Re: Pay-per-click placings

From: Rob Frankel <rob_at_robfrankel.com>
Date: Fri 10 Aug 2001 06:39:33 -0500

STEVE HARRISON <merlin_at_paypermaster.com> WROTE:

>Another "problem" (cruel hoax?) with being #1 in GoTo
>is that phenomenon known as "partnering." When GoTo
>first announced that their top 3 listings would now be
>appearing at the top of AOL Search, Netscape Search
>(top 2), Alta Vista, Hot Bot, Lycos, and scads of meta
>search engines, we noticed two almost immediate effects
>on our top 3 listings.
>
>The first thing we noticed was a grand surge of
>click-thrus. GREAT! Now we're getting all sorts of
>traffic via GoTo... but wait... they aren't buying.
>
>In short, and especially regarding GoTo, those top 3
>listings were now getting extraordinarily compounded
>exposure in all these giant portal and search sites.
>And therein lies the rub. The relatively "targeted"
>traffic we had come to know and love from GoTo had
>suddenly been considerably diluted by a much more
>"general audience" traffic. The traffic count spiked
>upward -- the CR dropped like a streamlined safe.


Dead on, Steve. And that's the unwritten failure that
I've been preaching against Goto and the like for some
time now. It's only a matter of time until Goto fails.

There, I said it.

Now, here's another interesting take on PPC: I
recently soft-launched http://www.PillowMail.com (it's
a fun, clean, couples-oriented site, so don't go there
if you blush easily),

Our advertisers pay $1 per click. Pre-paid. Our worst
CTR is 4%. Our top is around 12%. Average is around 8%.

Why? Because we don't accept anything other than
qualified advertisers. And we don't provide anything
other than qualified traffic. By staying within our
niche and catering only to brand-compatible advertisers
(there's that branding thing again), we deliver the
goods -- paying customers.

At first, advertisers think, "Hey, you guys don't have
nearly the traffic of other PPC's." And they're right.
But those who do click through buy at a minimum of 8
times the average web ad rate, often way higher. At
that rate, a buck per new client is a bargain.

If you're dopey enough to pay big bucks for tons of
wasted impressions, though, Goto and the like are
definitely the way to go.


Rob Frankel, "Yes, I really do turn users into
 evangelists for your brand."
Big Time Branding (TM) http://www.RobFrankel.com
FrankelTips Weekly at: http://www.FrankelTips.com
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818-990-8623 - 888-ROBFRANKEL - AIM ROBFRANKEL



Received on Fri Aug 10 2001 - 06:39:33 CDT