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Google and Facebook ad traffic is 90% useless

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Re: Google and Facebook ad traffic is 90% useless

#261

Post by ryandrake »

Fiahil wrote: post #74
dajohnson89 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We, as users, have been oversaturated and desensitized. There is so much crap shoved in our faces, that we've learned over the years to ignore all ads. Speaking for myself, I have an almost visceral negative reaction with ads. I would (and do) pay dumb amounts of money for a service if that means I'm not served ads.

Oversaturated and desensitized, yes, but too few non-technical people are bothered enough to install an ad blocker. This is an issue because the biggest security threats, today, come from ad-network-delivered-junk. It has become so much of an issue that my advice on which antivirus to install has shifted from xxx to uBlock Origin. It's just basic computer hygiene, and I would really like if content creator would move…

There are those natural steps you always take when you set a new machine up (either for yourself or for someone else): Install the OS, install any updates, remove vendor-provided crap-ware, install antivirus, etc. "Install ad blocker" has turned into one of those steps for me. I now do it without even thinking about it. If you have tried to browse the web without one recently, you know why you need to: the current ad-encumbered web browsing experience is totally ridiculous.

Re: Google and Facebook ad traffic is 90% useless

#262

Post by GFischer »

nrjdhsbsid wrote: post #229
abalashov wrote: post #23

I really thought I was crazy when I thought that a 99% bounce rate is unreal, even for my highly specialised product sites which cater to a very niche audience. But I ultimately came to a similar conclusion; no matter what ads I come up with, it's money down the drain, and I've never had a single conversion that came through the door that way. I've spent untold thousands on paid ads. I learned a great deal about whic…

Just checked your site. It's well put together but the language is far too technical for AdWords. Engineers don't usually make the kind of business decisions to buy these things at larger companies, it's VP level people. Find your kinds of customers and tailor a landing page with stuff that they want, instead of having the site explain everything like a users manual. Ex: Calls centers do not care at all about the oth…

I second that opinion. The site has a good technical explanation, but it doesn't have a "value proposition" - why should I, as a manager, buy your product? (I guess it makes calls cheaper? Is it needed for what?)

Re: Google and Facebook ad traffic is 90% useless

#263

Post by jgautsch »

blockchan wrote: post #231

I did Adwords for 1 person mom shops and bigger companies in industries ranging from tourism and general aviation to jewelry and software development. It was all profitable. Ad agencies are borderline scammers - they measure traffic and clicks as performance, which makes you to spend more money to increase "performance" and pay more agency fees. Sometimes I burned $15000 before first conversion, but ROI was always po…

Do you have a recommendation on the best way to learn to be effective at this craft? Did you learn on the job or from some other resources?

Re: Google and Facebook ad traffic is 90% useless

#264

Post by blackice »

There are many traffic exchange sites that use automated software to click or view ads. Most of them run on server ips or they're using a proxy. http://getIPIntel.net is a free and useful service to combat bad / low quality traffic. Though to save you money, your advertiser needs to not bill you for automated traffic. It's unlikely that'll happen because the more views and clicks, the more money they'll get. You can still use GetIPIntel's api to help you pick which advertising company gives you legitimate traffic.

Re: Google and Facebook ad traffic is 90% useless

#265

Post by blackice »

brianwawok wrote: post #119
somid3 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the US market, I'd love to see a breakdown of visitors via Google and Facebook and see what % of them use an IP that is associated with a VPN. If the % is high, then there is a case to be made that most of the clicks are from abroad VPNing into the US.

How do I find this list of VPN IPS? I know Netflix knows it but not sure they are sharing...

Try getIPIntel.net

Re: Google and Facebook ad traffic is 90% useless

#266

Post by forgetsusername »

somid3 wrote: post #172
soared wrote: post #36

OP is simply doing it wrong. Advertising works, and the title's claim only shows how inexperienced op is. I work at a digital ad agency. Ads work if you do it correctly, but it's incredibly easy to waste money. People like op are why google and Facebook make buying ads overly complicated - if it were easy you wouldn't have to spend so much money. If op is reading this, I'd be happy to hop on a phone call and help you…

@Soared, aside from the self-marketing of your firm how about you put your money where your mouth is. Let's use the same landing page - I'll make a campaign, you make a campaign, we each spend $500 and we track conversions in a specific period of time. The one who converts more for less will owe the other $1000 - we can make the accounts public so that (1) the world can see your "expertise" and (2) how "confused" I a…

I would love to see this.

Every article about rampant ad fraud inevitably contains a comment thread where ad consultants appear to make claims that other people "just can't do it right". Let's see it done right, then.

Re: Google and Facebook ad traffic is 90% useless

#268

Post by mpeg »

brianwawok wrote: post #119
somid3 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the US market, I'd love to see a breakdown of visitors via Google and Facebook and see what % of them use an IP that is associated with a VPN. If the % is high, then there is a case to be made that most of the clicks are from abroad VPNing into the US.

How do I find this list of VPN IPS? I know Netflix knows it but not sure they are sharing...

Every IP address has to be registed to an ISP, VPN servers are pretty trivial to detect as you'll see that the registration info from ARIN, RIPE, APNIC, etc. comes up as "HideMyAss" or "Amazon".

There are companies out there that provide paid anonymous, reliable (not hacked) proxy servers that run on consumer internet connections though, and those would be very hard to detect as vpn / proxy connections.

Another way is through capabilities where you have a computer that identifies itself as a macOS device but has the TCP/IP stack of a windows device – that's a proxy ! I would recommend the source code of p0f or the book silence on the wire to learn more about the topic.

Re: Google and Facebook ad traffic is 90% useless

#269

Post by ransom1538 »

somid3 wrote: post #104
oblib wrote: post #97

I haven't use google ads in years but I did study my logs and watched them in real time and came to the conclusion they were either hitting me with bots or foreigners getting paid to click their ads. It was blatant theft in my opinion.

Agreed.

A fun evening for me is getting a 6six pack and creating a website like "Bob's BBQ", then running google ads for it. The access_log is hilarious. People from Pakistan, people not requesting css (wtf?), on and on.

Re: Google and Facebook ad traffic is 90% useless

#270

Post by manfredz »

cconcepts wrote: post #196
rokhayakebe wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1) Update your Disavow file properly, which I am sure you've done 2) Email Google directly. It is sometimes difficult to find a way to email, but once you do they'll take care of it.

Any suggestions on where to search for such an email address?

Talk to one of their sales reps.
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