At last, I have found some answers to my question "What the **** is going on?" having come across the linked article by chance. So, you think you are bidding for position and that your pound/dollar is as good as the next man? Read on! "Bidding on ignorance" at http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/21/google_secret/print.html Should not Google come clean and tell us what we are really bidding on?
Google adsense is a widely accepted scam which is accepted by a large number of Internet users. It's only because Google owns the web !
Perhaps it is - I do not know because I do not have an adsense account - but the article is actually about Adwords!
Very interesting! I've spoken to "SEO gurus" in the past who have many negative things to say about Google. It's articles like this that really point further in that negative direction too. Like Soulzripper above says, Google owns the web. So, you've got to make a choice. Shun Google - or do what they want and make money online!! We can bash Google all we want, but the fact of the matter is, if you want to market your business EFFECTIVELY online, you've got to play the game.
Not sure we should go that far or we will all be bankrupt chasing spiralling 1st page bids! Hence my thread title! Yes we have to enter the game with eyes open but, in fact, we are being kept in the dark - Google suggest the game is played by one set of rules but run it by a quite different set.
You have to do a little research on your keywords before setting up a campaign. I'm on the first page with 4 keyword related phrases with adwords for only .05 USD. You don't need to spend a bunch of money to get a good return if you take a few minutes and do a little homework. That being said, google does own the internet. It's right on the cusp of a monopoly.
Yes, but that is hardly the point of the article. The essence is that Google appear to be manipulating the results to favour certain advertisers whilst disadvantaging the majority by limiting the number of impressions they get. Furthermore, they would appear to compound this by supplying dubious data that is pretty meaningless, i.e. Impression Share, lost IS, etc. Very true, and I do not have a problem with that but why not tell us what they are doing?