Big Adwords Conversion Tracking Image Survey

Bad idea?

[blaze]

Please answer two survey questions:

a) do you think the big conversion image is a bad idea?
b) do you not use it because it is so big?

[AdWordsAdvisor]

Interesting idea blaze.

And with your permission, I'll be happy to pass on the results - either this Friday or next.

AWA

[eWhisper]

I made my feelings quite clear in this post:
[webmasterworld.com...]

I won't use it, and don't use it as long as it's a visible image.

I would amend my privacy policy or TOS to use it if G made it invis, but still wanted people to know it existed.

[chrisk999]

It makes the site look a bit amateur having that gigantic button there. Bit like one of those old free web counters.

I don't use them for that reason. (shame a <div style="display:none"> isn't allowed...)

[Reflection]

I dont use it, because of the image.

[vibgyor79]

1) Approximately 15% of our clients seem to think so and refuse to use the Google conversion tracking code.

2) Not really. They don't use it because the image is there. Size doesn't matter.

[Tropical Island]

We use it however we would be happier if it was smaller.

[Bamikanarie]

I'm not going to use this tracking tool as long as there's a banner from Google on my site.
They claim to provide a free service, but in fact you pay for it in terms of free adspace.

[ebizpro]

I would prefer that there not be an image, but the downside is that it is harder to determine winning keywords without it.

My suggestion: If you want to optimize your Adwords profits, use it. If not showing the graphic on your site is more important to you than optimizing your Adwords profit, don't use it.

[beren]

I tried the conversion tracking for a while, just to try it out, and yes, I was a little surprised that the image was so cheesy-looking, especially given that Google is usually so classy.

I don't use the Google tracking system for other reasons, though: mostly because we have our own system and the data is proprietary - we don't want Google to know how much each visit is worth to us.

[cline]

I almost insist that my clients use it. I tell them about all the benefits and get them thoroughly sold on the idea. When they're sold -- and only then -- I tell them that they have to put this "little unobtrusive image at the bottom of their page" and show them an example. This gets them over the barrier, but all of them would prefer that there were no image. The've spent big bucks on site design and they don't want anybody telling them what their sites should look like. They also don't want to be forced to advertise for Google.

My vote: Dump the tracking image.

[JBrown]

Is there anyone else out there who doesn't see this image as a big deal?

My instinct tells me that 99% of people won't even notice or pay attention to the image.

Anyone have any stats on how often that image is clicked on at their site? It would be great to see that as a percentage of conversion page views.

[blaze]

How many users do you think we need to get AdWords to change their mind on this?

[Bamikanarie]

Even if they did, I'm not convinced that anyone should use it right away.
Beren has a good point there, would you want Google to know your conversion? I'm not saying they do, but they could use that information to force you to bid more.
If you have a higher conversion as your competitor on the same keyword and with the same bid, Google could somehow penaltize you because you're likely to increase your bid. I'm not saying they are nor am I a proponent of any conspiracy theory, just noticing that the opportunity is there.

Anyway, there are some nice (almost) free tracking tools around on the net with which you can measure the performance of your ads. Why not use these?

[blaze]

Is there a way to have a target url like

"http://www.widgets.com?keyword={keyword}"

If not then a seperate tracking solution is going to be rather tedious..