6 ms·

Hard to know how much is ad fraud and how much is people just not being interested in what is being advertised. Don't see why I should care about yet another we

Hard to know how much is ad fraud and how much is people just not being interested in what is being advertised. Don't see why I should care about yet another webinar especially if I'm already a successful CEO and get five thousand webinar requests a day. Might click for more info but then after 10 seconds on the page (and seeing it's more BS) I'll probably bail. Same as this quote: >“You’ll see the call to action is ‘Request Demo,'” Gellis said. “So, arguably, a user who sees this ad and clicks legitimately on it will be looking to get a demo of the analytics tool we were marketing. No, if the only option you give me is "Request Demo" but all I want is more info then I'll click "Request Demo." Then when I don't get more info or info that I like I'll bail. edit: Also at only 11 clicks, the metrics are pure noise. Sure they each cost $45 but it's still only 11 clicks. Can't even blame the CPC estimation for being off at such a low number.

mumblemumble 6y ago
> No, if the only option you give me is "Request Demo" but all I want is more info then I'll click "Request Demo." Then when I don't get more info or info that I like I'll bail. Exactly. Even if I was thinking about requesting a demo when I clicked the ad, I then want to see a lot of information on the target site before proceeding. I'm not going to sign up for a demo unless I think there's a pretty good chance I'll want to buy. Most vendor websites don't provide nearly enough information for me to make that judgment. As someone who doesn't consider talking to sales people to be a recreational activity, that leaves me with little choice but to bail.
- marcinzm 6y ago
  Same. I hate when I need to get on a call to just get pricing for something, or even worse, to just renew a yearly subscription. Plus this was analytics software which is a dime a dozen nowadays. So you need to make your value proposition known very well and very quickly. Even then you'll get a very low conversion rate unless you've done a very good branding campaign to get your name out there.
- smnscu 6y ago
  No, thanks. Unless the person giving me the demo is the CEO, their entire salary and taxes are being taken out of my price, and it's most likely not the kind of company I want to do business with.
sokoloff 6y ago
"But we tested different call to action buttons, and 'Request Demo' was the one that had the highest click-through rate, so we went with that one..."
3np 6y ago
"LinkedIn says 11, our server logs show 10, our actual reporting software's only showing 8 people. The only reason that we would not see them pop up in this logging tool is that they were on the site and bounced so quickly that the logging tool was unable to load and capture anything of their session [We've went back and forth will the session recording company multiple times to confirm that]" Seems awareness of ad/trackblocking and disabling JavaScript is low in this space. Still, he could absolutely be right some portion of them are misclicks.
- fakedang 6y ago
  I'm sure Facebook will be lower than this in terms of awareness of adblock, considering the number of oldies there (including my relatives) who can't distinguish between sponsored content and original content. I'm honestly surprised LinkedIn has such high numbers, since I assumed the LinkedIn crowd would be more technologically savvy.
  - searchableguy 6y ago
    Tech savvy crowd and engineers probably only use linkedin once a full moon to fill out their details. The rest are recruiters, PR, management, students, and so on. Those are the regulars. You don't use linkedin when you have a job unless that is your job.
    - realusername 6y ago
      Yes that's exactly it, if they removed all the timeline I'm not sure I would even notice. I use Linkedin only for the messaging and the CVs.
    - jlj 6y ago
      Employed engineer here. I use linkedin to network and as a result I get a few inbound recruiting requests a week. Most are contract roles I'm not interested in, but some are for interesting companies that I wouldn't have found on a job board. I try to take interviews for the latter. Going through an interview with nothing to lose helps me keep up my networking and interviewing soft skills. The best time to find a job is when you don't need one.
Macha 6y ago
CPC estimation is not an exact science anywhere - most places are comparing it based on other ads with similar targeting to yours, they have no idea how much your ad content makes people want to click or not which is a big factor.
rapnie 6y ago
For some reason or other LinkedIn keeps thinking I must be very interested in Shell and Raytheon, though that couldn't be farther off the mark. Having selected "I find this ad annoying or not interesting" numerous times without any effect. What is this algorithm behind that thinking? Certainly not a good way to get some ad revenue from me (tbh I'm a lost cause anyway in that regard.. can count the no. of ad clicks I ever made on one hand. So I guess LI is helping me here).
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  > Having selected "I find this ad annoying or not interesting" numerous times without any effect. What is this algorithm behind that thinking? Just because you're not interested in hearing it doesn't mean advertisers don't want to try to tell you anyway.
  - rapnie 6y ago
    Or LI tells these advertisers "my my do I have this large interesting target group based on your criteria" which was a bit inflated. Who knows.
    - jazzyjackson 6y ago
      Would be hilarious is their marketing reports counted "hide this ad" as "interactions"
- dylan604 6y ago
  Let's face it Shell and Raytheon have much much larger ad buying budget than probably any/all of your actual interests combined. If Shell/Raytheon/types target the same audience as smaller vendors with smaller ad buys, then they will always lose the auction. If someone has a $500/month budget, they will lose to someone with a $5000 budget. This is why I think these "targeted" ad pushers are the actual fraud. Other mediums of advertising sell you a specific ad on a certain page of a website/newspaper/magazine/etc. You have no idea how many people really look at it. You make your decision on if the site/paper/zine attracts the crowd you are interested in. Buying TV/Radio ads also says for your ad buy you will get X number of ads in certain time spots, or for more money you can have your ad played during specific times during specific shows. Again, you have no idea on the exact number of people seeing/hearing your ad, but at least you know it's getting played.

