Display Network Problems!

[iamx]

Ok so lastweek I ran 2 campaigns on the content network. They were pending review for about 5 days. I contacted Google adwords and submitted a ticket. To which I never got an answer back. Well today I created a new campaign and it got approved almost right away. The problem is I'm getting only like 1 or 2 impressions!! I set my bidding to 11 cents max cpc

So I said hmm maybe my bids are to low? So I set my max CPC to 21 cents. Hours later I go check and still no impressions!! Is anybody having the same problem? I've never had this problem in the past, always get a high click threw rate to my ads with plenty of impressions. I'm stumped can anyone explain whats going on?

P.S. normally I start my MAX CPC at 30-40 cents... Could this be the problem because I'm bidding way lower then normal?

[dburk]

Hi iamx,

Advertising can be very different for each individual niche, and within the niche the competition for specific keywords can vary a great deal. Have you looked at the average CPC for the top 3 positions for each of your keywords? Of the ads that are receiving impressions, what ad position are you averaging?

You may not be able to just arbitrarily decide where to bid, you need to look at your competition and figure out where you need to bid to position your ad higher than your competitors. Your competitors collectively set the price range for your niche based on what they are willing to pay per click. There are some niches that may require bids in the $2.00-$3.00 range before you will see many impressions.