Adwords Ad #1, Every Block, Every Page, Every View, Every Day

Why the strong push?

[Sally Stitts]

EDIT: Whoops! I forgot to add every SITE!
I wasn't going to post this, but it just won't go away.

The Ad -
Get $75 Free Advertising
Try Google Adwords. Claim Your $75
Coupon Now!
www.google.com/AdWords

It is not hard to see why CTR keeps dropping, when you have a situation like this. What % of the general population is going to be interested in buying AdWords? 10%? 5%? What % of those are using AdWords already. How far down below 1% is the targeted potential clicker? After all, the ad is TOTALLY UNRELATED to the Page content. That is even worse than Interest-Based Ads, which we know are miserable performers - they decimated long-standing CTRs.

What we have here, my friend, is a CTR diluter. eCPM diluter. Earnings diluter.

Anyone else seeing this? I wonder what the EPC is? It needs to be outstanding, phenomenal.
.

[thatjen]

I was getting that ad on a few pages. I blocked that URL and haven't seen the ad since.

[scotland]

Hi Sally
If the advert read like:

Get $75 Free
Claim Your $75
All Free
www.google.com

It would be a winner! As it is it is a totally useless advert for 99.999% of all audiences

[farmboy]

Maybe AdSense publishers are seeing that ad because we do things like visit this AdSense forum, we visit AdSense, etc.

That doesn't mean the general public is seeing that ad with the same frequency.


FarmBoy

[Leosghost]

Maybe AdSense publishers are seeing that ad because we do things like visit this AdSense forum,

That could only the case if Brett was dropping adsense cookies for G ..which he isn't.

However

we visit AdSense, etc

might well be a reason as G definitely drop cookies when we visit adsense / our G accounts or log into G properties etc.

But I see these ads on Machines of people that are not publishers...same way that they send the voucher cards to anyone in business..whether or not they are internet based.

It is possible that visits to adsense and logging into G make one see them more frequently though..which would make a mockery of them forbidding arbitrage if they are pushing adwords to adsense publishers ..but then G have never been known for consistency in what they say.

[HuskyPup]

I blocked Google.com and .co.uk in my competitive ad filter awhile back and since then I haven't seen either on any of my sites.

[netmeg]

Google periodically goes through these pushes where they try to drum up new AdWords business. I've seen a lot of these ads lately on sites (although like HP I have them blocked on mine) In theory, they're supposed to be competing as the highest paying ads with all the other ones - and I kind of believe they are, just because Google is under so much scrutiny at the moment that being caught out in a lie that way would do a lot of damage - but that doesn't mean that they're likely to be clicked all that often. Suppose they're bidding $20 a click (which of course they aren't, but just suppose) if you get one click, it'd be great, but how likely are you to get that one click? Not very.

[Sally Stitts]

Thank you so much for the feedback.
I haven't blocked an ad URL in so long, it didn't even occur to me.
google.com is now blocked, which should take care of www. and /AdWords

Not so good when your "partner" is not working in your best interests.
One thing we often forget is that Google will ALWAYS work in THEIR best interest - YOUR best interest is ALWAYS SECONDARY. This has been yet another reminder of that fact. Continued vigilance is mandatory, to detect publisher marginalization at each turn.
.

[ThatsBoBo]

You are seeing that ad because you are a publisher and IBA is serving it to you.

Your visitors are NOT seeing that ad.

[HuskyPup]

Your visitors are NOT seeing that ad.

My cookies are cleared out several times a day yet these ads were still being served on my sites, on my computers and independent non-AdSense publishers' computers...this was, maybe still is, a campaign rather than IBAs and did not stop on my sites until I blocked Google in the competative ad filter.

[Sally Stitts]

Isn't it just wonderful that we can no longer know what ads are being served on our behalf, ON OUR OWN SITES?

Google is now whipping us like a dog. There is no respect, with this data suppression scheme. We are now just corporate fodder to serve Google's interests, at the expense of our own income.

Yesterday, I graphed my Impressions, Clicks, CTR, eCPM and EPC, since 2003, on a single graph (with 5 vertical scales). It is not a pretty picture - while Impressions are hitting all-time highs, CTR is 1/4 of what it was, eCPM is 1/3 of what it was, and Clicks are down 30% in less than a year. EPC has seen its peak.

I also blocked google.ca, google.au, and google.co.uk, to prevent any backdoor shenanigans.

I also clear my cookies frequently. I am not fond of data stored on MY COMPUTER being used against me.
.