I believe Google ads cost more on google searches than on articles on websites or article sites. That ads on searches achieve better click through rates than those on articles. Do you place ads on either or both Google searches? How does your return on investment from each compare?
If you do content placement correctly, you may end up with higher profits on ads placement on article sites... but then you need to remember that people searching for specific product related information on search are more targetted customers than the ones visiting article sites for product information.
Articles may be dumb, and may not get clicked, but Search Ads are live always, that is the difference..
but Search ads cost more than Content ads and if they don't get clicked - am I right assuming advertisers don't pay? I've noticed that cleverer advertisers (Google adwords) are advertising more alongside articles. I've had articles achieve 150% ad click rate so can see why. Even dumb articles - I can't say for sure without writing and publishing some myself - could be working for their publishers as if the information you're looking for is not there but an ad offering it is there must be a high chance you'll click it...am I missing something? I wondered if there were any tricks for placing ads with content that buyers would share. Also some information on the difference in price between ads in search and ads on content would be appreciated
I would bet that it would depend on the keywords. Maybe a difference between truck tires, 6-pack abs, and butterfly nets. Unless you know of a place where people report ROIs like this, the only real way you can know is to.... test.