If I was to write such an overwhelming algo, I will put these factors as highly relevant.
SEO? that's the past,
but dynamic factors - that's the future. At least that's how I view it and also, that's what I believe in - if users love my site - then they will thank Google by using it once again.
I may have to lower my daily spend to keep things running during the time frame and not go broke. I'm going to make a pest of myself (something I'm really good at) until I get approved or I get a better answer.
Hey AWA, I know you're reading these threads, how about a "warmer" or "colder" hint for people who keep getting rejected?
Is there a chance that they are using this data to move CPC prices?
I apologize if this has already been mentioned. I've gone through the entire thread (Parts 1 and 2), but I may have missed something.
We stopped using keyword searches 2 years ago. 99% is all Content now.
We have had a pretty decent week. Today has ben EXCELLENT! I'm sure it is going to take a bit for this all to settle down....
In my opinion the worst thing you can do is start changing bids and doing drastic changes..... give it some time and let the dust settle.
heyday
I feel like I've been headbutted in the gut by a soccer player. Google, I promise I didn't say anything about your mother.
... or anything about being a "dirty terrorist", LOL.
A good day we will see a 1.8 to 2% conversion rate. We need at least .75% to stay in the game.
Back in the day... when we were still on search we would get 4 to 5% conversion.... bidding .25 and then .35. and then .50.... and then .75..... it was when a few years back that our bids jumped to $3 over night that we said goodbye to search......just got too competitive for our product....
heyday
You obviously don't use search, so i'm not sure if you know the answer, but do you recommend creating a separate ad group just for content network, so you can create specific ads just for the content net?
The jacking is pretty much across the board. But super high CTR KWs and hence a good CPC only went to .50 where as worse CTR KWs, sent to the same place, went to 1.00 or 5.00
So at least they cut us a break there. Yeah right. (sarcasm)I can deliver 50% CTRs and be back in biz if I can just fig out how to profit at .50 - sheesh what a nightmare.
Something tells me I should just pause everything and save a few bucks and see if things change but I feel I lose positions permanenlty if I do. Yesterday my costs doubled as I foolishly waited to see if any of my CPCs would go down. Hated to pause long running ads but had to. Of course a competiter pops in to the same spot for the same KW soon as you do. But I suspect they are seeing or will see .50 too.
Also when they say .50 or 1.00 that is definitley the minimum. I have seen no fall back. Has anyone seen this fall back yet?
I have experience in adult and run a lot of very successful campaigns that are still ok. just trying to figure out what happened to those that got hurt in my own industry
But thanks for the offer. It's appreciated anyhow.
but do you recommend creating a separate ad group just for content network, so you can create specific ads just for the content netYou definitely want to create a different ad group at least alter your bids for the content network. You may or may not be in a position to use cpm. Depends on your product and whteher or not branding is important. On my sites the advertisers using cpm are getting fewer clicks/spend, but that may be due to ad copy among other things. Actual mileage will vary.
As a small-scale online shop, I've found that since these changes my adverts are getting more exposure higher up on the results and a /couple/ of my words started requiring a much higher bid. On inspecting this further it's fairly clear that while the words were relevant to my industry in general they weren't clearly binding to my landing page.
I'm also an AdSense user and I've noticed that I've been able to clear out my competitive list finally leaving only perhaps 2 entries in there.
All in all, I think Google has made the right move. As an AdWords person I'm getting better exposure/rewards for my money now, as an AdSense person I'm getting less cruft/crap.
Well done!
Now, I'm looking at 300% price increases MINIMUM and in some cases 1000%+ for AdWords.
So, the question is this: are the sites that are getting the massive price hikes ALSO ones that have been penalised in the SERPs in some way? Are Google using the same scoring mechanism for for the SERPs and AdWords?
As an aside, I notice that the ads are displaying on the content network just fine (although that doesn't bring in nearly so much traffic).
Please check your site more carefully because there has been no effect on the 'content' network which includes publishers and MFA's are flooding this area.
1) 5-10 cent keywords
2) Keywords 50 cents and above
3) Lots of keywords in one group
4) Short keyword lists in each group
5) Short landing pages
6) Long landing pages
7) Landing pages with no other links to other parts of your site
8) Landing pages with other links to other parts of your site
9) To a 'bot, Landing page text would appear to match ad text and keywords
10) To a 'bot, Landing page text would NOT appear to match ad text and keywords
Let's talk.
HY
The most affected site was pretty useless!
I just looked at a dozen merchant accounts and only one had a single AdGroup that was affected, all the other accounts/groups were completely unaffected.
I looked at some affiliate accounts, and the only keywords that were affected were ones with valuable brands in them (and even then, not all of the keywords were affected and the min CPCs of those that went up a lot were $0.5-$1 at most - and to be fair, some of those groups were already having min cpc issues).
Running reports for service industries next to compare their changes. I'm just not seeing a lot of change - so wondering what the pattern is for those who are seeing it.
Content network has always converted better for us. We are thankful that while our search took a big hit, our content network remained about the same.
IF you create a content network only ad, you can often qualify your visitors more since you don't really have to worry about CTR (I don't think the CTR is as important on the content network, though it may be a factor).
Desperate times require desperate measures.