mumblemumble 6y ago

> No, if the only option you give me is "Request Demo" but all I want is more info then I'll click "Request Demo." Then when I don't get more info or info that I like I'll bail. Exactly. Even if I was thinking about requesting a demo when I clicked the ad, I then want to see a lot of information on the target site before proceeding. I'm not going to sign up for a demo unless I think there's a pretty good chance I'll want to buy. Most vendor websites don't provide nearly enough information for me to make that judgment. As someone who doesn't consider talking to sales people to be a recreational activity, that leaves me with little choice but to bail.

marcinzm 6y ago
Same. I hate when I need to get on a call to just get pricing for something, or even worse, to just renew a yearly subscription. Plus this was analytics software which is a dime a dozen nowadays. So you need to make your value proposition known very well and very quickly. Even then you'll get a very low conversion rate unless you've done a very good branding campaign to get your name out there.
smnscu 6y ago
No, thanks. Unless the person giving me the demo is the CEO, their entire salary and taxes are being taken out of my price, and it's most likely not the kind of company I want to do business with.

sokoloff 6y ago

"But we tested different call to action buttons, and 'Request Demo' was the one that had the highest click-through rate, so we went with that one..."

3np 6y ago

"LinkedIn says 11, our server logs show 10, our actual reporting software's only showing 8 people. The only reason that we would not see them pop up in this logging tool is that they were on the site and bounced so quickly that the logging tool was unable to load and capture anything of their session [We've went back and forth will the session recording company multiple times to confirm that]" Seems awareness of ad/trackblocking and disabling JavaScript is low in this space. Still, he could absolutely be right some portion of them are misclicks.

fakedang 6y ago
I'm sure Facebook will be lower than this in terms of awareness of adblock, considering the number of oldies there (including my relatives) who can't distinguish between sponsored content and original content. I'm honestly surprised LinkedIn has such high numbers, since I assumed the LinkedIn crowd would be more technologically savvy.
- searchableguy 6y ago
  Tech savvy crowd and engineers probably only use linkedin once a full moon to fill out their details. The rest are recruiters, PR, management, students, and so on. Those are the regulars. You don't use linkedin when you have a job unless that is your job.
  - realusername 6y ago
    Yes that's exactly it, if they removed all the timeline I'm not sure I would even notice. I use Linkedin only for the messaging and the CVs.
  - jlj 6y ago
    Employed engineer here. I use linkedin to network and as a result I get a few inbound recruiting requests a week. Most are contract roles I'm not interested in, but some are for interesting companies that I wouldn't have found on a job board. I try to take interviews for the latter. Going through an interview with nothing to lose helps me keep up my networking and interviewing soft skills. The best time to find a job is when you don't need one.

Macha 6y ago

CPC estimation is not an exact science anywhere - most places are comparing it based on other ads with similar targeting to yours, they have no idea how much your ad content makes people want to click or not which is a big factor.

rapnie 6y ago

For some reason or other LinkedIn keeps thinking I must be very interested in Shell and Raytheon, though that couldn't be farther off the mark. Having selected "I find this ad annoying or not interesting" numerous times without any effect. What is this algorithm behind that thinking? Certainly not a good way to get some ad revenue from me (tbh I'm a lost cause anyway in that regard.. can count the no. of ad clicks I ever made on one hand. So I guess LI is helping me here).

chrisseaton 6y ago
> Having selected "I find this ad annoying or not interesting" numerous times without any effect. What is this algorithm behind that thinking? Just because you're not interested in hearing it doesn't mean advertisers don't want to try to tell you anyway.
- rapnie 6y ago
  Or LI tells these advertisers "my my do I have this large interesting target group based on your criteria" which was a bit inflated. Who knows.
  - jazzyjackson 6y ago
    Would be hilarious is their marketing reports counted "hide this ad" as "interactions"
dylan604 6y ago
Let's face it Shell and Raytheon have much much larger ad buying budget than probably any/all of your actual interests combined. If Shell/Raytheon/types target the same audience as smaller vendors with smaller ad buys, then they will always lose the auction. If someone has a $500/month budget, they will lose to someone with a $5000 budget. This is why I think these "targeted" ad pushers are the actual fraud. Other mediums of advertising sell you a specific ad on a certain page of a website/newspaper/magazine/etc. You have no idea how many people really look at it. You make your decision on if the site/paper/zine attracts the crowd you are interested in. Buying TV/Radio ads also says for your ad buy you will get X number of ads in certain time spots, or for more money you can have your ad played during specific times during specific shows. Again, you have no idea on the exact number of people seeing/hearing your ad, but at least you know it's getting played.