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Solving The Content Network

Discussion in 'Google AdWords' started by bloard, Mar 8, 2007.

  1. #1
    I have been focusing on the content network for a few days, and would like thoughts based on your experience from the content perspective only (assume search is "off"). The critical issue for me is to keep ads displaying, as they convert well... if they can keep displaying.

    1. Do match types matter for content network?

    2. Do negative keywords do much on content network?

    3. Is there a limit to the number of ad groups you can create per campaign. Since narrow focus per ad group is so important for the content network... if I have 1,0000 different topics I want to cover for a certain offer, can I create 1,000 ad groups?

    4. What other factors determine the rate of display of your ads besides performance of an adgroup?

    Example Adgroup Performance:
    Day 1: 500 imp; 5 clicks; avg position 4.9; cpc .20
    Day 2: 100 imp; 1 click; avg position 2.3; cpc .20

    If the average position for this ad group improved significantly... and everything else stayed the same... why would it only get 1/4 the impressions from the previous day? How can position go up, but impressions go down?

    Assume the rest of the campaign has awful ctr... I know a campaign's performance can impact display rate. But, wouldn't that push down the average position across the board? Or, does campaign performance limit the rate of display of your entire campaign, regardless of individual ad group ranking or performance?

    Thanks
     
    bloard, Mar 8, 2007 IP
  2. kdobson99

    kdobson99 Guest

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    #2
    I don't understand the fewer impressions either unless the entire campaign gets slowed by a certain percentage without regard to the performance of an individual ad group.

    I would also like to know about matching options and negatives on the content network from a content network pro.
     
    kdobson99, Mar 9, 2007 IP
  3. JKE

    JKE Peon

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    #3
    I'm interested to see GFC's response to these q's
     
    JKE, Mar 9, 2007 IP
  4. Yahoo Cowboy

    Yahoo Cowboy Active Member

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    #4
    I don't rate the content network for campaigns i run. They have very rarely converted, so i usually switch it off. I also heard that they are going to put ads on myspace?? which would not be good for most ppc campaigns
     
    Yahoo Cowboy, Mar 9, 2007 IP
  5. bloard

    bloard Peon

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    #5
    I am not asking whether to use the content network or not, I am asking for tips for improving ad performance. The content network converts beautifully in my niche, and am seeking some views from others who know the ins and outs.
     
    bloard, Mar 9, 2007 IP
  6. Micromag

    Micromag Well-Known Member

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    #6
    yes, specially phrase mach: use for example the phase term "side effect"

    and your ad will not appear on site that has the term 'side of effect'

    yes, add the negative keyword to your campaign -used

    and your keyword "computers" will not show your ads on sites that has the term "used computers"

    The Max Recommended adGroups per campaigns is 100 AdGroups.

    The performance is per keyword - each keyword is an independent cell with its own Quality Score - one keyword should not influence over another keyword.

    But Google has recently added a new quality score component that one keyword may influency into another - this is not clear at least to me until now, sorry.
     
    Micromag, Mar 9, 2007 IP
    GuyFromChicago likes this.
  7. Micromag

    Micromag Well-Known Member

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    #7
    In this case you should get a larger period of time, like a "week" to compare, not just 1 day.
     
    Micromag, Mar 9, 2007 IP
  8. bloard

    bloard Peon

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    #8
    Thanks MicroMag, I was under a few different assumptions based on my previous experience and reading and I appreciate your thoughts.

    Regarding negative keywords... so using your -used example, I thought perhaps that because a webpage, rather than a search query could actually contain certain negative keywords, yet remain relevant to your desired term, that negative keywords for content match might work different.

    Using your example, if you bid on the term "dell computer" and had a negative term of -used, I realize you are saying that your ad wouldn't display on a page with content saying "get this used dell computer", but would it also not appear on a page with the text "has anyone used this new dell computer?"

    Also, I was under the impression that the keywords within an adgroup for content match were not meant to be "all encompassing" but instead meant to just give google a general idea of the type of page you are targeting with your ad. Thus, if you had the words: dell computer, new dell computer, and buy dell computer... that google understood that this adgroup was looking at the general idea of dell computers and that a long tail term like... "cheapest new dell computer reviews", probably wasn't necessary (unlike search targeting). Is there a distinct advantage for long-tail for content match, or do more words within an adgroup start to cause google to get confused about the "general idea" of what you are trying to target?

    Thanks
     
    bloard, Mar 9, 2007 IP
  9. Micromag

    Micromag Well-Known Member

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    #9
    Yes, exactly. This is a side effect that is hard to avoid.

    Also There is a major problem in AdWords regarding content network is that the keywords suggested to you by keyword tool is solely based on search network volume, not content network volume and it is used by you for both (content and search network).

    All keywords in a group are used to create a theme that determine the sites that your ads will be displayed.

    There are 2 important points beyond the usual keyword regarding matching content adwords that is important to know:

    Negatives: One way to give a better idea to Google the sites that your ads need to be placed is to add the more number negatives you can - this will force the system to show your add into the correct site. To have an idea I have campaigns with 1000 negative keywords like:

    -customer care
    -repair
    -service
    -specialist
    -technician
    -demo
    -download
    -freeware
    -games
    -program
    -shareware
    -auction
    -coupon
    -ebay
    -reduced
    -sample
    -trial
    -voucher
    -earn
    -partner
    -erotic
    -sex
    -free
    -gratis
    -blog
    -course
    -ebook
    -information
    -mp3
    -news
    -photo
    -report
    -test


    content network quality Score: Content network has its own Quality Score, and if your quality score is low - your ad will be throw to less relevant pages as other publishers are already competing to the same pages then you are.

