Content Network : will low CTR have adverse effect

I'm a bit rusty

[geebee2]

I'm not a regular here - I run a few modest campaigns, untouched for a few months, but recently started a new one.

I have always disabled content network before, but though I might give it a go this time.

After enabling today, CTR went through floor : dropped from somewhere over 3% to about 1.5% ( I'm using lowish bids, average position maybe 3 or 4 on search network ).

The question is : will this have an adverse effect, or is the CTR for content network treated seperately some how?

I've turned content back off while I reconsider.

Would having a seperate campaign for content network help?

Apologies in advance if this is a FAQ.

[fischermx]

Look at the bottom of your Adwords panel :

Lower CTRs for content ads will not adversely affect your campaign. [ more info ]

[geebee2]

Thanks, a bit of blind panic on my behalf.

I guess I will make a seperate campaign though for content, probably easier to control that way, and I think that is how I used to do it.

Is that the usual approach?

[Steve6]

or is the CTR for content network treated seperately some how?

Yes, this is a FAQ. The answer is [adwords.google.com ].

The campaign view shows the total CTR for both search and content, but if you view the ad group stats, you will see the Search Total and Content Total separated into two rows.

[geebee2]

After running a keyword report, my content CTR for the main campaign is 0.3% - abysmal, but I guess it doesn't matter too much? Or does it?

Is this fairly typical?

To be honest, I think my motives for running content are partly just to spread some URLs around rather than an expectation of getting much sensible traffic.

[inasisi]

geebee,

One relevant metric that you could use for analyzing which site to ban, would be the number of clicks per day from these junk sites. So you have a list of all your junk sites and you sort it by clicks per day. You ban the top 25 sites from this list. If a new site moves into the top 25, ban it and "unban" the 25th site. This is assuming the clicks are around the same cost. If you are able to track the clicks down to their cost, then a better metric would be cost per day.

All this is unnecessary complications due to this really tiny limit of 25 sites. Instead of doing all these calculations, I would be better off honing my ads or targeting more keywords.

[inasisi]

Sorry, the above post must have been in this thread. [webmasterworld.com...]

I guess drinking and forum posting don't go along well :)

[geebee2]

>> I guess drinking and forum posting don't go along well :)

No problem :) I had been drinking as well...

As you raise the topic, do I have to look at my server logs to see where the content traffic is coming from, or is there Google adwords reporting available for this?