advertisers on my website pay. I understand that there are factors such as the quality of the ad, and so on but 15 cents vs $2.50 a click?!

[vincevincevince]

Quality Score sounds the main factor in your case. Most importantly this means keyword and text absolutely relevant to landing page.

[vivalasvegas]

Well the landing page is highly related to the page where ads were displayed.

[HuskyPup]

I had to bid $3 per click to have my ad displayed on my website.

Insofar as I am aware it's not possible to do this...well, at least one could not do this.

If you have multiple sites then it was possible on the other sites.

[LifeinAsia]

You might get a better response posting in the AdWords section instead of AdSense. AdWords/AdSense arbitrage is basically a money losing proposition except for a very few people. The specifics have been discussed quite a bit over there.

[tim222]

It's possible that Google charges more if you want your ad to appear on a particular website. It would be interesting to know if they also charge $3 on other sites that are similar to yours. My guess is yes, they do. But if it's only yours, then maybe somehow they know it's your own site.

[tim222]

AdWords/AdSense arbitrage is basically a money losing proposition...

LOL. Yeah, especially if you target your own site!

Actually I think this was more an experiment in learning about click values - in particular, why some are worth more than others.

[Beverly]

Sounds to me like Google is making a buttload of money...and stealing from both hands that feed them.

[europeforvisitors]

Sounds to me like Google is making a buttload of money...and stealing from both hands that feed them.

Super-high minimum bids aren't intended to boost revenues: They're intended to send a message to arbitrageurs and other bottom-feeding advertisers, and to drive away those who aren't smart enough to comprehend and act on that message.

[LifeinAsia]

and stealing from both hands that feed them.

Not sure how you jumped to that conclusion. Yes, they make a lot of money. But it's because people want to spend money on advertising, not because Google has a gun to their heads.

[vivalasvegas]

Super-high minimum bids aren't intended to boost revenues: They're intended to send a message to arbitrageurs and other bottom-feeding advertisers, and to drive away those who aren't smart enough to comprehend and act on that message.

Although you probably have a point here I don't understand why Google would want to drive away potential legitimate new advertisers. It's not like everyone starting an Adwords campaign is an expert in this type of advertising.

[Leonard0]

VLV,

From my Adsense reports I could see that Google paid me back a large portion of that money

Just out of curiosity, what percentage of your payment did you receive?
It would help fuel the great debate about Google's cut of advertiser payments.

[farmboy]

They're intended to send a message to arbitrageurs and other bottom-feeding advertisers, and to drive away those who aren't smart enough to comprehend and act on that message.

It ain't working.

FarmBoy

[vivalasvegas]

Just out of curiosity, what percentage of your payment did you receive?

Can't say for sure the exact percentage and I don't want to speculate. I believe it was over 50%.

[YesMom]

I really think what happened is that you DID have to bid that much just to target your particular site (not BECAUSE it was yours, but perhaps that is just the necessary bid amount -- that I *don't* understand, without competition) --

But perhaps all the 15 to 20 clicks you normally get are from advertisers just targeting keywords and phrases, not site-targeting.

Just a thought.

YM