Massive discrepancy in CPC

[bazza9]

I don't claim to be an adwords expert but this seems very odd to me - wondering if anyone else has encountered similar problems.

I have two ads, in two separate ad groups. Both go direct to merchants.

One points to www.example.com (ad group one), the other to www.example.co.uk (ad group two)

The have almost identical CTRs.

If I pause ad group 1 and allow the ad for www.example.co.uk to be shown then I appear in the top ad position. Average CPC is 0.04.

If I pause ad group 2 and allow the ad for www.example.com to be shown then I similarly appear in the top ad position. Average CPC is 3.20.

Any ideas on why the discrepancy?

[mike_ppc]

There are some things you didn't write in your message.
Do you have the same keyword in both adGroups?
If CPC for one of them is 0.04 < 0.05, then you are running content, and this could be very tricky ...
You don't know where do these clicks come from...
You could have:
1 click - 3.2
99 clicks * 0.02 = 1.98
AVG CPC : 0.05

OR

100 clicks * 3.2 = 320
AVG CPC: 3.2

From content, anything can happen ... be very careful ....

I assumed you have the same bid, and except content it's impossible to have CPC <0.1 if you bid is > 3.5 (except if you are the only competitor).

So please be more specific.

[bazza9]

Hi mike,

Thanks for the reply and you raise some good points there. More specific details:

- yes, both ads show for the same keyword. I'm using exact match and there is only one keyword in each ad group.

- content match is switched off, so this is just showing on the search network.

- there are a total of 4 competitors bidding on this keyword (plus an unknown number who could potentially be bidding on it and not showing up if they are attempting to direct to the same merchant but have ads performing less well than mine).

[mike_ppc]

Hmmmm....what you're saying is even more curious.
As far as I understoud, the only difference is the target URL, but this shouldn't produce any difference.
Still:
1. Are you sure you have the same maxbid for both adgroups? About how much is it?
2. How do you manage to get cliks for cost < 0.05? (I assume you are talking about USD or Euro)
3. How many clicks were taken into consideration to compute that average CPC?
4. What avg position do you have for each adgroup?

The fact that there are only 4 competitors could explain a small part. Remember, you can't be sure you're in first position if one search shows you that. Check your avg pos indicator!

[bazza9]

Mike,

Average position was showing as 1.0 for each ads. The one with the higher CPC was only shown for about 100 clicks before I had to pause it. I couldn't sustain that sort of level.

It had previously been costing more than the other ad, but not to such an extent.

The bid is higher on the ad that started costing more (5.00, as opposed to 0.15) but surely that shouldn't make a difference - after all, I'm bidding against the same competitors with both ads

[mike_ppc]

Well, my only explanation is that the ad paying less is an older one, with a good history CTR.
The other one is probably newer and although showing good CTR, the CTR used by Google to compute your position is much less - so you have to pay more to be in the same position. Still, the difference is too big.

Congratulations! I haven't seen in my campaigns a sigle word showing pos 1.0! 1.2, 1.3 yes. Although I don't know if staying first is best tactic!
You haven't answered my question about CPC < 0.05.
Perhaps someone has another opinion.

[bazza9]

Mike,

Sorry...had neglected to answer your question about CPC of less than 0.05. I pay in GBP (British pounds) - it's not unusual to pay 0.04 per click on less competitive terms.

Thanks,

Keith