hi guys I found an new keyphrase which has 0 bidding competition. I started a campaign with $0.01 as recommended by googles lowest price but it dosnt show up in the serps. Is there a minimum google has set in place before it shows your ad? thx in advance!
*sigh* if only it were that easy... Yes the minimum bid is $0.01 but it all together depends on your quality score. In most cases min bids range from 0.05 up to $10 a click depending on your quality score. Does it say your keywords are inactive for search? I think you should read a little about how adwords works.
wow thats tight!! even on an un bidded term, i have done very little bidding so shouldnt have a score yet!
Check you Min CPC on AdWords (unhide QS column in AdGroup) as mohamedd mentioned this could vary Your actual CPC is calculated by dividing your Quality Score by the Rank of the person below you (+ $0.01) Therefore if there is no competition at all your Max CPC could be $0.10 or $50and your actual CPC would still be your Min Bid.
Read these: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2006/01/common-adwords-misconception-explained.html http://adwords.blogspot.com/2007/10/common-misconception-revisited.html Also, in terms of assigning quality scores to keywords new to your account: "When new keywords are added Google calculates the quality score immediately to determine the minimum bid. Quality scores are updated based on how quickly Google can gather statistically significant data sets to calculate a new quality score. This can happen numerous times a day for high volume keywords and phrases whereas lower volume terms may have quality score updates applied a few times a week. The ad rank quality score is updated in real time and is based on historical data." From Q&A # 11.