Overture to Compete With Adsense...Finally?

[chachi]

Just got a call from a friendly girl over at Overture. It appears they were doing a market survey and wanted to know if we would be interested in using Overture's "Adsense like" system to syndicate advertisements on our sites. Of course, we are not at the level where we can participate in Overture's current system where you have to have something like 2M page views a month. Wouldn't it be nice to see some competition around here? Time for some payback Overture, see what Google did with your pay per click scheme?

[joeychgo]

Wow - that would be nice! Maybe it would drive up the % publishers get a bit

[chachi]

Overture got squeezed out of the business they essentially created. If I were them, I would be out for blood. Look what Sergey and Co. just made off of their adsense revenues.

[disgust]

from what I understand google doesn't actually make THAT much (directly) off of adsense. one of the major reasons it does help, though, is to encourage more advertisers to consider adwords since google's essential reach with their ads increased by a ton when they launched adsense

[chachi]

? They make just about 50% of their revenues directly from Adsense. But, the point I was making is that Goto/Overture started the whole PPC search engine model. Google, decided to build their own system rather than split their revenues with Overture and that is how they make their money. I think the guys who started Goto, while not unhappy right now, are still shaking their heads thinking they were so close.

The bottom line is that more competition is surely going to be better for publishers.

[Tuning]

Another advantage I can see is those mesothlioma keyword people. Overture still pays >$50 for mesothelioma keywords.

[Design Agent]

Overture doesnt even work in my browser (Safari)..Im not holding my breath that many people will switch unless the returns are MUCH better.. might make google consider telling us how much of the pie we are getting though.

[chachi]

well, I think most people that advertise on one, advertise on the other. So, if OV were to come out with some better reporting (ie: tell you where you are making your money and how much the split is), then you would see a lot of people switching or at least trying it out for a while

[Sanzbar]

This could be amazig....I really hope they do this soon.

[12FreeForums]

I think a 3 way war is on the way. Both google and yahoo know that MSN is bringing out the big guns. Uncle Bill wants to control the whole industry and he won't mind taking a billion dollar loss in the short run to control the industry in the long run. In his head, Google is the next Netscape and everyone was saying the same thing about Microsoft then, Netscape was too strong after the IPO, they were more versatile, Microsoft just knows how to ship software, blah ,blah, blah.

I would expect MSN's version of adsense to hit the web around summer time. If overture chooses to join in then Google will have to step up it's payments.

[norfstar]

I'd love to see Overture and/or MSN come up with an alternative to AdSense - if nothing else Google may increase the amount they pay publishers to be competitive (direct deposit payments would also be nice).

[stephaneggy]

Competition is good:F

[Josh]

Correction, compitition is very good;)


Also, not just for compititon, say you get unfarily banned form Google Adsense - where do you go now? All of the other PPC affiliate programs I've tried either don't pay, the ads load rediculously slow, or they pay very very little. So if you are depending on Adsense and Adsense screws you over you are left out in the cold.

With Yahoo and MSN creating simaler services, you have two other places to go.


Josh

[T0PS3O]

And with their higher lowest bid, we might see a higher loweest pay-out as well. No more 2ct clicks. And with their bid tool it'd be very easy to find lucrative KWs. (Not that we are in the business of creating purpose built pages for KW ad publishing of course...)

[Fishing Forum]

About bloody time

We need at least three good Adsense type programs as one is just no good for the market

[12FreeForums]

I would love to see this happen. I think it will happen.

[Homer]

Unless they all share data on this subject, which would leave you in the cold.

[explorer]

I would love to see a bit of competition.

If google, yahoo and msn ads all become available to smaller publishers, I wonder if they will want exclusive contracts with a site?

Google's terms at the moment (if I remember right) prevent you from running similar style text ads on the same page as google ads. Nothing to stop you putting Yahoo ads on a different page of the same site.


It would be interesting to put google ads, yahoo ads and msn ads on different test pages of the same site and try to figure out who's paying out most. ;)

[anthonycea]

They did put out notice about this a couple months ago, it is not earth shaking news as there are many contextual advertising programs on the market now and none of us can use them for fear of getting dropped by Google.

