Fluctuating minimum's

[toddb]

I just had one go up one day and back down the next. Makes it hard to plan if they are going to change daily like this.

Anyone else seeing a constant stream of change to the minimum bids?

[bigdealioo]

Yes :(

[sailorjwd]

it is like a box of chocolates here.

[toddb]

I think they are constantly looking at landing pages. It is a constant update thing versus a once a month or something.

Not a huge issue as it makes sense as far as computer time goes. It is very hard to see prices higher today and back down tomorrow, as do I react to the higher price or do i just wait and see if it was a fake out?

[luckychucky]

How does Google derive minimum AdWords bids...is there any method in their madness?

Some of my AdWords keywords have been inactivated because Google suddenly requires they meet a minimum bid, and they are now below it. What I don't get, is that these minimum bids seems fairly arbitrary. There's little perceivable consistent method to it.

For example, one keyword suddenly required a $5.00 minimum bid. Just for kicks, I set my bid at $5.00. But when the actual click came through, it was at $0.21. So the next lowest bid was...$0.20, right?
What gives?

[sailorjwd]

Equally as interesting is when I see active keywords in my campaign and then use the new icon tool.

Even though the status says active the tool says inactive because it doesn't meet the min bid requirements.

Adwords bidding is so messed up now I've decided to leave it alone and concentrate on yahoo & msn ads. At least there they tell you straight up if they don't like your keyword or destination page - no guess work.