In response to this statement:
"...I trimmed the campaign to the top performing keywords and these have high CTR: from 3.5% to 30%. So if I understand correctly, the recommended budget is probably not accurate for this campaign?"
You noted:
". . .I'd say there is a very good chance the system that calculates your recommended budget is being 'fooled'. This is because it is using a very moderate CTR in the neighborhood of 2% to calculate how often your ad will be clicked on. And in reality, it is being clicked on at a rate up to 15 times higher."
The reason I ask is that I consistently have double digit CTR for a KW which ranks 1 or 2 and yet according to Overture etc., my impressions are less than one-third of the number of searches for that KW.
The KW is in a separate Ad Campaign with only one ad inside that. The daily spend limit is set to $600 which is several multiples above the suggested.
How do I increase the impressions?
Thanks!
The reason I ask is that I consistently have double digit CTR for a KW which ranks 1 or 2 and yet according to Overture etc., my impressions are less than one-third of the number of searches for that KW.The KW is in a separate Ad Campaign with only one ad inside that. The daily spend limit is set to $600 which is several multiples above the suggested.
How do I increase the impressions?
Marls, it is really hard to answer this question without specific information, which of course we may not delve into here.
In a general sense, though, my thoughts are leaning towards the following:
* The estimates are not accurate.
* Your daily budget, even though it seems very high, may not be enough for the system to show your ad all the time, based on your double digit CTR - as discussed elsewhere
* Your ads have not yet been reviewed/approved and are showing only on Google.
Of these options, my money is on the third one, with the second one also being a very real possibility. But, hey. It might be the first one too! ;)
Seriously, though, I'd bet your ads are only showing on Google. There can be a substantial difference in traffic between showing only on Google, and showing on Google plus hundreds of other sites as well.
AWA
But no, my ad has long since been approved -- no changes on anything for months -- and it's showing on both Google and the Search Partners.
So my guess is your second suggestion "* Your daily budget, even though it seems very high, may not be enough for the system to show your ad all the time, based on your double digit CTR - as discussed elsewhere"
I doubt the Overture, etc. impression estimates "aren't accurate" since once in a while I've seen the number of impressions double overnight and couldn't figure-out why. FYI -- I'm not in content. And BTW, CTR costs have never come close to reaching the spend.
Is there a limit, other than one's pocketbook, as to how high the total spend can be set?
Thanks!
Is there a limit, other than one's pocketbook, as to how high the total spend can be set?
There isn't really a hard limit that I am aware of. In my opinion, though, the limit should be what you are truly comfortable paying in a day.
I'd never advise setting your daily budget higher than you are really comforable with.
I've seen a few advertiser's set incredibly high daily budgets so that they'd flat out know that their ad would show 100% of the time, no matter what. Then they got (what were to them) shockingly high daily click charges when there was a (usually media-inspired) spike in traffic over a short period of time.
AWA
