Why? - Low impressions on high search terms - Google content network

[Sean Bissell]

Happy Wednesday!

This is baffling my mind...

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I'm trying to play around with the Google Content network and I'm throwing a bunch of high search keywords into the mix just to get some initial data, etc.

At the moment, I don't care if I lose some money.

I just want data and I'll clean it up later.

But I've left the campaign going for about 18 hours and I'm just over 400 impressions.

And this is in the weight loss niche.

And right now (even if it's not the best idea) I'm bidding on high search keywords like...

"how to lose weight"

And about 20 others.

I've played around with my bid from .20 cents up to .38 cents and it does not seem to effect the impressions.

Any ideas of why my impressions are so low?

Thanks for any insight, I really appreciate it!
-Sean

[dburk]

Hi Sean,

It takes a while for Content Network campaigns to start generating impressions. Can be as much as 48 hours before you see the full impression level.

Since you are advertising on the content network, the number of searches on search engines are not necessarily an indicator of how many impressions you will have on the content network.

The weight loss industry is highly competitive and has a lot of competitors. You may need to raise the bids quite a bit more to start seeing impressions. Look at the average position of your ads to get an indication of whether your bids are too low.

[Sean Bissell]

dburk,

Thanks for the help!

I'll stick it out for awhile then.

But as far as placements go. Does content network have placements?

If so, mine says "n/a"

Interesting...
-Sean

[KirkMcD]

Originally Posted by Sean Bissell

Does content network have placements?

Yes.

If so, mine says "n/a"

Did you do any?

[Sean Bissell]

KirkMcD,

Good point

I actually "mistyped"

When I said "placements" I meant to say "positions"

I didn't think the content network had a way to get a better position like PPC allows you to do with search.

So I guess my question is: If you bid higher in the Content Network do you get a better position like you would in search? Or do you just get more impressions?

Thanks!
-Sean

[KirkMcD]

In theory, higher priced ads/best quality score get shown first on a page.

[dburk]

Originally Posted by Sean Bissell

KirkMcD,

Good point

I actually "mistyped"

When I said "placements" I meant to say "positions"

I didn't think the content network had a way to get a better position like PPC allows you to do with search.

So I guess my question is: If you bid higher in the Content Network do you get a better position like you would in search? Or do you just get more impressions?

Thanks!
-Sean

Hi Sean,

Yes, you do get higher positions when you bid higher, just like you do with the search network.

Since content network ads are triggered at the ad group level, you will see your ad position listed in the total for the ad group. This is one of the reasons you should not mix content network ads into the same ad group with search network ads. An even better idea is to create separate campaigns for your content network ads.

[jen31]

Hi,

Google does not only consider your bid, it also considers your quality score. The higher your quality score and bid, the better position you have. So try to increase the CTR or your ads. You can do this by creating good and targeted ads.