How Google Inflates AdWords Bids • Hacker News Board

Re: How Google Inflates AdWords Bids

#51

Post by JeffL » Mon, Nov 14, 2011, 7:29 PM UTC

joelrunyon wrote: post #34

zandorg wrote: post #11

I got a $45 voucher (in the UK; £30) and I spoke to a rep on the phone. He said do this, do that, yet about 2 months later and my spent is £10 for that period! I'm actually disillusioned because I'm not getting enough clicks! My theory is that Bing is taking more and more clicks away, so I'll have to find another way of promoting my business/projects.

Another simple fix: Use Bing.

Is Bing worth using at all? I set up a campaign on Microsoft a few years ago before it was Bing, but never really got any clicks out of (a few clicks a month) using basically all the same key words and ads I was using on Adwords and getting thousands of clicks a day there.

Re: How Google Inflates AdWords Bids

#52

Post by joelrunyon » Mon, Nov 14, 2011, 7:49 PM UTC

anon808 wrote: post #47

joelrunyon wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You didn't read the article did you? Google has a set of rules. People who learn how to play the game within their set of rules are rewarded by "winning." Being bad at a game does not make it a scam. And just because you don't win, doesn't mean someone is scamming you.

I did read it; I'll add color to my reply and hope it makes more sense to you. Adwords auction favors the most aggressive marketers some who's successful strategies are considered scams by me and other folks (but maybe not by google for now). What aggressive marketers are doing that allows them to bid the highest price may not be against google's terms of service (or illegal), but those strategies maybe considered un…

What about the plenty of advertisers who are running aggressive campaigns (minus the scams) and are still seeing positive ROIs.

Re: How Google Inflates AdWords Bids

#53

Post by joelrunyon » Mon, Nov 14, 2011, 7:56 PM UTC

JeffL wrote: post #51

joelrunyon wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another simple fix: Use Bing.

Is Bing worth using at all? I set up a campaign on Microsoft a few years ago before it was Bing, but never really got any clicks out of (a few clicks a month) using basically all the same key words and ads I was using on Adwords and getting thousands of clicks a day there.

Depends on your vertical. Bing has about 15% share of search and with Yahoo that percentage is around 30%. It's definitely worth exploring, but it is worth noting that keyword match types are implemented differently so you can't just copy/paste your campaigns over from Adwords like you used to.

Re: How Google Inflates AdWords Bids

#54

Post by AJ007 » Fri, Nov 25, 2011, 7:03 PM UTC

anon808 wrote: post #37

AJ007 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As long as it is an auction process, there is intense pressure on all involved to extract as much value as possible from every customer.

Agreed, that's the incentive. Now, whats you're opinion of that incentive? Do you think its something you'd personally like to see more or less of?

My opinion is that it sucks, and there is not much you can do about it if your business's marketplace pressures require extracting value rather than giving it away.

Hypothetically, insurance is an extraction business -- pay out as little as possible so you have more money than your competitors to pay out commissions and advertise. Commodity product manufacturing works the opposite direction, make and price your product for as little as possible so companies purchase from you (and arguably, you are extracting that value instead from your employees in terms of pay and safety.)