    Quality Score is based on your ads CTR and your landing page relevance.

    Also if you have a low CPC for your Quality Score, your ads will not be show on these more relevant pages that your competitors will be shown.
     
    Micromag, Mar 9, 2007 IP
  10. JKE

    JKE Peon

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    #10
    "Note: Be careful when deleting keywords in campaigns that are only opted in to the content network. Impressions and other statistics aren't attributed to individual keywords when ads show on content pages, but are attributed to the ad group as a whole. Therefore, keywords in content-only campaigns will always show zero impressions."
     
    JKE, Mar 9, 2007 IP
  11. GuyFromChicago

    GuyFromChicago Permanent Peon

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    #11
    All I'd add to Micros post is that you can exceed the 100 by many many multiples and won't notice any performance issues if you access the account via the editor. I have an account with 8K ad groups in 1 campaign. It's fine with the editor but if I access that account via the web interface I can walk the dogs and cook breakfast before the campaign will open.
     
    GuyFromChicago, Mar 9, 2007 IP
  12. bloard

    bloard Peon

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    #12
    MicroMag - Lets say that I wanted to target an ad to this particular thread on DP. (not through site targeting, but through keywords - and yes, I know in the future that site targeting on a cpc basis will be an option) I'm actually going to try it after suggestions are made, but won't tell you which one it will be. Can you tell me what you would suggest regarding keywords and negatives that would cause an ad to appear on this particular page as a test... assuming that I could get enough clicks to get a good qs.

    Again, I don't really care about doing the actual test... but could learn a lot by seeing your suggestions and those of others.
     
    bloard, Mar 9, 2007 IP
  13. GuyFromChicago

    GuyFromChicago Permanent Peon

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    #13
    For starters I'd go here, click the "Site-Related Keywords" tab then enter the url of the DP thread I wanted to target. You'll get a nice list back that you can start with and it should help you get an idea of what Google thinks the page is about.

    Site targeting (CPM or CPC when available) would be the way to go though, at least imo.
     
    GuyFromChicago, Mar 9, 2007 IP
  14. bloard

    bloard Peon

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    #14
    GFC - Thank you for your input, it is always excellent. But, I already understand site targeted campaigns pretty well and use them. One drawback I have always found is that they are "site targeted", not "page targeted". We all know that sites can have many different topics and different sections of sites can draw different types of visitors.

    So, in asking how you would go about making a cpc campaign ad appear on this particular page... I'm not asking because I actually want an ad on this page, but thought by hearing suggested keywords and negatives that I would get a better understanding of how to narrowly target an ad group to a really small and targeted niche.

    Of course, an extension of that might be trying to target specific pages (rather than sites) through keyword targeting, but that isn't really the purpose of what I am asking.

    Also - GFC, thanks for the tip about the campaign number using adwords editor. I did that a couple of days ago and thought I might be in for some problems uploading like 200 ad groups in a single campaign. I had always seen the 100 number floated around, and didn't know if it was a rule or suggestion.
     
    bloard, Mar 9, 2007 IP
  15. GuyFromChicago

    GuyFromChicago Permanent Peon

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    #15
    I haven't done it a long while but you can target specific URLs. I do remeber it being buggy - ie telling me pages were not available for targeting even when I knew they were.

    https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=19652&topic=7075

     
    GuyFromChicago, Mar 12, 2007 IP
  16. bloard

    bloard Peon

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    #16
    GFC - Yes, I thought you could do individual URL's too, but I have never gotten it to allow an individual url instead of just a top level domain or subdomain. I don't know why because it suggests that you can do it. Could you maybe give it a shot with a url you have gotten to work before and let me know if it is still working? Perhaps my problem was that they weren't html urls, but maybe dynamic ones. Sure wish I could get i to work.
     
    bloard, Mar 12, 2007 IP
  17. GuyFromChicago

    GuyFromChicago Permanent Peon

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    #17
    I'll mess with it tonight/tomorrow and post back.

    If anyone gets it working in the meantime (or knows more about it) feel free to jump in anytime!
     
    GuyFromChicago, Mar 12, 2007 IP
  18. bloard

    bloard Peon

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    #18
    thanks.. I just messed with it a little more and can't get any more specific than a subdomain. Probably could get it to a subdirectory level also if I found the right one, but really can't force it to accept an individual page. Let me know if someone figures out otherwise.

    In the meantime, I'm going to play with using cpc content network page targeting through keyword selection... just to see if it is possible. I know I will only share the adspace, instead of take it over entirely like I would through site targeting... but it might be a neat way to really target your traffic if you could focus an ad group so specifically to where it would appear on a certain page you are targeting. Don't know if it will work or not.

    I was successful in targeting a page here on DP forums, but it was through a very broad targeting, like bidding on "adwords" where I was on all kinds of adwords related pages on a ton of other sites too. Now I have to figure out how to hit a particular page on a particular site without also hitting a ton of others that I don't want.
     
    bloard, Mar 12, 2007 IP
  19. forumGuru

    forumGuru Peon

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    #19
    Just be careful about your conversion rate in the content network. There's a lot of parked domains and click fraud that takes place there. Just because your CTR is high does not mean it's paying off. I'm sure you've done your research, but I've seen some horror cases in this regard.
     
    forumGuru, Mar 12, 2007 IP