So I just looked in my adwods account to find that it will cost me at least $1.00 to bid on my own name in Google. This is for the same name I own the .com name for! WTF!!!! I'm more relevant than any other plus my site is clean... no affiliate links and there are only 1-2 others bidding on my name. I use to get these clicks for very... very cheap. BTW... the same domain has authority status in Google... what's adwords coming to when it cost you too much to bid on your own name.
Is there something about Adwords costing less if the ad is really targetted i.e. having the keyword ( your name) in the actual title line of the ad? Someone told me the estimated cost per click could vary depending on wheter you have the keyword in the title.
You'll probably only end up paying under $0.10 for the clicks after a day or so - The $1 is to start, but if you're bidding on your own brand, your CTR will be pretty high, and your CPC will dramatically drop.
Why would you bid on your own name you are just wasting money! If your SEO is right when you search for your own name it should appear at the top of the rankings, especially if its your URL.
Same thing happened to me. Well, all i can say...Google is crazy! I hate them. really, i tried that too and it would ask me to bid $10 on my company's name. lolz
No, you're not wasting money at all. First, you're making sure that your competitors don't show up above your natural listing. Second, you can send customers directly into the sales funnel. You probably won't pay too much for branded clicks anyway, so it's definitely worth it (at least with the brands that I've seen).