$10 a click for every keyword?

Discussion in 'Google AdWords' started by athanasiusrc, Sep 4, 2007.

  1. #1
    I tried to set up ads for our new site and with two exceptions (a $1 and a $5 bid) Google is demanding $10 a click for every ad I try to create.

    I tried to create an ad for "clergy shirt" for this page (http://www.catholicchurchsupply.com/index.cfm/title/Clergy-Shirts/FuseAction/store.viewCategory/Category/1779/index.htm) and Google's help desk person said the landing page isn't "quality" and to read the landing page quality guidelines.

    After going through the whole doc I can't find anything that we aren't doing correctly according to Google's docs.

    If you look at the other sites' landing pages that are advertising for the same phrase, you will see that ours is about the best of the lot if not the best. Some of the pages don't even mention clergy shirts! I don't believe for a minute that these people are paying $10 a click on a $40 item.

    I also had heard that Google's "bot" will only look at a page you submit for an ad once a month even if you change the page or the ad. To verify this, I submitted an ad for a completely different keyword and landing page on a different topic and still was told that I had to bid $10 a click.

    We tried about two dozen different ads and keywords on different landing pages with the same result every time.

    Any suggestions? Is Google penalizing new advertisers and letting old ones skate on crappy landing pages?
     
    athanasiusrc, Sep 4, 2007 IP
  2. Huligan

    Huligan Peon

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    #2
    You have a really high minimum bid because you have a poor quality score. Keep in mind that quality score is calculated with several factors and your landing page is just one of those factors. Here they are.

    - Keyword relevance
    - Ad copy relevance
    - Landing page relevance
    - Click through rate (CTR)
    - Keyword performance history
    - Other relevance terms Google will not share

    You have other areas in your campaign where you can better your quality score. Just keep in mind the underlying rule with quality score is relevance. Here are some tips to improve your quality score. Good luck.
     
    Huligan, Sep 4, 2007 IP
  3. athanasiusrc

    athanasiusrc Peon

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    #3
    Nope. That's not it. I have tried several dozen keywords with different landing pages even getting as specific as "abbey brand long sleeve clergy shirt" which still is $10 a click for a page that has exactly that on it.

    I tried to create an ad for an article we wrote on choosing a chasuble. The keyword chasuble was $10 a click and the landing page was poor quality.

    When I copied the article to another site that successfully has used adwords, the quality suddenly shot up to great and the min bid was .05.

    I then added the keyword "rooster" to the ad and that came back as "good" with a minimum bid of .10. The word rooster doesn't appear anywhere on the page.

    I also didn't bother to change out things like the title tag or meta tags to match up with the article on the successful site so these things didn't match at all.

    Meanwhile, doing a search for clergy shirts shows:
    - Two ads for sites that don't sell clergy shirts and don't mention them in their ads.
    - An ad for shopzilla that returns no results for clergy shirts but does display the same Google ads as Google did.
    - Ads for other church supply sites that have one mention of clergy shirts buried in a page full of links.

    I think Google is just trying to soak new advertisers and letting existing ones skate.
     
    athanasiusrc, Sep 7, 2007 IP
  4. Cygnus

    Cygnus Cat Herder

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    #4
    1. Create a new campaign, mirroring everything you were trying to do, but with a different domain.
    2. Compare the results.
    3. Delete the old campaign if a favorable solution is reached.
     
    Cygnus, Sep 7, 2007 IP
  5. bigmarvloyal

    bigmarvloyal Active Member

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    #5
    Perhaps your domain has been "slapped" - try putting your new relevant content on another domain and see what results you get.

    Cheers

    Stewart
     
    bigmarvloyal, Sep 7, 2007 IP
  6. athanasiusrc

    athanasiusrc Peon

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    #6
    Wonder of wonders! Today all of our ads are running and one of them is for clergy shirts which is suddenly a "Great" landing page with a .04 minimum bid. Except for one keyword, everything else is Okay to Great with most bids around .15-.20.

