This may look a little offtopic but i belive it is related to adsense. Recently i realized that i NEVER clicked google Adsense add. It is not that i didn't wanted to click them it is just that i do not look at them as they are almost always very easy to spot, even blended, so i think to myself "o yeah adsense". So my question is do you guys click ads? Or is CTR of SEO/Marketing blog lower then let's say health blog CTR?
I never have, even before i was a webmaster because i just viewed them as 'spam' .. but, i'm an above-average internet-user.. Now that I've used Adwords and Adsense i go out of my way to be certain that I never click an ad.. Funny side-note.. the other day i was in a co-worker's office talking about the new iPhone.. we wanted to to lookup the specs, so he goes to google, searches "iPhone" - and clicks the very first result, which was an Adsense ad.. he read it for a few seconds, hit the back button and hit the 2nd result - also an ad.. read it, hit the back button, then hit the THIRD result, which was actually organic result #1, and that gave him what we wanted.. this guy is a way-above average internet user and he still clicked on ads without even thinking twice about it... I guess PPC still has a future..
First question: No, I never click ads. That's because I am in the AdSense program, and I don't look at ads as a potential consumer. I look at ads to see how otehrs implemented them. Second question: I wouldn't say the CTR would be lower. People just starting out in the SEO/Marketing industry would be just as likely to click on an ad, because they are actively looking for information. If they see an ad with good copy, and it catches their eye, they will click on it.
I actually click an add at a good site. Alot of Open Source projects that support their site with ads, etc I will give em a click or two. It's not like another adsense trap owned by some group in India that steal content for the purpose of setting up an adsense site.
I think someone on one of my websites did this! I suddently had 4 page views and 4 clicks, within a very short space of time! But no, I have never clicked ads myself. I always thought they were spam too.
I think you have some good points her. P.S. To make things clear i am NOT asking about clicking OWN ads , i am asking about any ads you see on the internet.
As all of you above, I considered them spam. I have clicked very few ads and it was an adsense click to a site named soulcast.com that made me enter this webmaster world.
i click on ads where i find the good content bcz they give me something so i must give them something in return
I don't click ads, maybe just by mistake, and by mistake i mean when i know they ads and miss click . I'm always in a hurry
I rarely click an ad. Sometimes I do to sponser those who I think deserve it (providing a good article etc.. or open source like joomla). I only click an ad that interests me though. So.. it still has to be relevant. I like to read through incase what they offer is useful to me mostly though.. it isnt.. lol
yea, I do,but not the ads on my blogs I don't know why but sometimes when i hanging around to other sites or blogs and the ads in there showing an "eye-candy" headlines, it deserves my click. And I got what I want after click it. That's important.Even i know what ads program he/she used, but if the ads appears the content/services/product that I'm looking for, yea, i will click it.
I always looked at them as being spam as well. The few times I have clicked an ad they were useless and not at all what I was looking for.
For those of you that posted "i sometimes click to support or sponser a site" .. please sign up for an adwords account and dump a few hundrded bucks (or more) on a campaign.. I guarantee you'll never flush and advertiser's money down the toilet like that again..
I click ads rarely and only if they are interesting and potentially would bring me to the website that has useful info on the topic that i`m researching
I always click once(!) on ad. before closing that site. It's not hard for me to click on ad. and then close window, but owner of that site will be happy to see some cents from my click in his adsense account. Do you agree with me?
Don't you think just outlining India is a bit too much. I have had my content stolen from people in the us, uk, mexico, middle east, australia, new zealand and many other such countries. And not only this I have dealt with a very bad spammer from the us. He made thousands of pages using my content & used to make a carbon copy of my site. Therefore don't just put it on one country as that sounds a bit racist. Also only because one person or a group from a certain country was wrong that does not mean that the whole country is wrong. And also if you are clicking on the ad just to provide a click or two just to support the person than it's straight click fraud. I absolutely hate people who do that as I am an active adword advertiser and would not like my money wasted in a "click or two".
And yes if all the people here agree with what you are saying than adsense will be dead by the end of this year. This would certainly lead to fake clicks therefore no return on investment to the advertisers which would inturn lead to no advertisers. Fake clicks = No return on investment for advertisers = Bad reputation for google = No more advertisers = Adsense dead
I click ads all the time, even though I know its an ad....If it has and describes what I need then I will click it....especially when I am looking for something in the SERPS and I can't find it on the first page.....I got to the ads...
Yes and this is the whole concept of a targeted visitor. Not only would this bring the advertiser a potential sale or a lead but would also induce him to invest more in adwords thereby leading to more money for the person running adsense ads.