Bottom line, is Adword traffic falling steadily month on month? any views appeciated.
however Google ahave been doing a lot of algo changes to adwords when playing around with broad match etc etc.
maybe worth doing some updated tactics on your campaigns.
Shak
I have more competition for my keywords, but the conversion rate per click has remained pretty similar for me.
As we have a year round constant demand product this leads me to think that the public may be loosing their attachment tp google.
We do all the ad testing and key word reviews etc on an ongoing basis but if the underlying traffic is dropping away we will be effected.
1. Election year - advertising is always difficult
2. War - Still fighting with war coverage
3. TAX TIME - Spending is slowwwwwed down
I don't think google is shrinking at all. You should seriously consider allowing the google partner sites to advertise and see how you handle the market.
I would also recommend overture if you havn't already done so. Compliments google greatly.
I highly doubt google is loosing many searches becase of the webmaster complaints that i've read in here.
By all measures we have of traffic, traffic is down 50%
I use [keyword] though (exact match) or "keyword" or keyword -subkey
Is there any other reason why the campaign would be suddenly underperforming? I don't know that it has been pulled for review or that any reviewable changes have taken place.
Ours is a steady demand led purchase where poilitical and tax year end don't come into it. ( small ticket price0 I had wondered if the pulic was leary because of the e-mail virus situation.
Before leaping into to change stuff that has worked steadily over two years I figure it is best to try and spot anything effecting traffic that is outside my control, off the radar as it were.
CompWorld
Is there any other reason why the campaign would be suddenly underperforming? I don't know that it has been pulled for review or that any reviewable changes have taken place.
If everything in your account seems right (and it very well could be), and you've looked at all account based issues, then the next logical choice is that people aren't inputting your keywords as often.
Every year we see a few broad KWs lose some ground on total seraches, a few niche/smaller keywords become broad keywords, and a few new niche words pop up.
As the population grows more web saavy, and search trends change, several areas will see keywords change as well over time.
Since the Florida update Google has started down a path of sure destruction of it's own name brand IMO.
I would guess that most of Google's traffic gains over the years have come from techie types like myself that referred various users to Google or Google Groups (previously DejaNews).
Now, I am unfortunately in the position of having to refer users to MSN search if they want unfiltered unwacky results. I would think that the MSN people must be jumping up and down with joy since Google’s new “algo’ or what ever they want to call it. Without spending a dime MSN has gained market share. I find myself using MSN more and more…or the Scroogle Scraper.
Once a search engine starts down the path of ANY wholesale filtering with the appearance of profit motives (real or imagined) they have started a spiral that they will have a hard time pulling out of.
Any increased hits from Adwords that don’t pan out may be increased clicks by your competition trying to figure out what the heck is wrong with the Google search and who their local competition is.
This is just my guess, I could be wrong.
Just a thought, are you looking at yoru overall impressions or from just search vs content match? Our content match numbers often jump a lot from month to month as new sites get added or old ones drop off from AdSense.
Seriously, 35 good keywords that used to be on google are now not in the first 200 pages. But we are still in the index and can be found top 4-5 for just 5 key phrases. If that isn't malice I don't know what is.
I really thing the ex-pizza boys with their new MBA's have got in to google to tell em how business if really done. Just like the dot.con boom 10 years ago. Do they ever learn?
What this tells me is that Google's high rate of growth is gone and at best they will stay where they are right now.
Anyone disagree?
One possibility not suggested is that changes in Google's main algo & index could affect impressions as well as CTR. If the new algo is better, users would need to do fewer searches (fewer reformulations of query) to get what they want.
No idea if it's true, but it's a thought.
What this tells me is that Google's high rate of growth is gone and at best they will stay where they are right now.
I think you're right as far as Gs main page goes. I think that a sudden growth spurt would have to come from them getting a new search partner.
If the new algo is better, users would need to do fewer searches (fewer reformulations of query) to get what they want.
Interesting scenario, I will admit that my CTR rates jumped a little after Florida. However, the % increase was not as dramatic as people like to make out as the 'poor quality of serps' would indicate. (and I'm not here to debate that one way or the other - I stay out of those discussions).
If your theory was correct, then the CTR rates should fall down to pre florida numbers, but they aren't (at least mine haven't). So if people are reporting fewer impressions and the same CTR rates, then it seems the quality of serps has remained the same, just fewer total searches.
Of course, we're all trying to get the highest CTR possible, so CTR rates not falling could be people writing better creatives as well.
The other reason for declining total impressions compared to oct-dec is xmas. Of course you're going to see people spending more money at the beginning of the year as they are trying to pay off their credit cards from holiday shopping.
Usually January is a very strong month for us, and then February is usually the worst month of the year.