So we will have to create sites/pages just to use other programs.

[anthonycea]

The thread should be revised to read "Yahoo is going to compete with Adsense" as Yahoo is going to retire the Overture name as a brand name.

See the link below for a C-net New article on this subject.

http://news.com.com/Yahoo+seeks+to+expand+in+Google+territory/2100-1024_3-5609792.html?tag=html.alert


:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[www.AmCy.org]

I'm as giddy as a school girl to read the news about Yahoo and MSN jumping in. I've grown a bit too dependent on ad-sen_se and that makes me nervous.

The current alternatives to AdSense are quite pitiful. If Yahoo & MSN can do as well as g00gle with content matching, revenue, ease of implementation and consistent payouts then g00gle has reason to sweat. My guess is that lots of publishers will try MSN and Yahoo's new services but will eventually return to g00gle. I don't think that Yahoo or MSN are capable of managing a similar service in a fair and balnaced way. I'll try 'em, but I'm skeptical.

AmCy

[anthonycea]

Google is not alone in this space.

www.targetpoint.com

www.bidvertiser.com

www.bidclix.com

And many others are out there, maybe folks will list more programs that they use right here in this thread :confused: :)

[Homer]

To see Google rivalled is a great thought. However I think they are too far ahead of the compitition. So I think they will always have thier lion's share, they were first to the punch. They are light years ahead of all se's accept MSN and Yahoo, still way ahead of them.

'Google' and 'Search' are synonomious. The idea of direct compitition excites me as I DON'T like the new 'smart pricing' algo. They say it is to protect the advertiser. I participate in both AS and AW and can say on the AS side 'smart pricing' has cut my earnings in 1/2. That being my situation there is still no program available that even comes close. What is up with that? Why have none of the other se's stepped up to the plate sooner.

[anthonycea]

Homer it is the Google technology that sets them apart as market leader, not the concept of contextual ads on web pages.

Yahoo will be able to match them on the technology, but terms and conditions will keep many from using Yahoo.

The next problem I see is Yahoo and Google favoring their publishers in the SERP's and moving users of the others programs down in the SERP's in an effort to make more money.

This has happened already and is sure to get worse down the road in this search advertising war.

Sad world we live in, but who said business was fair :confused: :)

[dude17]

Whatever it is...some competition to Adsense is always good..and that coming from another gaint Yahoo is always Welcome with open arms...Yahooooooo :)

[tomecki]

Google Adsense will have its competition. I hope it will be better (competition) than adwords and overture.
I think in this way there will be more options of payment than checks :rolleyes: (I don't like it - my check for December was lost by mail).
In my opinion there should be a lot of Adsense like programs - then there will not be a monopoly.

[anthonycea]

They should allow payment direct to your PayPal account, I agree with that :)

[www.AmCy.org]

and many others are out there, maybe folks will list more programs that they use right here in this thread :confused: :)

Have you tried the others? They can't compare. g00gle's "ace in the hole" is their superior content matching to which no other program can compare. Judging by the Yahoo's prototpye ads, I think that the other players may have finally figured out how to get the whole content matching thing going. We'll see.

AmCy

[anthonycea]

No one has the ability to spider pages like Google does, but that gap will close soon. :)

I can spider the internet today and so can you with the software that is available today. ;)

Got money, you can do it tommorow. :confused:

[www.AmCy.org]

The idea of direct compitition excites me as I DON'T like the new 'smart pricing' algo.

As both an adsense an adwords users, I have no problem with Smart Pricing. With adwords, keywords and keyphrases that were out of the queston before are now doable. And there's been a noticable and pleasant increase in the number of ads I can afford with adwords lately and I like that. Advertisers should pay according to the quality of the clicks. And the fact that g00gle wants to keep their recipes secret is understandable as well. The competition would love to know how g00gle does what they do, and it's g00gle's job to prtect their technologies. I'm in business so I know how that is.


AmCy

[Homer]

As both an adsense an adwords users, I have no problem with Smart Pricing. With adwords, keywords and keyphrases that were out of the queston before are now doable. And there's been a noticable and pleasant increase in the number of ads I can afford with adwords lately and I like that. Advertisers should pay according to the quality of the clicks. And the fact that g00gle wants to keep their recipes secret is understandable as well. The competition would love to know how g00gle does what they do, and it's g00gle's job to prtect their technologies. I'm in business so I know how that is.


