Shortly after I first signed up for adwords I turned off the content network on my campaigns. I was getting a load of clicks and not a very good return. Now after optimizing my search network campaigns I am very happy with them. I was thinking about creating a new campaign to try out advertising on the google adwords content network. Does anyone have any tips for content network only campaigns? Many thanks
Yes, don't run them The content network consistently under performs...at least when compared to the search network. If you want to try the content network be prepared to watch it very closey and exclude sites where you feel you're not getting quality clicks.
Agreed! Just spend ten minutes in the Adsense forum and you definitely wont want to run content ads anymore.
Yes, this is what drove me away from the content network in the past. However, I would like to try it out now and am planning to watch it closely and try and get it working for me. I see my competitors in the content network, so I would like to have a presence there also. Anyone have any more tips other then "don't use it"?
The best advice is to watch it closey and quickly exclude sites that are clicking on ads but not coverting. There are some good sites in the network - just takes awhile to block the crap ones. Targetted CPM ads are working better for me at this point than just flipping on the content network. Giev that a try.
I wouldn't run content ads either. Way too many "adsense sites" are so bad that people are just looking to click a link to get off the site and onto the next one. Those aren't clicks that are going to convert too well.
I have givin this a bit of thought, as I have some adsense sites as well. One thing to consider about the adsense sites, ie.. Traffic Equalizer, Directory Generator, etc... (neither of which I use), is that many of these sites are listed very high in the SERPS on Yahoo and MSN. Now maybe these sites are crap.. but at least the visitor is looking for the specific "search phrase" that is prominent on the site. For instance: Someone types in "mortgage refinance" into Yahoo Search and gets a TE page ranked number 5 in the results. The page has "mortgage refinance" all over the place, many times over a hundred occurances on the page. Now nobody wants to sift through all that garbage, but the familiar "google ad" looks like a promising link... Click. Sort of like being in the top 10 yourself. Just another way of looking at it. Also, you can possibly get some bargain clicks that way because so many people avoid the content network. Best Regards, Dave
I like Dave's insights like less competition and getting a high SERP by proxy. I recently turned off the content network for some of my campaigns. The main reason was I was getting unconfortable with the total amount I was spending. As I look at the ratios of dollars out to adwords versus revenue from conversion it looks like that was a mistake. I am turning content network on some of my campaigns that are geared toward business users. If I spend a dollar and make a dollar I really don't care if it goes through Google or some guy with a content site (even if there are some bad clicks). I'd like to hear from others what areas they find that content ads are a waste. I expect you'd be wasting your money on topics like ringtones, video games, mp3, etc and might do well on topics that the corporate world is interested in.