Google Adsense/Yahoo Publisher Network - Any negatives?

CORRECTION: The services above were supposed to be "Google AdWords" and "Yahoo Sponsored Search".  I am looking to sell something, not promote other companies!

Apologies - I made the initial post at 4:00 AM =)

npinfotech -

No problem! It looks as if i have compounded your mistake by making the same one myself!

Should be....

My advice if this is your first venture into PPC would be to start with AdWords because the learning materials are more comprehensive than YPN.

The downside of AdWords and the thing to be careful of is that it is possible to waste a lot of money on the learning curve. Also if you are a large advertiser PPC can be challenging to manage.

Have you considered outsourcing PPC management? It's a question that may come up in your presentation.

- duz

 
 

Thanks for the response duz.

What I am looking for is any evidence that might make either one a bad service.  I don't want anyone to point to something like "Recent report shows that Google AdWords more hype than substance" or "small business poll: Yahoo Sponsored Search yields lower than advertised sales".  I'd also like a link to any negative article if possible.

I'd also like to see what experience people have with them - something like "I used AdWords and increased sales by x amount, profits by y amount, and they were easy to use".

Also, where would I go for PPC, and what's a typical pricing stucture for PPC services?          

npinfotech -

I don't think you will find any credible reports that AdWords is a bad service. I don't know of any independent case studies either but Google have a few themselves which may help your presentation here https://adwords.google.com/select/success.html

For PPC Management someone like Bruce Clay provides a good service http://www.bruceclay.com/web_ppctoolset.htm but approach several providers and ask for references.

As far as cost there is a minimum below which it does not pay to provide such a service, in Bruce Clay's case that is $1750 per month (about average). For budget purposes assume 20% of your PPC budget as a management fee.

- duz

More than anything else, you must lock in some form of measurement of conversions and paths through the site.  Without this all PPC is a crap shoot.  We use clicktracks analytics, Webtrends, and others.  Google's conversion tracking is ok, and you can set up cross-channel conversion tracking (rudimentary) all within Google.

I'm always amazed of the condition of PPC accounts when we start working with folks - low click, no measurement, untested ads, etc..  A conversion tracking tool that shows click tracks through your site is really helpful so that you can tell

* which keywords/ads/bids turned into high-pageview visitors
* which keywords/ads/bids turned into purchases

One terrific side effect of using PPC is that you can set up controlled testing of your sites' design.  If you know that the persons entering your site are typing in a certain keyword set, and they leave after 1 page view, you can turn off the campaign, re-design, and turn it back on.  Until you get it right.

Another side effect is that you can get nuggets of information to assist with Organic search engine optimization.

Google will automatically A/B test your ad copy for a given adgroup, but you need to do A/B between campaigns/adgroups for click throughs and conversions also.

Good luck!

I appreciate the advice guys, thanks.

Does no one have any personal opinions/experiences with "AdWords" or "Sponsored Search"?

Thanks for your opinion sitecreations - very helpful.

Just a couple more things: Are there any negative reports/media on these services?  Also, can anyone provide specifics about numbers (I raised sales by x amount by using adwords, or profits rose by y %)?

Is there a trade publication that reviews online marketing, like PC magazine reviews hardware/software?

No specifics since every website is different.

There is some evidence that people skip the sponsored ads.

I have a great eyetracking study:

http://www.enquiro.com/eyetrackingreport.asp

...that talks a lot about what people look at and click on.

Also... sales aren't really the only thing to consider, nor profits.  The key is ROAS (Return on Advertising Spend) which intergates sales, cost of ads, profits, margins, etc.  You have to be sure that the $$$ you're spending on advertising is coming back  a positive number when you do the math.  If you spend $100 to make $40, it's a bad deal, even if your profit was $39.99.  

Sc