Is PPC arbitrage w/ AdSense long obsolete?

Discussion in 'AdSense' started by jkoll, Sep 4, 2007.

  1. #1
    Trying to get a firmer grip on my dismal PPC earnings I am considering to go back to basics, purchase large number of keyword rich domain names and run on them some very basic parking/AdSense landing pages.

    What do you think is this still a viable option in today's Internet environment? Does this strategy still work for you?

    Thanks for you anwers

    jkoll
     
    jkoll, Sep 4, 2007 IP
  2. Adpubster

    Adpubster Peon

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    #2
    Legit arbitrage is still viable. Arbitrage involving MFA (which seems to be what you are proposing) is a good way to lose your Adwords and/or Adsense account.
     
    Adpubster, Sep 4, 2007 IP
  3. phinelinda

    phinelinda Well-Known Member

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    #3
    I have heard of people still having success with it. But make web'sites' not just landing pages to increase your PPC score with adwords.
     
    phinelinda, Sep 4, 2007 IP
  4. john269

    john269 Notable Member

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    #4
    It is against the TOS if you are using arbitrage and MFA together.
     
    john269, Sep 10, 2007 IP
  5. tbarr60

    tbarr60 Notable Member

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    #5
    I really dislike the term MFA. In reality every Google site is made for Adsense and every site built for making a profit could be considered Made For Adsense or Advertising or [fill in revenue stream here]. How about we call them CFS or content free sites?

    Anyways, arbitrage can be done. You may have a hard time finding the right niche but it can be done.
     
    tbarr60, Sep 11, 2007 IP
    Dollar likes this.
  6. Adpubster

    Adpubster Peon

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    #6
    Not quite, some of us retrofitted sites that predate Google. Adsense was hardly in mind when the site was created lol

    We were calling them MFAA (Made For Adsense Arbitrage) before.
     
    Adpubster, Sep 12, 2007 IP
  7. tbarr60

    tbarr60 Notable Member

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    #7
    I doubt that any one is considering older sites as CFS sites.

    Calling it MFAA doesn't demonstrate a clear knowledge of the real problems. GMail was made for Adsense and they push traffic to it with Adwords so it is a MFAA site by your terminology.
     
    tbarr60, Sep 12, 2007 IP
  8. tlainevool

    tlainevool Guest

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    #8
    I agree that MFA is a poor term. CFS sounds like a better description for what people usually mean when they say "MFA"., but even CFS doesn't really sound right to me. Some of these sites do have content, it's just really bad content. I think the key thing is the quality of the content. You could argue that Google itself is content free. That don't add any original content, they are just scraping everyone else's content, right? They are the ultimate MFA site.

    How about calling them POC (Piece of Crap) sites?
     
    tlainevool, Sep 12, 2007 IP
  9. Adpubster

    Adpubster Peon

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    #9
    MFAA didn't solve it either, but it did get closer to the heart of the problem of the low-paying clicks and the REALLY trashy directory/index etc sites. It isn't the best description, though, nor is MFA, nor is CFS...I don't think there is any all encompassing term, though CFS does apply. But, what about a site with a lot of content that is solely scraped articles about DUI and Asbestos? That has "content" but it still exists solely to put adsense on, and not to contribute to the corpus of knowledge that may be found by doing a search.

    I was going to suggest POS earlier, but POC is good, too :) How about CFSEoMGO sites. (Created For Search Engines or Monetary Gain Only) :D
     
    Adpubster, Sep 12, 2007 IP
  10. danimal

    danimal Active Member

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    #10
    get over the fixation of putting a silly name on everything, and stop going off-topic... this thread is about websites, not gmail :rolleyes:

    for those of you like tbarr60, who don't understand what an mfa is, it's called that because google invented the problem when it kept lowering the adwords pricing structure downwards.

    back in 2005, the minimum adwords bid was 5 cents, and google removed even that limit... which is why publishers see 2 clicks for 1 cent today :mad:

    it's a natural for arbitrage, because it's the cheapest traffic on the 'net... notice how there is no such thing as a made for ypn site? that's because the minimum overture bid is 10 cents, the last time i looked.

    so it's the google whored-out keyword pricing that created this made-for-adsense situation... since google cracked down on some of the mfa scumbags, they just altered the landing pages to continue to take advantage of the cheap traffic google provides.

    until google restores the adwords minimum keyword bid, there will always be mfa sites, even if they have to monitize with affiliates instead of adsense.
     
    danimal, Sep 12, 2007 IP
  11. tbarr60

    tbarr60 Notable Member

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    #11
    How about NVA - no value added sites?
     
    tbarr60, Sep 12, 2007 IP
  12. tbarr60

    tbarr60 Notable Member

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    #12
    The thread is about arbitrage. I am sorry to hear you are getting 1 cent for 2 clicks.

    I do have sites that have minimum bids of $0.02 but I often am bidding over $0.20 or even over $0.30 on those keywords to get decent traffic. You need to have some signs of quality and a good niche to make arbitrage work.

    BTW, GMail is a website. Google MADE it to make money. They it FOR something. They make money with the ADSENSE ads on it. Therefor GMail is a MADE FOR ADSENSE site.
     
    tbarr60, Sep 12, 2007 IP
  13. Adpubster

    Adpubster Peon

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    #13
    Agreed, but Google OWNS adsense so the rules do not apply to them :)
     
    Adpubster, Sep 12, 2007 IP
  14. nextgen66

    nextgen66 Well-Known Member

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    #14
    The whole MFA thing is stupid. Do you think Plentyoffish was just made for the hell of it? No, it was made to make money off adsense.

    Google obviously shows a lot of disgression. They tend not to have problems with a website that looks decent, MFA or not.
     
    nextgen66, Sep 12, 2007 IP
  15. Adpubster

    Adpubster Peon

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    #15
    LOL, I like that one
     
    Adpubster, Sep 12, 2007 IP
  16. tbarr60

    tbarr60 Notable Member

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    #16
    He said he just wanted to learn how to make a dot NET site. What a bother he has to cash $900,000 checks. :rolleyes:
     
    tbarr60, Sep 12, 2007 IP
  17. danimal

    danimal Active Member

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    #17
    i never claimed to be getting 1 cent for 2 clicks, learn how to read.

    i'm sorry to hear that you still can't tell the difference between email and a website :rolleyes: gmail is not an mfa site, because the email is unique and valuable content to the people who read it.

    to repeat the obvious, not every site that has adsense on it is an mfa site.
     
    danimal, Sep 12, 2007 IP
  18. tbarr60

    tbarr60 Notable Member

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    #18
    I just read in between the lines.

    Here check this out, it's a website with Adsense ads: www.gmail.com
    Every site is made for some financial gain.
     
    tbarr60, Sep 12, 2007 IP
  19. Adpubster

    Adpubster Peon

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    #19
    Absolutely not. Maybe because that's the way you see things...doesn't mean every site out there was created for some monetary/financial gain. Mine has been around before there was any way of monetizing traffic. I know a few others on here are in that boat, too.
     
    Adpubster, Sep 12, 2007 IP
  20. tbarr60

    tbarr60 Notable Member

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    #20
    If nothing else, it has added to your resume or has created a fall back career for you. It's just the MBA in me that can see value and in some case the cost far out weighs the value but there is value none the less.

    The first site I worked on back around 1995 was a .org that I did for free which led me to meeting a guy who's father owned a PR firm that needed some JavaScript work which led to ColdFusion work which led to PHP work, both of which have paid me full time for the last 7 years. The .org site is still there generating no revenue but it led to plenty of financial gain for me.
     
    tbarr60, Sep 12, 2007 IP