Is Google ripping me off??

6 replies
I have a few sites up with adsense on them which are getting a few clicks a day. Problem is my clicks are ranging from 0.01 - 0.09c per click!! Why am i only getting chump change from these sites? I've already done my research from these sites and according to spyfu i should be getting at least 40c per click. When my sites first went up i was getting 25c clicks and that was ok, then all of a sudden my cpc dropped tremendously.Today i just got a click worth only 1 cent! .Can anyone explain this? most of my sites are product based and i have one on the health niche.
#google #ripping
  • Profile picture of the author Tony Dean
    You might get a better response if you post this question in the Adsense part of the forum.

    You don't let us know what country you are in - every country shows different ads geo-targeted for that country.

    It may be at the moment there are not enough advertisers targeting those particular keywords and therefore, the cost of the clicks is very low.

    When you use Spyfu, which country is it targeting?

    I agree though that 1c. clicks is extremely low.

    Have you gone to Google search in your country and put in the keywords and seen what results come up in the searches? What about the ads along the side and at the top. Are there enough Adwords ads, or very few for those keywords?
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  • Profile picture of the author Jhf14
    This is why I am not a fan of Google's Pay-Per-Click monopoly... I would run a test... try putting up adbrite ads instead of Google and see what happens... If adbrite is higher cpc, then keep those for a while while you contact Google and show them (with screenshots) the discrepency between the two CPCs
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnnieR
    acur042,

    There are several factors we know about (and probably many that we don't) that will affect your share of an AdSense click, regardless of what SpyFu or any other tool tells you. In fact, I'm pretty sure the number that SpyFu gives you is the total cost per click that the advertiser pays Goog, not just your share of the click -- and I've heard an estimate that you get to keep about 40% of the cost of the click, and G keeps the other 60%. So even at 40 cents per click, your take would be around 16 cents.

    I've even heard that Goog follows your visitors once they click, and, depending upon the percentage of visitors who click a paid ad, then end up actually buying from the advertiser, that percentage of people who actually buy the advertiser's product on average, can have an effect on cost per click. In other words, the more people who click your ads and actually BUY the advertiser's product on average, the more expensive your clicks become. I've even heard that if one site in your AdSense account has ads that don't convert into sales well, that one site can poison your click price for all other AdSense ads on all your other websites.

    And with the current state of the economy, I'm hearing that advertising expenditures are unusually low... translation: very little being spent on advertising means companies aren't willing to bid very high for these clicks at the current moment. As the economy improves and companies develop a new 'taste for blood' in heavy advertising expenditures, you should see them begin to bid higher and higher for clicks, trying to outbid their competition.

    Bottom line -- there are a lot of rumors about what factors affect click prices... and for many of them there's little or nothing you can do. But AdSense is one of the very best things going out there, so continue to learn the ropes and experiment... at any rate, I truly expect click prices to rise as the economy turns around and businesses begin to bid higher for clicks.

    Good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author dsmpublishing
    Hi guys

    my husband has had bad adsense clicks himself lately i think there may well be a fault - because the same ads a month or so again were great without a problem at all.

    kind regards


    sam
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  • Profile picture of the author andyj00
    Sounds like you have been smartpriced? Try taking your ads off for 2-3 weeks, then put them back on and see what happens.
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  • Google only pays out when they value your site. Until you are ranking and have good traffic from sources they consider relevant and authoritative you won't make much. Another thing which will really drive down your CPC payout is using too many ads.

    Google applies a quality score to your ENTIRE account. So one junk site can really pull down your profits.

    Time to take a closer look at what you are doing. Just throwing up ads and targeting some niche doesn't mean you'll make money. Make a quality site and integrate Adsense wisely and then cash in.

    How can you give advice on Adsense about what works, or doesn't work, if it's not working for you?

    I have no problems making money with Adsense. Google is still pulling in massive advertising revenue.
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