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Article Title:
==============
A Hard Look at PPC, Click Fraud and the Alternatives
Article Description:
====================
Just a few years ago, pay-per-click search engine advertising
seemed like it was the answer to the prayers of webmasters vying
for search traffic. Given the increasingly competitive nature of
PPC advertising and spiralling costs, many small- to medium-
sized businesses have begun to question that wisdom. With click
fraud running at 25% and click costs for certain keywords hitting
$50 a click, advertisers are looking for other solutions.
Additional Article Information:
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1268 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line
Distribution Date and Time: 2006-05-24 14:00:00
Written By: Bill Platt
Copyright: 2006
Contact Email: mailto:comments@thephantomwriters.com
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A Hard Look at PPC, Click Fraud and the Alternatives
Copyright � 2006 Bill Platt
the Phantom Writers
http://thePhantomWriters.com
With the creation of the Overture and Google Adwords systems,
many webmasters believed they had finally hit the mother load. It
was no longer necessary for small online businesses to invest
large amounts of money into Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
services to gain high search rankings in the natural search
results.
Even webmasters committed to SEO campaigns began to realize its
fleeting nature. Given frequent search engine algorithm changes,
optimizing a website was no guarantee that in 6 months or less it
wouldn't be back to square one and page twenty of the search
results.
PAY-PER-CLICK SEARCH ENGINE (PPCSE) PLACEMENT
With the advent of the PPCSE model created by Overture, and
followed by Google Adwords, webmasters felt like they had finally
found the level playing field that everyone talks about. Hiring a
SEO company was no longer necessary to crack the top search
engine results. A Page One placement could be purchased and often
for far less than the cost of a SEO company's services.
Webmasters discovered that they could get traffic to their
website for as little as one cent per click.
Pay-per-click, however, has evolved over the last 5 years and not
to the benefit of most webmasters. Although five cents is
currently the average starting bid price at most major search
engines, many sought after keyword terms can cost as much as $30
- $50 per click. Given the increasingly competitive nature of PPC
advertising and spiralling costs, many small- to medium- sized
businesses today might be better served hiring a good SEO company
to search optimize their websites.
WHO IS CLICKING YOUR PAY-PER-CLICK LINKS?
There are four types of people who click on pay-per-click ads.
Knowing who these people are helps explain why experts keep
telling us that 20% to 25% of all clicks on PPC listings are
"fraudulent clicks".
Personality Type #1: True-Blue Prospects
These are the people for whom you have placed your pay-per-click
ads. They see your advertisement; they like what they see; and
they click your link to see if you can actually serve their
needs.
Personality Type #2: Accidental Clickers
Every once in a while, even my finger misfires, and I click an
advertisement that I did not intend on clicking. My first thought
is usually, "Oh no...", and my first action is to find the back
button.
I didn't mean to cost that person money by clicking his
advertisement... but I did. It was an accident. Now, the
advertiser has to pay for my mistake. That bites.
Personality Type #3: Jealous Competitors
I would like to think that all of my, and your, competitors are
fine, upstanding people. And most of them are. But, there are
some who are not, and they click on pay-per-click links just to
be spiteful or just to cost their business rivals a few dollars.
Believe it or not, a good percentage of "fraudulent clicks" are
believed to be clicks perpetrated by people against their
competitors.
Personality Type #4: True-Blue Fraudsters
Not that long ago pay-per-click providers realized that there was
tremendous opportunity in offering small website owners a method
for cashing in on their limited traffic.
Today, a webmaster can go to any number of pay-per-click
services, add a small piece of code to a webpage and start
serving paid advertising the same day. Webmasters thus become
revenue share partners with the PPC provider, splitting revenues
with the PPC provider for each click.
Ethical webmasters, of course, put the needs of their advertisers
first and focus on putting eyeballs on their website so that
visitors can click on the advertising links.
But, the word "ethical" doesn't exist in the vocabulary of
some webmasters. These are the "true-blue fraudsters" who
believe in making "revenue at any cost... no matter who might be
hurt by their actions." They devise schemes to have their own
ads clicked in order to drive up their revenue share.
These webmasters, although a minority, are responsible for the
vast majority of fraudulent clicks. And, they are the same people
that should be taken out behind the barn, for a good
old-fashioned flogging --- one lashing for each stolen dollar
would be fine with me.
THE UNSEEN COSTS OF THE PAY-PER-CLICK SEARCH GAME
If the experts are correct in estimating that 25% of all clicks
are fraudulent, then you are paying out 33% more than you should
have to pay to get your business.
If you are converting PPCSE clicks-to-sales at a rate of $20 per
transaction, then you should be aware that your actual conversion
rate for non-PPCSE advertising would cost you an average of $15
per transaction. By escaping the pay-per-click search engine
model, you could in effect make an additional $5 per transaction
by cutting the fraud out of your marketing budget.
Personally, I would rather not pay the pay-per-click mafia the $5
a transaction that they are exacting against pay-per-click
advertisers.
WHERE MY ADVERTISING MONEY WORKS BEST
I have always gained the best bang for my buck with
pay-for-placement advertising. In a nutshell, I pay a monthly,
quarterly or yearly fee to have my advertising seen on various
websites. Banner advertising is always an option, but text links
provide better click-through rates (CTR's).
At any one time, you can find links to my websites on dozens of
other websites.
Here are a few examples of pay-for-placement, often referred to
as "paid inclusion", advertising networks:
ISEDN.org Network:
( http://www.ISEDN.org )
The Independent Search Engine and Directory Network (powered by
ExactSeek.com) is comprised of more than 200 specialty search
engines, search directories and article directories. Through
their system, you can buy quarterly or yearly top ten exposure
(http://www.exactseek.com/featured_listings.html) for specific
keyword phrases which are then shown through the ISEDN's 200
plus member websites. Their network claims to show paid inclusion
ads 150 million times per month.
Pricing starts at $4 per month per keyword phrase and goes down
according to the number of keyword phrases purchased. Quarterly
and yearly rates for one keyword phrase are $12 and $36,
respectively.
BraveNet.com Home Page Featured Advertiser Listing:
http://www.adbrite.com/mb/commerce/purchase_form.php?zone_id=8181
4
BraveNet is the number one provider of free web tools in the
world and through their AdBrite sales page you can purchase a 30
day text advertisement at the bottom of the Bravenet home page
for $1500 or a 3 month advertisement for $3500. According to the
Bravenet Media Kit (
http://www.bravenetmedianetwork.com/mediakit.php ), their network
serves 500 million page views per month.
ColdFront Network:
( http://www.coldfront.net/index.php/content/view/100/50/ )
ColdFront serves the Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing
Games (MMORPG) communities. With 150,000 unique visits and 12
million page views per month, they provide real advertising
value, if your target market happens to be in this area. Paid
inclusion can be purchased for $250 to $350 per month.
WHO LEFT THE BARN DOOR OPEN?
We put locks and deadbolts on our doors. In some localities, we
put bars on our windows. We keep our valuables in safes. We keep
our cars locked when we are not in them. We are a nation obsessed
with protecting our valuables.
And yet, when we advertise our online businesses, we seem to be
willing to let PPCSE providers steal 25% of our advertising
budget? It boggles the mind.
Personally, I am done with PPCSE companies until they can assure
me that my advertising dollars are protected from click fraud.
I have always relied on my own search engine optimization skills
to strengthen my natural search results. And frankly, I am pretty
good at it.
And, to supplement my own SEO efforts and organic search result
placement sucesses, or lack thereof, paid inclusion currently
offers me the best value for my money.
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