I spent $855.77 on Google Ads and got my ads banned 5 times • Hacker News Board

Re: I spent $855.77 on Google Ads and got my ads banned 5 times

#71

Post by lstepanek » Tue, Jul 11, 2023, 7:44 PM UTC

dylan604 wrote: post #17

njovin wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a coder with a side hustle, I tried using FB ads a few years back. I had a niche product targeting a very specific demographic (K-12 teachers in the US). My business' page got tons of new followers from people not in education and not in the US. We spent hundreds of dollars and didn't get a single valid customer that I'm aware of. I don't think FB is any better than Google, but I also think online ads mostly exist…

>I don't think FB is any better than Google, but I also think online ads mostly exist to keep marketers in business. I have similar views. Large companies with marketing/advertising budgets have to spend that money. If you're in that department, you have to be able to show people how effective you are. Digital ads make that super easy with all of the nice little graphs and charts. The only problem is, their is no way…

I agree. When running my Google Campaign, I noticed on a Thursday that my total impression count for the month had actually gone down since the day before. And my campaign had launched that Monday midway through the month so it wasn't a 30 day cutoff that explained the total impression count for the month going down.

I think the impression counts are calculated using a finger to the air...

Re: I spent $855.77 on Google Ads and got my ads banned 5 times

#72

Post by lstepanek » Tue, Jul 11, 2023, 7:49 PM UTC

SilkRoadie wrote: post #44

Has the author really learned that Gmail is a better fit than Outlook? Who is paying for this product? There is a fair chance that Outlook would open up more sales opportunities to businesses, that appears to be the most obvious way to generate some income. Secondary, a lot of clicks came from India, Kazakhstan, Costa Rica and Argentina… is this the target market? Probably not. It is an interesting experience for the…

Good point about those countries not being my target market, and sure an Outlook plugin would probably make me more money.

I'm new to marketing so was grasping at straws as I ran this Google Ads campaign.

If you know a better way to market to actual businesses, I'm all ears.

Re: I spent $855.77 on Google Ads and got my ads banned 5 times

#73

Post by lstepanek » Tue, Jul 11, 2023, 7:56 PM UTC

jimrandomh wrote: post #37

Browser plugins that access your email are a very-high-risk category for malware, so much so that if I see an ad for one I wouldn't personally give it the benefit of the doubt. Combine that with A/B testing for different product ideas, and the clickthrough experience not actually ending in a plugin which can be malware-scanned, and rejecting it under the "circumventing systems policy" seems correct to me. The reviewe…

Ah, now I realize where the Malicious Software ban was coming from -- as you say, there was no plugin that could actually be malware-scanned. Makes sense. Thanks for the (perhaps obvious but not to me) insight.

Re: I spent $855.77 on Google Ads and got my ads banned 5 times

#74

Post by AdoHaha » Wed, Jul 12, 2023, 7:18 PM UTC

konschubert wrote: post #32

hello_there wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This looks like a very nice product and it matches exactly something that I've been wanting and thinking about. So I tried to order one (using PayPal), but it doesn't seem like you're shipping to Norway. Are you planning to open up for shipments to more countries any time soon?

Norway requires CE, as far as I know. I don't have that certification yet, it's quite expensive, about 7000 Euro. It pains me that I cannot sell within Europe, I can see the sales I am losing. Hopefully I can bootstrap those funds before the holiday season :D EDIT: I created a google form. When it is available in Europe, I will notify anyone who leaves their email: https://forms.gle/96sGBWFsxgAomG3Q9

I don't think you would need to pay so much. In most cases i.e. not health, not children etc you can even self certify: https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/product-requirements/l...