Adwords requiring me to pay more for a term with no other bids?

I'm having an issue with several keyword terms that I would like to bid on. Google adwords is making them inactive in my account and then telling me I need to bid more (like $0.50/click) to make them active.

The terms have no other bids on them and when you do a search there are no ads and just natural results. So, why would I need to pay a higher rate when I'm not bidding against anyone?
Also, my site is very relevant to the keyword.

Thanks for any answers you may have.

 

It all has to do with the "Quality Score" that Google assigns to your page. Personally I dislike it A LOT!

 

I can understand them wanting you to pay more for a term that is active but when no one is bidding on it and the site is relevant to the term I dont' understand why they would reject it?

 

Thats a great question and it doesn't make much sense at all.. maybe one of the AdWord gurus can explain it better here.

 

If you would let us know the keyword, perhaps we can help otherwise its like shooting in dark. PM me if you want privacy.

 

I agree with "Help Desk". Quality Score sucks!

 

A common misconception explained.

After that

How is the quality score calculated?

Then

AdWords tips for success.

Good luck

 

same old story, what else?

 

The quality score was orginally used to give those clicking on ads a better experience. However, we have lost the competitiveness that keeps a market going. John Smith, the economist, wouldn't be very happy!

 

Huh? I'm not sure I understand.

 

From GuyFromChicago's links:

"Instead, since August of 2005, the minimum bid has been quality based. To put it simply, the higher the Quality Score of a keyword, the lower one's minimum bid will be for that keyword.

So, very low minimum bids are earned by creating highly relevant ad text and keywords that get outstanding Quality Scores. And only the most relevant keyword and ad text combinations will earn a minimum bid of $0.01 (or its equivalent in other currencies)."

So it seems Nathan that, even though you believe your site is very relevant to your keyword, when Google's Adwords algorithm compares your landing page with your ad, it is finding a bit of a mismatch.

You could try tightening up the landing page / ad so that they are better aligned. Unfortunately, my own experiences indicate that once Google has made up its mind about the price it gives an account for a keyword, it's very difficult (or it can take several weeks) to get it to change its mind.

 

I used to get excited whenever I saw terms with no adwords listings... "sweet, I can get the top spot for 5 cents!"

But these days it's like $.50 or 2.00 or more. And that is when the page matches the search term! It's like $20 if it doesn't match.

 

At times, I agree with that statement.

Others, I have had different results.

I have bidded on some keywords with no other ads with a (what I thought) was a very relevent landing page, and was forced to bid $2.00 or so.

I have then bidded on another keyword with a page that didn't even mention that keyword and got clicks at .15c or so.

It's odd...

 

I've had that happen too!

I'll put in a list of keywords and the relevant ones are expensive, then the generic ones or ones that aren't as close cost .03!

 

That's why I think there is more to the algo then is on the surface.

 

Even bidding on the term "JayGeiger" for my site http://www.JayGeiger.com cost me $0.40! WTF Google?!?!?!

 

I don't see the term "jaygeiger" anywhere on your index, which I assume is what you're using for the landing page.