    Perhaps because I spent so much time griping about the problem they took a second look.
     
    athanasiusrc, Sep 8, 2007 IP
  7. tvmatt

    tvmatt Peon

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    #7
    Google gets crazy sometimes for no reason. If you create a campaign & it has $10 min bids to start, but you have lots of relevant content & whatnot, leave it for a day or two - usually Google will occasionally show your ad, and the quality score might change from there.
     
    tvmatt, Sep 8, 2007 IP
  8. athanasiusrc

    athanasiusrc Peon

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    #8
    I got a note from Google tech support tonight saying that the system had made a mistake about how it rated my site and had since been corrected. Google admitted that it isn't perfect!
     
    athanasiusrc, Sep 10, 2007 IP
  9. soniqhost.com

    soniqhost.com Notable Member

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    #9
    Its good that everything has been cleared up for you.
     
    soniqhost.com, Sep 10, 2007 IP
  10. webboy

    webboy Peon

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    #10
    I have the same problem with three domains all my keywords are at 10.00
    I had 2,3c keywords and now grrrrr

    contacted support who tried to help and no luck

    have i been spanked ?
     
    webboy, Sep 11, 2007 IP
  11. athanasiusrc

    athanasiusrc Peon

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    #11
    Try creating a page that is identicle on this domain and one that is working properly. Submit ads for both and see if the rate is different. If the possibly slapped site comes back with a $10 click and the other doesn't, they have most likely slapped the domain.
     
    athanasiusrc, Sep 12, 2007 IP
  12. axina

    axina Peon

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    #12
    the copy of another campaign which have been banned
     
    axina, Sep 12, 2007 IP
  13. webboy

    webboy Peon

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    #13
    Running the test now
     
    webboy, Sep 12, 2007 IP
  14. FCUSA

    FCUSA Guest

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    #14
    Can someone tell me what "Spanked" means on google?
     
    FCUSA, Sep 13, 2007 IP
  15. webboy

    webboy Peon

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    #15
    A.. Wooping (spanking is a british term)

    Keywords down 2c At last !!! Well done chaps , now how long will this last
     
    webboy, Sep 13, 2007 IP
  16. Hade

    Hade Active Member

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    #16
    I once incorrectly entered an URL into adwords. It must have thought the 404 page was a crap landing page and tried to hit me with £5 minimum bids. I tried resubmitting the fixed ad etc. and it didn't work.

    I think the problem sorted itself out eventually.
     
    Hade, Sep 13, 2007 IP
  17. ppc-cpc

    ppc-cpc Guest

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    #17
    Cool to hear that u have achieved what u were looking for. Thanks! Its definitely going to last long, if u regularly optimize the campaigns in terms of new keywords, CPC, landing page, etc.

    Google does sometimes shows blunders as in your case. Mostly, these are technical problems and get rectified soon.

    I face similar problems while creating PPA Campigns and adgroups in existing campaigns. A recent instance is that, google is not showing any expense for conversions through PPA Campigns. It shows the impressions, clicks and all other details but cost column displays null. Wonder! how is it all abt...
     
    ppc-cpc, Sep 14, 2007 IP
  18. committed2u

    committed2u Peon

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    #18
    moral of this story: when in doubt, ask google directly :p
    google makes mistake too.
     
    committed2u, Sep 14, 2007 IP
  19. just_life

    just_life Peon

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    #19
    Very interesting read.

    Can anyone please explain what outgoing links do you have on your landing page?

    Thanks
     
    just_life, Sep 14, 2007 IP
  20. Zibblu

    Zibblu Guest

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    #20
    Quoted for truth.

    One of the main reasons I've gone away from focusing on PPC is the absolute nightmare of dealing with Google's constantly changing "rules." Drives me crazy. Sure SEO can be a nightmare too... but at least with that you are working towards something more long term.
     
    Zibblu, Sep 14, 2007 IP