Adwords Content Network WTF

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mberman84

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Jan 17, 2007
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I've read over all the threads about the content network, and yet cannot seem to have a single successful campaign with it. I've been successful with the search network, facebook, YSM, and others...but G content network just wont work for me.

I either get no impressions...no clicks...or no conversions...or some wonderful combination of those.

Anyone got good tips? should i go for image ad or text ad or depends? any help is appreciated. just can't seem to crack the content network but it seems like that's where people make the most money.

EDIT: i've looked everywhere for a case study or something to help...so if anyone can point me in the direction of something to read it would be great.
 


I'm having the same problem. I'm trying CPC placement targeting on a few big sites. On most sites I get 0 impressions. If I do get impressions, it's less than 20 per day.

Here is that post on Ruck's / Kris's blog:
CPA Marketing Series - Page Sniping Google Placements | Cash Tactics

Good post, but it also says...
I never paid cost per click. I always paid on a CPM basis. I have tried paying on a cost per click basis and never have I gotten my ads to run. I have no idea why. I’ve spent countless phone calls with Adwords Reps and never once got a solid answer or even enough information to help me in any way.
Unfortunately, I don't have the guts to start with CPM :(
 
I'm having the same problem. I'm trying CPC placement targeting on a few big sites. On most sites I get 0 impressions. If I do get impressions, it's less than 20 per day.

Here is that post on Ruck's / Kris's blog:
CPA Marketing Series - Page Sniping Google Placements | Cash Tactics

Good post, but it also says...

Unfortunately, I don't have the guts to start with CPM :(

In content network -there are keyword targeting and site targeting. Keyword targeting is easy, just load a bunch of keywords and you'll definitely going to get traffic as long as you bid high enough.

The tricky one is Site Targeting. Like what Ruck mentioned on his blog, I've always have trouble getting clicks/traffic if I choose the CPC model, it just doesn't work for me I don't know why. CPM will get you traffic but it's also the fastest way to lose your shirt if you're not getting any clicks.
 
Great thread so far. Another thing I've learnt: When played right, random keywords convert. I try to target keywords that are vaguely similar to the generic things that my target demographic would search; without bidding on keywords relevant to the offer/product itself. You should be able to get clicks for dirt cheap. Just gather your data, and tweak out the keywords that don't convert (using P202) and AdGroups that have a low CTR. I followed Harry's process here and got my content network campaign to profit very well. Of course, I had the landing pages optimized from my Facebook campaigns, but that's another story.

Good luck!
 
Great thread so far. Another thing I've learnt: When played right, random keywords convert. I try to target keywords that are vaguely similar to the generic things that my target demographic would search; without bidding on keywords relevant to the offer/product itself. You should be able to get clicks for dirt cheap.

Oh definitely! Keyword research for the content network is a whole new ballgame. In fact, in most cases I do NOT bid on keywords that are close to the offer's product name/service.

You wanna bid on words that will be on sites that your demographic typically visits. ;)
 
ok, I do some good numbers through the content network and the best advice I can give is as follows;

- adgroups must be in groups of no more than 50 keywords and themed. so your keywords would look like this;

barbie
barbie doll
barbie doll new york
barbie doll toys r us
barbie doll with ken etc etc

- I start with around 2-5k keywords per campaign. you want to delete the adgroups with poor CTR. Anything below 0.10% will hurt you. Anything over and google will love you.

- placement targeting is fucked. I have launched about 250 placement targeted campaigns and they suck compared to keyword campaigns

- treat each adgroup the same as you would a keyword on the search network

- write good ad copy. Don't oversell. Arouse curiosity.

- get creative with your keywords.
 
What's your take on using 1 keyword per ad group instead of at least 50? Technically that should help you narrow in on what keywords work and what don't.
 
I'm interested in trying this too because in theory, you could create kick ass profitable campaigns. Wouldn't it take forever to build all of the 1 keyword adgroups though? Is there a way to automate this adgroup building process? Will the Google adwords editor handle something like this?

What's your take on using 1 keyword per ad group instead of at least 50? Technically that should help you narrow in on what keywords work and what don't.
 
What's your take on using 1 keyword per ad group instead of at least 50? Technically that should help you narrow in on what keywords work and what don't.

All this would do is place your ads on tons of sites, many of which will be completely unrelated to your offer/ads. Google will have a hard time figuring out what types of sites you wanna be placed on, and would do the guesswork for you. You'd also have to have one serious negative keyword list to filter off all the unrelated sites in this case.

It's better to shoot for 20-50 keywords (mine are usually around 30) that tell Google what categories of sites to place your ad. And remember; the words in your text ads also count as part of your adgroup keywords.
 
All this would do is place your ads on tons of sites, many of which will be completely unrelated to your offer/ads. Google will have a hard time figuring out what types of sites you wanna be placed on, and would do the guesswork for you. You'd also have to have one serious negative keyword list to filter off all the unrelated sites in this case.

It's better to shoot for 20-50 keywords (mine are usually around 30) that tell Google what categories of sites to place your ad. And remember; the words in your text ads also count as part of your adgroup keywords.


It definetly makes sense what you're saying but this exact method worked for me when putting like 30 keywords in one group didn't at all.

You'd think I had to be pretty specific with my keywords then but that wasn't the case. I had single terms bringing me a pretty nice ROI with leads from lots of different sites you might think are unrelated.

BUT

This was an offer for a very broad demograpic so if you're selling fishing lines better don't do that.
 
It definetly makes sense what you're saying but this exact method worked for me when putting like 30 keywords in one group didn't at all.

You'd think I had to be pretty specific with my keywords then but that wasn't the case. I had single terms bringing me a pretty nice ROI with leads from lots of different sites you might think are unrelated.

BUT

This was an offer for a very broad demograpic so if you're selling fishing lines better don't do that.

Exactly. For very broad demographics - when you do wanna get on just a bunch of arbitrary different sites, it could make sense to have a very low amount of keywords. But in most cases, you're targeting some group of people with certain interests, and you need to tell Google what sites you wanna be on.

Think of keyword targeted content campaigns as placement targeted campaigns - except instead of telling what URLs you wanna be on - you're giving Google a list of words for them to determine the best URLs that would match.
 
Split test both methods, but I find that for the best success you need a lot of keywords. With 1 keyword per adgroup you'll find you will max out your google accounts adgroup limits very quickly.

Plus, the more keywords the more traffic you will generate. Once the traffic comes in (and it can flood in by thousands of clicks per hour) you just need to track which adgroup is making the sales/profits.
 
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