PPC Content Campaign: I can't figure out why it isn't working anymore...

ClearWater404 · 09-24-2009, 08:04 AM

I used to run a profitable Content (Placement) campaign before it got slapped - I duplicated the campaign (now with a better landing site), but I hardly get any impressions now. I need your help and expertise.

Here are the detailed facts:

I had a profitable campaign running earlier this year on G Content network, and after a 4-6 weeks of fine tuning it was consistently producing several thousands in revenue, and about 50% of that was profit.

I ended up only running my ads on 3 placement managed websites. CTR on my adgroups were >2%, some >10%.
I am not very experienced with Content campaigns, and although now I have heard I should have 20-40 keywords per adgroup (=theme), I had about 5-10 at most.

After a couple of months, I got G slapped. I was told the LP site I was directing the traffic to was lacking content, and G simply didn't give me any impressions anymore.

Now I have built small WP site, with an angle to that Niche, on the main keyword phrase that used to trigger the most impressions and revenue. It is even in my domain name like "keyphrase.net". I rank #7 in Google for organic search results.

I have now created a new PPC campaign in Adwords by copying the original campaign as is (or almost: I used to have phrase, exact matches included which I learned later are not relevant for Content).

I targeted same placements. I used same Adwords account. Now with a different display and destination URL of course for the ads.
The ads took 4 days to get "approved".

Results:
Instead of seeing 2000-6000 impressions per day, I have 2 to 15 impressions, limited to 2 adgroups. On the days I had over 10 impressions my CTR was around 15%, but my ad position is avg 8-9, while it used to be 2-3 in the "good old days". It has been running for 3 days now.

What is happening - why don't I get more impressions?

What can I do to get back to having a profitable campaign?

Dave Ward · 09-24-2009, 11:08 AM

Can be down to a number of different factors, I can understand you don't want to go into specifics but it is hard to give a clear answer without knowing more. First thing that comes to mind for me is your going to have to increase your placement bids if you want position 2-3 back which is where the traffic is on the content network. Problem you have is your old campaign had history, your new one has to start again.

pauljeaston · 10-01-2009, 12:20 AM

When using placement in content network, is a trial offer a good offer under the health niche?

Mary42 · 10-01-2009, 01:55 AM

Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI) allows you to insert any one of your keywords into your advertisement text. You need to use the following syntax in your ads {KeyWord:default term}. The default term is used by Google AdWords when the keyword is not allowed to be inserted (For example, if it exceeds the character limit).

Lucid · 10-01-2009, 08:02 AM

Mary, DKI is ignored for the content network.

Another thing is that there is no QS for the content network. Straight CTR is used for ad rank calculations. Well, there is a "quality score" but not calculated in the same way as for the search network. For content, QS is basically a go/no-go switch and one of the things that switches it to off (QS=1) is if you promote an affiliate site, one where it is your own site and you have links to affiliate merchants. I think that's what happened to you. Link directly to the merchant's page instead.

09-24-2009, 08:04 AM	#1
ClearWater404 Active Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 75 Thanks: 19 Thanked 6 Times in 5 Posts	PPC Content Campaign: I can't figure out why it isn't working anymore... I used to run a profitable Content (Placement) campaign before it got slapped - I duplicated the campaign (now with a better landing site), but I hardly get any impressions now. I need your help and expertise. Here are the detailed facts: I had a profitable campaign running earlier this year on G Content network, and after a 4-6 weeks of fine tuning it was consistently producing several thousands in revenue, and about 50% of that was profit. I ended up only running my ads on 3 placement managed websites. CTR on my adgroups were >2%, some >10%. I am not very experienced with Content campaigns, and although now I have heard I should have 20-40 keywords per adgroup (=theme), I had about 5-10 at most. After a couple of months, I got G slapped. I was told the LP site I was directing the traffic to was lacking content, and G simply didn't give me any impressions anymore. Now I have built small WP site, with an angle to that Niche, on the main keyword phrase that used to trigger the most impressions and revenue. It is even in my domain name like "keyphrase.net". I rank #7 in Google for organic search results. I have now created a new PPC campaign in Adwords by copying the original campaign as is (or almost: I used to have phrase, exact matches included which I learned later are not relevant for Content). I targeted same placements. I used same Adwords account. Now with a different display and destination URL of course for the ads. The ads took 4 days to get "approved". Results: Instead of seeing 2000-6000 impressions per day, I have 2 to 15 impressions, limited to 2 adgroups. On the days I had over 10 impressions my CTR was around 15%, but my ad position is avg 8-9, while it used to be 2-3 in the "good old days". It has been running for 3 days now. What is happening - why don't I get more impressions? What can I do to get back to having a profitable campaign?

09-24-2009, 11:08 AM	#2
Dave Ward HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 150 Thanks: 4 Thanked 192 Times in 21 Posts Social Networking	Re: PPC Content Campaign: I can't figure out why it isn't working anymore... Can be down to a number of different factors, I can understand you don't want to go into specifics but it is hard to give a clear answer without knowing more. First thing that comes to mind for me is your going to have to increase your placement bids if you want position 2-3 back which is where the traffic is on the content network. Problem you have is your old campaign had history, your new one has to start again.

10-01-2009, 12:20 AM	#3
pauljeaston Pauljeaston Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 91 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: PPC Content Campaign: I can't figure out why it isn't working anymore... When using placement in content network, is a trial offer a good offer under the health niche?
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10-01-2009, 01:55 AM	#4
Mary42 Warrior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 7 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: PPC Content Campaign: I can't figure out why it isn't working anymore... Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI) allows you to insert any one of your keywords into your advertisement text. You need to use the following syntax in your ads {KeyWord:default term}. The default term is used by Google AdWords when the keyword is not allowed to be inserted (For example, if it exceeds the character limit).

10-01-2009, 08:02 AM	#5
Lucid Senior Warrior Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 1,096 Thanks: 10 Thanked 121 Times in 115 Posts	Re: PPC Content Campaign: I can't figure out why it isn't working anymore... Mary, DKI is ignored for the content network. Another thing is that there is no QS for the content network. Straight CTR is used for ad rank calculations. Well, there is a "quality score" but not calculated in the same way as for the search network. For content, QS is basically a go/no-go switch and one of the things that switches it to off (QS=1) is if you promote an affiliate site, one where it is your own site and you have links to affiliate merchants. I think that's what happened to you. Link directly to the merchant's page instead.
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