Cost per click ($0.42 on average) was down 13 percent from a year ago but up 3 percent from the first quarter. source : http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/17/how-google-made-its-q2-numbers-squeezing-expenses/ Based on your experience, do you think this figure is accurate ? Have you seen the 13% decrease from last year ?
CPC average is probably accurate. Interesting information but not to optimize your own campaigns. I assume the 13% decrease is accurate as well, but again, not at all useful. For the record, I manage campaigns where it has gone up, some down and some about the same. Impossible to know the exact cause of those ups and downs since CPCs are often changed. I do have two campaigns where the CPC is not changed that often. Comparing June 2008 to June 2009, the actual CPC has gone down 25.8% and 42.1%, this last one where the bid has not changed at all in that one-year period. A third has gone down 12.3% but the bids are often adjusted. A fourth campaign has gone up by 13.2%. So for three out of four I have data for both years, I've saved them money. I have noticed a drop in conversions as well.