Google Adwords Newbie

Search network really want just AOL

[bferriolo1]

I have been in and out of my google adwords campaign trying to figure out any shread of evidence that will allow me to make a profit from this advertising tool. As others might state as well,i'm in a very competitive field. the max cpc's can run as high as $18. I have conquered overture and have been tremendously profitable there. i just can't figure out this adwords thing, a year later. question #1 can you ask google to only be served on aol and aol only. also is there any services available for hire that will manage you adwords campaign? sorry in advance if anything i have done or said is wrong or against rules.

[beren]

No, it's a real shame too. AOL clicks are great in my experience - best conversion of any search engine source - but you can't get them without having to be in Google's whole search network.

I don't understand why Time Warner doesn't start its own PPC service. I would be willing to pay substantially more for AOL clicks than for Google clicks or clicks from most of the search network partners. (Ask Jeeves is a decent traffic source, too.)

[bferriolo1]

Thanks beren!
you and i both woould love to have ppc on aol and aol only. i just know thru my tracking software aol is golden and google stinks. zero conversions. im looking into askjeeves next. I just know google has traffic that i can't deny i just need to figure it out. being that im new to this what is the best way for me to go in looking for some solid adwords help?

[whoisgregg]

It may be too late, but new advertisers can put $300 into their Adwords account to have the Adwords team get you started. I've never done this and never heard from anyone who has tried so I can't vouch for the experience.

If you're looking for a recommendation for a specific "consultant" or firm, posting that here would surely be against the TOS. Other than that, experimenting and reading this forum is how many people have learned the trade and the best advice I could offer.

[bferriolo1]

sure. Not looking to break the rules. Have been reading thru numerous posts many of wich are very helpful. also i have tried the adwords team and unfortunately they were unable to do any better than i was doing myself. My cpa was approx 3 bucks per conversion higher with their services. whoisgregg
thanks for your input. Is there a thread that might help me weed out any of the seo, adwords management companies to stay away from?

[eWhisper]

Thread about PPC management companies:
[webmasterworld.com...]

[mothner]

"It may be too late, but new advertisers can put $300 into their Adwords account to have the Adwords team get you started. I've never done this and never heard from anyone who has tried so I can't vouch for the experience."

We manage PPC campaigns for our clients and work closely with Google. In my experience, in both dialogue with Google as well as comments from clients who have turned to us for help managing their campaigns, it is almost never advisable to have Google (or Overture) put together your campaign for you.

Keep in mind that Google has little incentive to spend the time to seek out high quality, lesser-searched keywords, create specific keyword groupings with customized ads or employ intelligent matching techniques.

I suggest spending time perusing these forums for advice and spending a lot of time building up a campaign on your own, or going through a reputable agency to build a more efficient campaign. I cannot count how many clients and associates have been burned by ineffecient AdWords experimentation.

This reminds me of another (somewhat-related) topic that is in my opinion a very common novice adwords mistake: a reliance on the AdWords budgeting tool to handle your campaign spending.

While it is nice to know that you are not going to blow threw an uncomfortable amount of spending way too quickly, lazy use of the budgeting tool (with max bids that are simply too high for the corresponding daily budget) will result in too few, expensive clicks. On the same KW, it is clearly better to go through $10 on 50 clicks in the 8th spot at $.20 than ten $1 clicks spread throughout the day!

Pardon the rambling from a new user on WebmasterWorld (finally decided to spend some time helping out others and sharing learnings over the years with others!).

mothner

[bferriolo]

i do thank you for any and all input.

[novice]

"I would be willing to pay substantially more for AOL clicks than for Google clicks or clicks from most of the search network partners."

I participated in a Google survey asking me that very question. It asked if I would like to pick which sites I would like my ads to appear and if I would like to bid different amounts for the different sites. It also asks if I would be interested in CPM advertising or animated/flash image ads. Many other neat features too.

So, who knows, this may be happening in the near future.