a)Few ads seen on Google seem more exclusive than those seen at Y! and MSN
b)A way to dump lower "lower tiered, less quality" advertisers to Y! and MSN to drown them a bit before they even get their own ball rolling - call it a pre-emptive strike.
c)A way to measure and prove its market strength and influence as it is a fact that even though advertisers may go to Y!, MSN and lower tiered networks like Adbrite, these guys just don't have the same pull and market share Google has. They lack the main ingredient that initially attracted advertisers - people surfing the search network.
Some conclusions
a)We've know for years that results from Y! and others like Adbrite were never those of Goo. They don't convert the same.
b)Therefore it is normal that Goo becomes the higher priced advertising network in the PPC market as returns are higher.
c)As the contents on the Adsense network is not owned by Goo, perhaps there is not incentive for the latter to clean up that network, allowing all MFAs to continue to roam that realm unharmed - but for how long?
d)Although many here are talking about the effect of the latest update, like usual, folks at Webmasterworld and other similar sites are an anomaly in the total market force and not representative of all Adword users.
e)Hence, perhpas we are hearing more cries from genuine marketers and vendors because the concentration of people monitoring their Adwords account and being very active about them is probably higher than using a general Adwords advertisers' sample. Thus we must not base our opinions on whether Adwords is broken on the complaints we see here. We would have to survey a large sample of advertisers to find out the real deal.
[edited by: Harry at 3:55 pm (utc) on July 12, 2006]
All those who can longer use the search network must weigh their options. Google knows that Yahoo and MSN really aren't competitive and don't generate the traffic their search network does. What does that leave? Google's content network where you can have lower bids and no effect from the quality score.
We've know for years that results from Y! and others like Adbrite were never those of Goo. They don't convert the same.
Don't know about adbrite, but google is at the BOTTOM of search engines in terms of conversions for us in several areas.
AOL
MSN
YAHOO
ASK
ALL > Google for conversions.
Every single time google makes a change because they spot what the perceive as a problem they go so far overboard it's comical. This is the same old story and what one would expect from a company more arrogant than any other.
One thing I know is adwords is rapidly becoming the worst of the ppc systems to deal with and YPN absolutely DESTROYS adsense (400% better for us).
As I predicted. All the MFAs are now advertising on the Adsense Contents' service.
1) AdSense publishers (well, some AdSense publishers) have been awash in MFA ads for quite a while. So if MFA advertisers are migrating from the search network to the content network, they're merely the second wave, not the pioneers.
2) If Google has reason to believe that surfers will stop clicking on AdSense ads because of they've been stung too many times by a poor user experience, then Google will take steps to preserve its "Ads by Goooogle" reputation and earnings. That's just common sense.
[edited by: TypicalSurfer at 3:15 am (utc) on July 18, 2006]
Killing off the talent didn't work for Stalin, it won't work for Brin and Sergey.
Who are quite ridiculous. The unseemly squabbling over who gets the biggest bed in their new plane is just like the two old girls from Gormenghast! The sheer vanity is excruciating to behold.
I think, in a surprisingly short space of time, the public will regard Google as yesterdays news, full of homogenous overpriced tat and bizarre results. I can see why for ego's sake the two Crown Princes might want nothing but blue chips advertising on their precious website, but I can't for the life of me think why the user should be likewise so enamoured.
[edited by: Alex_Miles at 4:14 am (utc) on July 18, 2006]
Its just like any other aspect of 1st world commercial culture: The big guys squish the little guys and feed everyone homogeneous crap.
If that "talent" gets to die, then let it die now. I don't consider this "talent" important, as it feeds off others and ad nothing to the pot. Eventually, the sucker down the line who is at the base of this system - you know, the sucker we call the surfer and clicks on ads - will just stop clicking. But you are "talent" and all it means to you is that you move to the next hyped get rich quick scheme, while I try to find a way to monetize a real Web site.
"Talents" - puh
Talent at copywriting is like any other talent. You use it as you see fit.
Some people assume talent is always used for evil purposes, and it is only human to believe that anyone better than you must be Up to Something.
Copywriting is only the best words, in the best order. Same definition as 'poetry'.
Nothing especially sinister about that.
Talent at copywriting is like any other talent.
Yes, that's true, and I wish I had that talent. But what you guys are missing is that if ALL someone can do is write good copy, they aren't adding much value to the supply chain, and they aren't creating value for visitors.
I think that's part of the point of all of this. It isn't about squishing affiliates per se but it's about NOT having people clicking on "great copy" in the ads, only to go to inferior non-value added pages, where all they are going to get is even more "great copy".
Google isn't a "great copy" engine only. Google doesn't want it to be just that, because if that's all it is, it will affect their revenue.
I don't expect "one trick ponies" to understand this, because, one trick ponies only understand the one trick they can do.
Great copywriters are only very efficient writers. This efficiency will naturally show itself in the quality of the landing page, assuming the same person wrote it.
When you consider good copy needs the skill of an artist, a psychologist, a lawyer and a nobel level researcher in 100 characters or less - you'll see its a multidisciplinary level of creativity that cannot fail to make itself evident in the quality of the words on the landing page itself.
These words should be informative, immediate, and engaging. They should work on both the logical and emotional faculties in the viewer.
I've heard it said that everyone denigrates commercial speech. The left because it is 'commercial', the right because it is 'speech'. Yet I note the best anyone came up with to rival the free market was 'communism'.
You need decent copywriters. The words they write are usually the only truthful ones on the screen.
