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This makes sense to me, I delete all my cookies and sessions frequently in my browser and usually browse the internet logged out. At least 50% of adverts I see

by jiggy2011 14y ago

This makes sense to me, I delete all my cookies and sessions frequently in my browser and usually browse the internet logged out. At least 50% of adverts I see are for either weight loss products or anti-ageing products. Personally, on the rare occasion that I do see an ad that I find interesting I won't click it (due to an ingrained fear of losing the page that I am on) and will simply open a new tab and google search for the product name. Not sure if most "internet savvy" people do the same? I also wonder how well your average holds across websites. If you are selective on the websites you advertise on, say advertising a programming product on Stack Overflow then I wonder if the majority of your clicks still come mainly from the midwest moms who ended up on SO by mistake?

seiji 14y ago
on the rare occasion that I do see an ad that I find interesting I won't click it With Google, they at least give you a URL below the ad. Sadly, about half the time it goes to a non-existing page so you have to search around anyway. I refuse to intentionally* click on ads because I ran some adwords campaigns years ago. Seeing Google charge you multiple whole dollars for a "click" feels like one of the largest scams in the world. You have to trust that: they are never lying to you, they aren't running a shadow click-happy network, and they monitor and refund bot clicks. Each click gives google money essentially for free. I'm not fond of working for Google for free. * Google keeps decreasing the contrast difference between the top row text ads and actual search results. If my laptop screen is tilted the wrong way, I can't see the shaded "THIS IS ADVERTISING" box. Each mistaken click there gives Google $3 to $25+. Just for one click of the mouse. The mind boggles.
- jiggy2011 14y ago
  This reminds me of the ethical dilemma I face whenever I search for something and the site I'm looking for comes up in both the organic and paid search results. Do I like them enough to save them a few pennies or not?
  - nucleardog 14y ago
    Flipside: Do you like Google and all their ad-supported services enough to click and help pay for them?
- calbear81 14y ago
  I've worked on many SEM campaigns over the last 5+ years spending millions on Google and calling it a "scam" seems a bit extreme for the following reasons: 1) Very few categories have CPCs upwards of $3. If that's what you were paying, it's either that you had a poor quality score (hence high opportunity cost to show your ad according to Google) or it was a category that was competitive and had the economics to justify a $3+ CPC (simple economics). 2) Google has extensive bot traffic and fraud prevention to ensure ad clicks are not coming from fake people. You tend to find much lower quality clicks when you opt into the content network but from the search network, I've never seen much fake activity (looking at logs/analytics, etc.). 3) It doesn't even matter what is being charged by Google, unless an advertiser is completely naive, they should be paying the cost that makes sense for their business. I don't care if I pay $25 per click if I can make that back overall. Similarly, even if a portion of the clicks are fraudulent or bots, you should be adjusting your bids downward to reflect that.

seiji 14y ago

on the rare occasion that I do see an ad that I find interesting I won't click it With Google, they at least give you a URL below the ad. Sadly, about half the time it goes to a non-existing page so you have to search around anyway. I refuse to intentionally* click on ads because I ran some adwords campaigns years ago. Seeing Google charge you multiple whole dollars for a "click" feels like one of the largest scams in the world. You have to trust that: they are never lying to you, they aren't running a shadow click-happy network, and they monitor and refund bot clicks. Each click gives google money essentially for free. I'm not fond of working for Google for free. * Google keeps decreasing the contrast difference between the top row text ads and actual search results. If my laptop screen is tilted the wrong way, I can't see the shaded "THIS IS ADVERTISING" box. Each mistaken click there gives Google $3 to $25+. Just for one click of the mouse. The mind boggles.

jiggy2011 14y ago
This reminds me of the ethical dilemma I face whenever I search for something and the site I'm looking for comes up in both the organic and paid search results. Do I like them enough to save them a few pennies or not?
- nucleardog 14y ago
  Flipside: Do you like Google and all their ad-supported services enough to click and help pay for them?
calbear81 14y ago
I've worked on many SEM campaigns over the last 5+ years spending millions on Google and calling it a "scam" seems a bit extreme for the following reasons: 1) Very few categories have CPCs upwards of $3. If that's what you were paying, it's either that you had a poor quality score (hence high opportunity cost to show your ad according to Google) or it was a category that was competitive and had the economics to justify a $3+ CPC (simple economics). 2) Google has extensive bot traffic and fraud prevention to ensure ad clicks are not coming from fake people. You tend to find much lower quality clicks when you opt into the content network but from the search network, I've never seen much fake activity (looking at logs/analytics, etc.). 3) It doesn't even matter what is being charged by Google, unless an advertiser is completely naive, they should be paying the cost that makes sense for their business. I don't care if I pay $25 per click if I can make that back overall. Similarly, even if a portion of the clicks are fraudulent or bots, you should be adjusting your bids downward to reflect that.