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I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots

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Re: I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots

#291

Post by TitaRusell »

awavering wrote: post #199
bluegatty wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't imply that all of their gross was going into ads. I'm highlighting that the gross on commodity consumer goods is huge - and that it just pays for mounds of white collar bureaucracy, including advertising, and yes 25 points is about right. Consider that companies pay more for advertising than COGS. That should tell us something about 'productivity' FB/Goog revenues could be cut by 60% and the good may very we…

Toothpaste is a particularly high-margin product so it might not be the best example generally. COGS is generally the largest line item for CPG (or non-CPG products), and distribution isn't free either. Toothpaste manufacturers can probably get away without advertising on FB/Goog, but I'm not sure that would work for other products or brands. It's not make-work to tell people about your product or service, although i…

Funny thing about toothpaste. In my country it has basically been the same brands since WW2.

Sure there is innovation but nobody new ever enters the market.

Re: I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots

#292

Post by go_elmo »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #82
G3nD wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are pretty much all ecommerce brands wasting their money on Meta ads? Seems hard to believe.

Meta ads are mostly obvious fraud afaict - unregistered lotteries, jet washes that don't need power, flashlights so powerful they'll fry an egg by shining at them, household goods developed by NASA, air-conditioning/heating that doesn't need outside air and plugs direct into a socket, ... I've reported a few to Advertising Standards in the UK, but they're not really interested in combatting Facebook/Amazon fraud. Wha…

> What's hilarious is having reported an ad to Facebook, they show you that ad more because you didn't longer looking at it. Mad.

Which emotions does this bring up? For me its hate. fostering hate is what these places mastered. The data is clear - it skyrockets engagement and time-spent. The question is if we want this as a society? I mean, they dont even tax any of the "earnings" aka "mental-health-money"

Re: I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots

#293

Post by altmanaltman »

jfoster wrote: post #224
weare138 wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I keep hearing this same story over and over. It's starting to sound like that's just Google's business model.

I keep hearing it too. The bit I don't yet understand is, wouldn't it be in Google's interest to not do this? They ban on both sides of the market for seemingly no reason. Wouldn't maximizing all legitimate participation be much better? Also seems a lot more possible to do now with AI to check all campaigns, landing pages, etc.

I really don't get it. Ads are supposed to be Google's biggest revenue thing but the entire process is just so infuriating at times. Their ads dashboard/tool for running ads is one of the worst pieces of software i have used period. My theory is they just dont care about individual experience as long as businesses see value in it. Nobody is going to not run ads because the platform is from hell. They still need to run ads and thus suffering is okay.

Re: I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots

#294

Post by noAnswer »

weare138 wrote: post #264
jfoster wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I keep hearing it too. The bit I don't yet understand is, wouldn't it be in Google's interest to not do this? They ban on both sides of the market for seemingly no reason. Wouldn't maximizing all legitimate participation be much better? Also seems a lot more possible to do now with AI to check all campaigns, landing pages, etc.

Hypothetically you would have already paid for the ads before your account gets suspended/banned then hypothetically Google just keep sending you automated replies denying your requests for support until you give up or lawyer up. And when you consider the shear scale Google's adtech networks run at, this would add up fast and generate revenue over costs. Hypothetically

They also pull this off in the other direction too. You having earned money by showing ads? They claim there was click-farming ...and it's gone!

Re: I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots

#295

Post by iamflimflam1 »

adamtulinius wrote: post #290
iamflimflam1 wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was getting an advert that was obviously some scam software on YouTube mobile. The image looked like a system alert that storage was low. It was an obvious attempt to trick users. https://bsky.app/profile/atomic14.bsky.social/post/3mnc7ws2h... Perfectly fine according to google.

Funny, I too reported it a long time ago, with the predictable response that it’s not breaking any of Google’s rules. It also tells me how primitive Google Ads are, when they keep showing me an ad I reported.

I also reported it - twice - and was fobbed off.

The frustrating thing is, this is very easy for AI to detect. Just feed the image into any AI and it will tell you it is deceptive.

Re: I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots

#296

Post by Roark66 »

Google ads make absolutely no sense financially. Even for high value items. I recently bought some ads in hope very specific terms that see almost no search traffic will be cheaper (we're talking few hundred searches a month from whole of EU). Google wanted £1.5 per click through.

When I set a reasonable cost (0.1£) I got either nothing or generic keywords (which I added as a test). I'm pretty sure no one is actually bidding on these niche keywords as there are no ads shown on them ever.

Google simply decides not to sell unless you pay an exorbitant amount.

Re: I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots

#300

Post by chrisjj »

kimi wrote: post #228

We had a similar issue with Reddit, spent $500 and got a lot of clicks - none of them ever did anything else, not even by mistake. When we reported this behavior to Reddit, the rep who helped us set up the campaign just vanished. No answer. After a while, another rep came out and asked if we were interested in advertising on Reddit. Explained the situation and... poof! this other rep disappeared too. My feeling is th…

> When we reported this behavior to Reddit, the rep who helped us set up the campaign just vanished.

He was probably busy clicking ads...

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