Google Keyword List a Sham?

I've obtained a keyword list from googlest.com.

I think most of you are aware that the top keywords are webhosting, domains, lawsuits, meth, lemon law related...

I decided to test to see if is really a reality that someone is willing to spend up to $520 for a click.

I chose to go with "lemon law" which has one of the most appearances at the top 100.

I've also made sure 90% of my ads are lemon law related.

So currently I stand, 18 clicks and how much earned? $1.67. That's less than 10cents each.

Any thoughts?

 

I dont think that is a sham. I have tested this keyword at google adwords. Third position is for more than 100$, next position is for about 50$ - third $10 and most are for 3$. So if you will try think you will get to the point that somebody who gives that amount of money simply rejects content and use only search engine. And they can filter sities also. And google takes a lot of this amount.

 

I wouldn't say it's a total sham, true the TOP position keywords do cost that much, but the step up from say 4th position to 1st position is drastic. For example:

keyword ***

1st: $100
2nd: $40
3rd: $10
4th: $2
5th: $.80

The chances of getting top clicks are very rare. The average CPC $ for example, Lemon Law @ "$66.15", is totally crap. I have raked in more than 20 clicks now, and each clicks are getting around $.05.

 

And just because a keyword has a high payout, doesn't mean you will get those ads. Those advertisers might be targetting search results only, and not content sites.

 

I do not see the point of keyword lists.

• You will never get the full amount listed

• If you go with the top paying you will be sandboxed, so your site would have to be a good resource on whatever subject the keyword is to get out of the sandbox

• Making a site based on a keyword is making a site for adSense (against TOS)

• Making a site based on a keyword is not making a site about something you know / love, so is not going to be as good a site as one made about a subject you do know and love.

• A site made for a top paying keyword is going to be competing against a 100 other sites chasing after that very same keyword.



Well, that's my thoughts on the matter Think about the site first, keywords + ads second.

 

I'm not making a site just for Adsense, was just testing to see what's the fuss all about. Was just an additional link from my index page.

I have already taken down my Lemon Law page and am sticking with my original content.

 

Didn't say you were, its just my take on the whole keyword list thing

 

I haven't put up any pages specifically to chase keywords, but I have noticed that for the couple of pages I could tell what the keywords were, the payouts were much less than what is listed at adwords.

Being an adwords advertiser myself, I noticed pretty quickly that my money was getting eaten up by sites during times when my customers wouldn't be surfing. That led me to using just the search engines for a while, then having separate campaigns for adsense sites and turning off ads during certain times of day. People who are paying more than $2/click are watching what's going on for the most part and will do what they need to do to reduce their costs. There are exceptions, but they certainly aren't every word on a paid keywords list.

Also, I think there's been some speculation that the higher your PR, the higher your commission, but I don't know whether that was proven, invalidated, or if it's still just a theory.

 

That's interesting, I've not heard heard that rumour but if true could make PR very important again. I remember Shawn speculating about SERP positioning being related to payout rate but I don't think that was ever proven one way or the other.

 

I am convinced of this! There are a lot of factors needed to test this, but I am convinced that this holds true! I have tried many sites, many pages and all the high PR pages brought in more cash.

 

I agree with all of these points except the last one....make that 1000+ other competing sites.

 

The bigger problem is that you are making sites just to get adsense ads to show up. Make sites on a good topic, and the adsense money will come later on. Throwing up made for adsense sites/pages is just about the same thing as spam.

 

As I said, I was only trying to see what the fuss is all about. I already have well established websites with very good content.

Anyways, look what i found:

http://search.ebay.com/adsense_W0QQfromZR40QQsojsZ1

 

Freakrot is definitely on to something... I don't think most of the really high paying keywords are interested in showing up under content-site-match-ads... they are interested in the search results and you really can't test those keywords with search results as it would be a massive violation of 'da rules'.

 

Most people forget, that there is a HUGE difference between the maximum bid and the bid amount you actually pay as an advertiser. I looked at the keyword list one time. And a word I wanted to bid on was on there. It was ~$10 as listed - which is what google suggested you bid it at. But when you bought the ad, in reality, you only paid about ~$1 for the click. So, while its listed as a high paying word on the list, it really isn't. Too many people don't realize that the "high paying" keywords is just a list, not reality.

 

Most definately. I only run my own Adwords campaigns on search, never content.