No ads on search network for some high traffic keywords?

[littlegiant]

Why are there no ads whatsoever showing on Google for some high traffic keywords? Plenty of ads for those exact same keywords show up on sites serving Google Adsense ads in the content network but none on Google SERPs.

I guess the obvious answer is no one finds it profitable to use the Google search network for those ads/keywords. But is that really it? I find this unusual. It seems to me you could easily get top spot in Google SERPs for some very high traffic keywords.

Sorry.. I admit that I'm a total newb to Adwords although I have read a number of ebooks and watched a few videos.

[justshelley]

There are advantages to using those really broad, high traffic terms. Most advertisers focus on how many conversions they get off of specific keywords. In reality, people usually search multiple times before they "act". If you are pushing a new product or company, bidding on those general and high traffic keywords can help push conversions for your long tail keywords.

I have a client that is getting ready to launch a campaign in a country that is not only not familiar with their brand but the product is a brand new concept for that country as well. Our brand keywords that convert so well in the US are obviously not going to work for this new International campaign. We will have to use high traffic, general keywords to get brand awareness and to get their product in front of the right audience.

Consider putting your high traffic keywords into their own campaign where you can set daily budgets and still bid competitively. That way you can decide if you want to have those keywords show 100% of the time or show more on a test basis where your ads show off and on all day. If you don't put them in their own campaign, you risk running out of budget for your long tail keywords and/or your brand keywords that will have higher conversion rates and lower conversion costs.

[littlegiant]

I think I should clarify.. I haven't even started a Google Adwords campaign yet. I'm just doing some preliminary research. And when at Google doing a search query for say 'myspace layouts' (of which a top position in Google is highly coveted amongst webmasters to drive traffic to their sites with Adsense ads) there are NO ADS displayed in the Google SERPs in the right column. Yet there are tons of ads available for this particular high traffic keyword. But these ads are only displayed only on websites (i.e., in the content network). Why are there no ads displayed in the search network, i.e., directly in Google SERPs? The same happens for other high traffic keywords like 'game cheats'. Does Google purposely prohibit certain keywords from triggering ads in the search network?

[netmeg]

Some searches I do have no ads, and when I refresh there they are - have you tried searching several times, or from different DCs, or from different locations?

I suppose it's possible that there are some keywords so generic that it's virtually impossible to advertise on them and keep a decent QS, but it seems unlikely.

[littlegiant]

Well I just tried searching for 'myspace layouts' and 'game cheats' from several different datacenters and also reloading the page several times for each and no ads whatsoever. Not exactly sure how to search from a different location. Do you mean like doing a Google search using a web proxy or something like that?

[littlegiant]

Can anybody else get ads to show for those keywords I mentioned? ('myspace layouts' and 'game cheats')

[La_Valette]

fascinating. i don't see ads on "myspace layouts" either. maybe there's no money in that business :)

I do see a couple of ads appearing on game cheats though

[edited by: La_Valette at 2:04 am (utc) on June 22, 2008]

[littlegiant]

"no money in that business" ...(*chuckle*)... One would think, eh? And yet -as I'm sure you're aware- an entire online empire has been built around that keyword producing some very wealthy individuals.

Re: Seeing ads for 'game cheats' - What's your (general) location, if I may ask?

[netmeg]

Yea, there's a local 16 year old girl who has made millions with her myspace layout site. I don't understand it either; I don't see ads for them. Is 'myspace' a trademark term that isn't allowed?

[Rehan]

When I check through the Ad Preview Tool [google.com], I do see ads for "game cheats" but not for "myspace layouts".

I'm pretty sure the main reason you don't see the ads for some high traffic keywords like "myspace layouts" is that the CTR on ads ends being so low (well under 1%) that the QS becomes Poor and the minimum bid skyrockets. Nobody's going to make a profit on myspace layouts by paying $0.50 or $1.00 per click, and consequently nobody bothers to advertise for the term.

[littlegiant]

Rehan,

There's tons of ads for the keyword 'myspace layouts'. It's just that those ads don't appear in the search network. They only appear in the content network. Is it possible that the CTR on ads for 'myspace layouts' is a lot lower on the search network than on the content network? I thought the search network typically outperformed the content network.

[Rehan]

From what I have seen... A 0.50% CTR on the search network will typically result in a poor QS and high minimum bid for the search network, while a much lower CTR on the content network (even 0.02%) will usually result in keywords with moderate bids remaining active on the content network.

[littlegiant]

Aha! That would explain a lot. Thanks!