AmCy

Nice post. I guess it's more the AS side that I am not impressed with. You are 100% correct about AW. My main AS money making domain is ranked in the top 3 out of 49,000,000 pages. Ranked in the top 10 in many combinations thereof. We are and industry leader in this keyphrase and have tons of orignal, quality content pages. Google has indexed over 11,000 pages of our site and counting. We play no deceptive SEO tricks, our rankings have been attained naturally, we process 50+ orders each day. I can't comprehend the bottom line. Since Dec 2004 my clicks are double, impressions are 50% greater. The amount I am being payed, per click (EPC), is 50% less. I am certain that I am missing something here (smart pricing) but can't seem to figure it out. :confused:

Many have positive reports as you do. There is an obvious difference between my site and yours as far as how Google applies its smart pricing algo...I wish I knew what it was ;).

AS is a suppliment anyways (to me). So anything made is icing on the cake. Our core business is the product we sell and keeps us profitable. That said I think it is human nature when you get a good stiff of the all mighty green back to want more. Sad but true.

There is no doubt in my mind that AS is the best program on gods green earth. Sometimes I wonder what they are really up to :confused:. When we become successful AS publishers Google knows everything about us...SEO tactics, postioning, traffic levels, etc.

It is no secret that Google has no passion for SEO companies. I just wonder if there is a hidden agendy here :confused:

Anyways, that's my 2 cents. I am going to continue riding the gravy train for now. My word of advice to any AS publisher...

DO NOT BECOME DEPENDANT ON THIS INCOME.

[www.AmCy.org]

When we become successful AS publishers Google knows everything about us...SEO tactics, postioning, traffic levels, etc.

Yup, and that's scary. Add the fact that I use gmail. g00gle probably knows more about me than I know about myself.[/QUOTE]


DO NOT BECOME DEPENDANT ON THIS INCOME.

Indeed. If AS was my only source of income I would quickly find myself on the street begging for quarters. Don't get me wrong: it's a great program--best in the business. But you'd have to have a mammoth or extremely high traffic website to make a living with AS. Then again, if your site is that big or popular, you'd probably have an ad agency taking care of that side of things.

AmCy

[anthonycea]

AOL purchased Advertising.com a while back ;)

http://www.alltheweb.com/search?cat=web&cs=utf8&q=aol+advertising.com&rys=0&_sb_lang=pref

Don't count them out of this game either along with M$ who may buy Bidclix or Targetpoint or someone else with a foothold in the business.

[www.AmCy.org]

AOL purchased Advertising.com a while back did they not guys :confused:

Don't count them out of this game either along with M$ who may buy Bidclix or Targetpoint or someone else with a foothold in the business.

Yes, but AOL screws up everything, and any company bought by MS is treated like a wayward stepchild. I highly doubt that MS or AOL will be in the running. Yahoo: maybe; I know that I would try a Yahoo alternative before the others. We'll see, I guess.

AmCy

[anthonycea]

Time Warner cleaned house at AOL, got rid of Steve Case and Richard Parsons is now running the show, he understands what it takes to win.

http://vivisimo.com/search?query=Richard+Parsons&v%3Asources=Web

AOL might just be spun off in a public offering as a separate company soon :cool:

[www.AmCy.org]

Time Warner cleaned house at AOL, got rid of Steve Case and Richard Parsons is now running the show, he understands what it takes to win.

http://vivisimo.com/search?query=Richard+Parsons&v%3Asources=Web

AOL might just be spun off in a public offering as a separate company soon :cool:

A wise move on their part. Bite the bullet and move on.

So, AOL back on their own, eh? So what did that whole experiment cost Time Warner? $1 billion? More?

Any relation to Bob Parsons @ GoDaddy?

AmCy

[anthonycea]

No Richard Parsons is a Black man.


Ted Turner was the one who lost the most in the deal, that is why Steve Case got fired and put out of the company, Ted Turner fell for his line of BS and lost Billions along with those who bought the stock right after the merger.