As I understand it and to put it as simply as possible; The search network shows adverts and results generated by the Google search engine based on keyword searches. The content network shows adverts supplied by Google Adsense program based on the web page content. It is possible for a site or web page to be part of both networks. Some sites, like Ebay, automatically show search network results based the category you are browsing, i.e. although you may not do an actual keyword search it generates sponsored ads as if you had.
Ah, not necessarily. You are right that most people get low quality traffic and lower volumes but that is because the content network is a completely different animal and you have to use different tactics. It takes time but once you find the right pages on the right sites that will display your ads, you can do some very serious business from them (and usually at a fraction of the price of search).
If you mean a much lower CTR and even lower conversion rate then I would agree. But, Google expect that so do not penalize you for it. It seems to me the content network is best used for creating brand awareness.
I think it depends what niche you are in. For me, using CPC bidding and placement targeting, my bid has to be much higher just to get ads to show and ave. CPC is actually about 50+% higher on the content network than on search.
So CPC is higher on content network than Search? I thought it was the other way around. OK, now I'm confused! lol
You mean your adwords don't automatically show up on both content and search? Each has seperate bidding prices?
I did say it depends on your market and that "For me, using CPC bidding and placement targeting,..." it was more expensive. It can be much cheaper on the content network if you don't target where you are shown but it can also get you a LOT of junk traffic from, for example, Eastern European social network sites that seem to be entirely populated by teenage girls (500k impressions in about 4 hours but fortunately I had a low budget set!) Not if you don't want them to. And, yes, you can set seperate prices and bidding strategies for each.
=== yikes! I see what you mean now bjewelled. Btw, using the content network for CPC bidding and placement targeting...would you say it's worth it then, especially if it can be higher CPC?
Depends what you want to achieve. I use it purely for brand awareness - get some nice ads, get your name in people's faces and hope they remember you next time they are looking for your product - without expecting anything in terms of clicks or conversions. As such it is a slow, long term tactic and difficult to quantify in terms of ROI.
Im not looking for brand awareness. So you think most would be suited to not have ads shown on content network?