It is almost impossible for him to be getting a positive ROI with the methods they are using and teh keywords they are choosing. So they MUST be loosing money - gobs of it.
Yet the program continues to run... So naturally I am happy as a clam! But I wonder what or why or how. Does he know something I don't? Is he drunk? Is he using stolen cc's?
My latest theory is that he is using adwords to launder money and/or transfer money overseas. He spends $10k on adwords and gets $7k of it back in a convienient cheque form for what looks like a legit business... So as far as washing money and getting it overseas this may be a good way to do it.
This sound possible? Should I worry about Bush sending his cronies to my office for a poke around? Or maybe I am on to something and should sell my idea to the mob...
He spends $10k on adwords and gets $7k of it back in a convienient cheque form for what looks like a legit business...
that's a very bad ROI for money launderers and general underworld activity.
Shak
Did he or Google tell you, otc_cmnn, that he spends $10k? If not, you can't tell. He might spends $5K and gets back $7K. Why not?
No one except Google and advertiser know the actual cost.
It could be they have such an exceptional CTR that they are getting traffic at the minimum bid yet have a high placement.
It could also be that Adwords worked out the currency exchange on a day that was favorable to the country concerned. In my native country the minimum bid is more than half again what it is in the US, yet when asked about it, Google seem to think its still the current exchange rate! I think they like to rip off foreigners. I could be wrong. Perhaps they can't add up.
The affiliate could also be using high volume high CTR keywords to flush out an account that had a previously disastrous campaign running too long. One that leaves all new keywords on hold instantly. Its customary to lose money while you do it, although I'm not sure its customary to lose quite that amount!
I also don't know if you need volume to restore an account or just patience.
Course it could be stolen credit cards.
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but i could be wrong. he needs to be getting the clicks at about 20 cents to break even. most people are bidding .75-1.50 a click. but maybe he is getting a phenominal click through rate at the minimum bid...
I have no idea what he actually spent but we have sent him 7k over the past few months.
I think you need to take a good close look at your logs. You absolutely sure the traffic came from Adwords/Adsense?
I don't know enough about the mechanics of it to know if it is possible to fake where the traffic came from directly, but if it is possible, there are plenty of reasons to want to do it. Parasites for instance.
Also there are some odd goings on at a major affiliate network and they'd be able to fake any referrer they like, I imagine. Things like test purchases getting credited to the wrong affiliate. A wrong affiliate, I might add, who had a very good story ready about how the sale came from PPC traffic, and who could not have pulled it off without network help.
But I'm not sure how much my own experience has warped my judgement! If I were you, I'd ask someone expert in traffic logs to take a closer look at yours.
Are there any other odd goings on? Lots of cookie sales, no cookies sales, that kind of thing. One more data point could be really useful.
>His ads are the standard "product on sale - buy it here" ads they all point to the index page instead of individual products.
You know, reading that again, its a 'how to' in how to lose money on Adwords and not even look like you're trying. I bet if he ever got a genuine sale through it he'd die of shock.
Maybe you should make a purchase through his ad. You might find out something, you might find out nothing.
I think above all the question isn't how he can afford to lose so much money, but how he managed to earn 7k at all with an ad like that.
I don't think he did, and therefore I think the real source of his traffic needs ascertaining.
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