I'm selling a product/service to US-only residents.
I've decided on suitable 'keyword phrases' and put those keywords through Google worldwide search to see who my competitors might be. There seems to be very few.
But the thought has ocurred to me that if my competitors are US-based, they would have decided to limit distribution of their ads. to the US only, so I can't find out the amount of competition - they don't appear on my search results.
Is there any way I can get round this?
The second point I would like to make concerns the Traffic Estimator. I've had a look at some theoretical figures I've put in, assuming distribution in the US only, and one particular figure is puzzling, the figure being 'Average Position'
One 'keyword phrase' shows, at a particular CPC, a position of 39. Does this mean there are 39 other advertisers using this 'keyword phrase'? Or is it just a theoretical or notional figure that bears no relation to the total number of advertisers?
Hope someone can help with these two points.
Welcome to Webmasterworld.
To see your US competitors ads in the results of your search add &gl=us to the end of your search results URL.
The keyword estimator is just that, an estimator, and sometimes a poor one, trial and error is the only way to see where your ad will show up.
One 'keyword phrase' shows, at a particular CPC, a position of 39. Does this mean there are 39 other advertisers using this 'keyword phrase'? Or is it just a theoretical or notional figure that bears no relation to the total number of advertisers?
As AmericanBulldog points out, this is an estimate of your postion on the page, and your actual stats are much more useful.
Just to clarify a bit though, an estimated position of 39 means that you'd appear, on average, in the 39th position. It's not really a reflection of the total number of advertisers, but rather the number of advertisers appearing above you. There may also be others below.
By the way, think of position 39 this way: 8 ads appear per page, so the 39th ad would be the 7th ad down on the 5th page. If I did my math right! ;)
AWA
Your average position - premium advertiser numbers (1 or 2) divided by 8.
Position 37 is:
2 premiums: position 3 on page 5.
1 premium: position 4 on page 5.
0 premiums: position 5 on page 5.
I think that's right.
<<To see your US competitors ads in the results of your search add &gl=us to the end of your search results URL.>>
This will get me to the first page. How do I get to the second page or third? Since I got to the first page and then clicked for the second, it sent me to the second page with local ads.
The only other solution to this problem is to use a proxy server in the US. You can find free proxies listed on various sites. Using one of these will fool the google servers into thinking you are in USA.
UpDown
To see your US competitors ads in the results of your search add &gl=us to the end of your search results URL.
Is there a list of all the country-specific codes for country-specific Googles? Sure would help.
I2
Is there a list of all the country-specific codes for country-specific Googles? Sure would help.
Hey intwo, didn't see your question until it made it to the top of the page again.
You can also click the 'Language Tools' link to the right of the search box on the Google home page. (At least that is where it is in the google.com interface.)
That link will take you to this page:
[google.com...]
Once there, scroll down to the 'Visit Google's Site in Your Local Domain' section. You should be able to get the country codes there.
Plus, it's fun to test your knowledge of international flags!
AWA
Well hello Mr Cutts - didn't see you standing there
Great tool for searching my own keywords in various parts of the world to see what else is showing.
Now, if only it didn't register impressions and distort my CTR....
I2
