Placement-only, Keywordless, Adwords Campaigns?

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mstef

mstef

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Dec 11, 2008
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Hey,

Trying to test out the adwords content network because I still suck at search. Instead of going keyword-based I wanted to try hand-picking sites that I believe will convert well for certain offers, etc. I've never tried the content network and am getting a little confused, and the Adwords help section blows completely..

Can you just specify the placements and avoid adding a billion keywords? If you want to advertise on site about shoelaces, I don't see the point of adding every keyword you can think of having to do with shoelaces. And if my entire campaign was for a shoelace offer, and I was targeting specific placements, what's the point of different adgroups?

Maybe someone can just explain this a little for me..

Thanks
 


Yes, you can. I don't use content network much, but if you do a placement-targetted campaign you don't choose any keywords.

Only problem I have is getting enough impressions but that might be because I usually bid too low.
 
Thanks..

Is there a way to track which placement/site the traffic is coming from so you can use 202..?

Any point to having more than one ad group?
 
The way I've started a number of content-network campaigns is running keyword targeted campaigns at first, and then seeing what websites the conversions come from and at what cost. From there, you can pick out sites to placement-target. It definitely helps to expand the sites that you come up with to placement target originally.

You can create placement-level destination URLs for each site placement, so that's an easy way to track.
 
Two problems I keep running into if anyone can help this would be great.

1. With KW content campaigns sometimes i just can't get any good level of impressions even with $1.0 clicks

2. With URL placement content campaigns half of the URLs I want (even if i know for a fact they have adsense) the big G tell me that URL is not availalble

Anyone, got any suggestions?
 
1: Sometimes it take a while for impressions to ramp up. 3-4 days to get going and maybe even a week to get full on impressions, from what I've seen. Maybe try going to the sites that you know your ads are running on and see what *page* in the adunit your ad is on (use the little up/down arrows on the ad), if it's there at all. If it's there, but not on the first page, you should bid higher or improve CTR.

2. I've noticed that if the sites don't have high enough traffic Google won't let you placement target them, despite the fact they're running adsense.

GoogleSearchSux said:
Two problems I keep running into if anyone can help this would be great.

1. With KW content campaigns sometimes i just can't get any good level of impressions even with $1.0 clicks

2. With URL placement content campaigns half of the URLs I want (even if i know for a fact they have adsense) the big G tell me that URL is not availalble

Anyone, got any suggestions?
Click to expand...
 
Content network is not simple by any means. If you cannot run a profitable campaign on search, chances are you will lose your shirt with content.

What I do is first optimize my campaign and LP with search traffic (It is much easier to do this with targeted traffic). I then create a separate content network campaign and slowly add keywords and adgroups. Here is what you should be prepared for:


  1. You must have a good tracking system (prosper202 or similar). Without tracking, you will fail.
  2. Bid at least $1.50 per click to get decent number of clicks. You will burn through few hundred or may be a couple of thousand dollars before you make profit. Your goal should be to find sites that convert. Blacklist the sites that do not convert.
  3. You will have to work very hard to get a good CTR, otherwise your click costs will never let you make any profit. (This means studying your placement reports on a daily basis, improving ad copy etc.). Here also blacklist the sites that show poor CTR. Sites like gmail.com, youtube.com should be blacklisted right from the get go. They have never produced good CTR for me.
There are many other content network threads that you may want to read before you start.
 
@webtrend - I planned to hand-pick placements rather than let ads run wild. I'd be happier with less impressions which are highly-targeted. In this scenario, I certainly don't see the need for $1.50 bids, unless I was aiming at dieting or finance or something - which I'm not. I was thinking about using 202 for this too but with only like 15 or so placements per campaign/offer, I can just use subids since there are no keywords involved - just placements.
 
Thanks Sohan..

Alright, last question..

Is there a way to get any idea what the CPC will be for certain placements?
 
Another question..

How do they decide on the necessary bid prices for ads when you go placement-only? Is it based on the keywords that the site serves ads for, even though you are only specifying keywords? I know if there are other people choosing that placement then it's based on competition..

I have 5 campaigns for 5 different niches, and only one is getting impressions cause my bid is .80 compared to .20-.40 for the others.

Makes it hard to run anything that isn't paying out over $10-15
 
No way to get {bid} etc and no idea about pricing. I just put a bid in I feel that should be acceptable for that site + 20c. Just take it from there.
 
I often use placement targeting and additionally add keywords. This way I can control a bit on what pages my ads are displayed.
 
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