;-)
I am now also exploring 'site targetting' (CPM ads).
Let us know how you do (in another thread). I've always found them too highly priced.
Thanks
My account rep is very helpful, and I have told her I would come up with some new landing pages and totally new content.
I hope Google comes with a solution soon, because I have recently hired full time which I can not sustain if this will not be fixed
I suspect that most people are not surprised that Free Ipods sites get complaints from users. The problem I have is that Google is jacking bids on people based on the vague notion of "user complaints" without providing any direct advice on what exactly the users complained about.
And, again, you may dismiss this right now by saying "well, those incentive sites do have bad user experience." But what happens when your AdWords campaign minimum bids suddenly jump 10X and you call your rep and he says "bad user experience" with absolutely no explanation. In essence, you are totally at the mercy of Google.
In sum, my problem is not necessarily with factoring landing page usability into the advertising equation. My problem is with a process that removes your listings with no explanation and no recourse.
One other point. I think it is time to coin a new phrase "SEMO" - search engine marketing optimization. Mark my word, as people figure out that factors influencing quality score, this will create an entire new industry of people who manipulate their landing page design not just for organic results, but for paid results as well. Just like SEO, this is becoming a cat and mouse game. Google adjusts the quality score algorithm, people game it, Google readjusts, and so on.
Personally, I think a system that just combines CTR and CPC is still the best way to go - ultimately, if it is true that a landing page is considered poor quality by users, these landing pages will not make revenue, and will be forced to bid less for each click. It's basic economics! There's no need for Google to play Big Brother here and decide who can and can't participate.
And, again, you may dismiss this right now by saying "well, those incentive sites do have bad user experience." But what happens when your AdWords campaign minimum bids suddenly jump 10X and you call your rep and he says "bad user experience" with absolutely no explanation. In essence, you are totally at the mercy of Google
Well, is there a surprise there?
So, I'm trying to figure this out. You chose the business model. You chose to rely on google. You put yourself at the mercy of google.
Who is ultimately responsible for your business, d'ya think?
(I know it sucks big time, but this stuff is starting to sound like a person who eats ten big Macs a day complaining that Mcdonalds is ruining their lives).
...gotta run...I'm going to spill some hot coffee on meself, and sue the bejesus out of...
But McDonalds charges me $10 a cup now because my clothes don't look right.
FYI, not sure if this has been mentioned or not. This quality score update is not just about MFA or arbitrage sites. Google is also directly attacking "Free Ipods" sites. These sites, by the way, spend millions each month with Google. The rationale for this is that Google claims that they have received complaints from users about bad user experience.
I think you may be right on this. There were several of those "computer" and "offer" sites appearing in some of the terms I was competing on -- and they're pretty much gone across the board. Can't find a single one any more.
Of course, all you had to do was plug one of those domain names into siteadvisor and see how bad some of them were. I've been systematically removing them one by one from my AdSense account as well with the competitive filter - and some of the results I've seen from them are shocking. One, I seem to recall, ended up spamming the siteadvisor test account 493 times in a single week once their "offer" was filled in.
This must explain why I heard a "Free iPod" ad come up on my XM radio (satellite radio, for those of you not in the US) in my car on the way home yesterday. Looks like they're having to branch out into other venues.
So, I'm trying to figure this out. You chose the business model. You chose to rely on google. You put yourself at the mercy of google.
You choose to get gas and electric in your house. You rely on your local electric company. You put yourself at the mercy of that company.
So if that electric company decides that they are going to charge you $1000 a month to heat up some leftovers, that's life then?
Of course not. Even though this is a free market economy, when one company gains so much market power such that there is effectively no other choice but to use that company's services, there are limits placed on their actions.
I would suggest that Google is getting close to this status. As such, when Google decides to remove certain sites from its paid results, but to not remove others, and the decision is not explained at all, this is getting dangerous.
Again, you may not like incentive sites, and it is reasonable to say that most of them have bad user experience. But why is it that eBay is still showing up for "belly button lint" and "buy nuclear bombs." Is it that they have better user experience, or is it that Google has chosen to ban some sites with bad user experience but not others (others that spend tens of millions a month on Google)? And if it is the latter, isn't that an abuse of the power Google currently wields?
Perhaps this doesn't worry you now. Perhaps it will worry you more when they decide that your business model doesn't fit in with their plans. I could make an argument against almost all online business models' user experiences. Comparison engines - nothing more than MFA sites; Lead generation - brand names are more relevant; eBay and belly button lint; Travel sites that broad match on "airfare prices to sdfsehkjfhsdf"; etc, etc. Once you give Google the ability to determine in its sole discretion what is and isn't an acceptable ad, I think you go down a very dangerous path.
Kind of reminds me of what a German priest said during World War II: "First they came for the Communists. But I wasn't a Communist, so I didn't care. Then then came for the Jews, but I wasn't a Jew, so I didn't care. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to care."
Again, you may not like incentive sites, and it is reasonable to say that most of them have bad user experience. But why is it that eBay is still showing up for "belly button lint" and "buy nuclear bombs."
Probably because things aren't working as expected. That's the most likely explanation. Why look for complicated explanations when common sense and history suggest a glitch?
