Adsense - What's Your Discrepancy?

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I recently added adsense to a site and it's been making about $2 - $3 a day. Which is nice but I feel a little ripped off considering what I'm often getting paid per click.

GKT says that it's roughly $1 per click. I believe that Google takes out 32% (correct me if I'm wrong) and the advertiser receives the remaining 68%. Yet I typically only get around .20 to .30.

I suppose I'm lucky in the fact that my adsense has a ridiculously high CTR of around 13% or it'd be making nothing.

Anyhow, what is your discrepancy between Google Keyword Adword Tool and what you actually receive per click?
#adsense #discrepancy
  • Profile picture of the author junilerick
    bump.

    Yoo hoo~ anyone here still use adsense?
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    • Profile picture of the author Dellco
      You should not pay too much attention to the Google Keyword Tool figure, because that is only the max bid. And it applies only for Adsense for Search Network, which is the Adwords ads you see on Google search results pages. The Content Network is different......

      Just take it as a rough guide.

      I have had sites where the GKT showed low CPC, get pretty high paying clicks occasionally, and sites where the CPC is supposed to be $9 only get sub $1 clicks (< $1) almost all the time, only rarely going a bit higher.

      So you see, you cannot predict how much you will get. I suggest not paying attention to the so called bid figures unless you are involved in Adwords.
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      • Profile picture of the author junilerick
        Originally Posted by Dellco View Post

        You should not pay too much attention to the Google Keyword Tool figure, because that is only the max bid. And it applies only for Adsense for Search Network, which is the Adwords ads you see on Google search results pages. The Content Network is different......

        Just take it as a rough guide.

        I have had sites where the GKT showed low CPC, get pretty high paying clicks occasionally, and sites where the CPC is supposed to be $9 only get sub $1 clicks (< $1) almost all the time, only rarely going a bit higher.

        So you see, you cannot predict how much you will get. I suggest not paying attention to the so called bid figures unless you are involved in Adwords.
        Thanks alot Delco that really cleared things up

        I've never heard that advertisers were paying different amounts based on Search and Content Network.

        But the CPC found in GKT is still the only way that would give anything resembling what can be expected for the actual CPC, right? So just use it as more as a compartive guide, I guess.
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        • Profile picture of the author paulgl
          I've rolled this around many times.

          You find a keyword that pays $50.
          On the content, maybe it goes for $20.
          But that's on high PR, high valued, much loved sites.
          Your site would probably go for no more than half, $10.
          But...that would be if the second tier people were targeting
          your site. They probably won't. You get the left overs at
          less than $5, probably near $2. The best performing ads
          get placed on top, not the most paying. In fact, the
          best adwords users get a lower CPC. That means, maybe, the
          lowest ad on your site is going for 50 cents or less.
          Hence, you get 30 cents a click.

          In short, the riches you were promised from that $50
          keyword are now whittled down to 30 cents. And people
          like yourself complain about being ripped off. All they
          need is a little knowledge about how adwords works
          and how google calculates the value of an ad on your
          site. It is an auction, BTW, and people bid on sites sometimes,
          not on niches.

          But fear not. If you keep building the authority and PR of your
          site, and prove your visitors are buyers, you will eventually
          get an increase in CPC, but probably never at skyscraper
          prices.

          I'm not going to toss out specific numbers, but my sites run
          the gamut from low to high. Even the same site fluctuates
          like a butterfly wings.

          Experienced adsense users will tell you that getting $50 clicks
          is just not practical for 99% of us.

          Making $50 a day, per site, is.

          If people would really do some research, instead of going
          gaga at $50 keywords, who knows?

          You can indeed turn the 20 cents into 50 cents, 75 cents, etc.
          Improve the site and visitors.

          Paul
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          If you were disappointed in your results today, lower your standards tomorrow.

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  • Profile picture of the author yeshuaisiam
    It's kind of like the stock market. You can't pay attention to earnings for 1 day. Watch it over several months and get averages. It varies SO Much. I see variances of between 25-150%. It all depends on the types of ads clicked, how much they are worth etc. Some clicks may be worth cents, some worth a few bucks. It's all about luck, determination, and hard work.
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    Google's panda ate my first born.

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  • Profile picture of the author hearme
    Well i think you are doing good what is your rpc and ctc ratio and what is the rought estimate of your visitors.
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    • Profile picture of the author junilerick
      Originally Posted by hearme View Post

      Well i think you are doing good what is your rpc and ctc ratio and what is the rought estimate of your visitors.
      No idea what either of those are:confused:
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      • Profile picture of the author Capitalist_Pig
        Originally Posted by junilerick View Post

        No idea what either of those are:confused:
        CPC = cost per click
        RPC = revenue per click
        EPC = earnings per click
        eCPM = estimated cost per 1,000 impressions

        You'll often see CPM in place of EPM - it's just assumed that you know which side of the equation you're on.
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  • Profile picture of the author timpears
    You will only receive around 15% to 20% of what shows on the GKT as The Content Network goes for much less than the search advertisers pay. Not only that, but there is a range, and the higher paying ads will appear at the top of your page, and the lower bids will appear lower down. So if someone clicks on the last ad that is showing on your page, they will earn you much less than if they had clicked on the first ad.
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    Tim Pears

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  • Profile picture of the author Capitalist_Pig
    Google is optimizing eCPM - that's in your best interests as well as the Big G's.

    GKT tells you what it would cost *you* to buy that keyword. Say, it says $1. Google assumes that you, as a new advertiser, will get a certain CTR - say, .5%.

    An experienced advertiser in the field, though, might get 2.5% CTR. That means for every 1000 impressions, you'll make Google $5 ($1/click * 1000 impression * .5% CTR). Google tags your ad behind the scenes as $5 eCPM. Mr. Experienced Ad Buyer only has to beat your eCPM, not your CPC. So he optimizes his campaign at just over $5 eCPM - that's $.20 per click ($.20/click * 1000 impressions * 2.5% CTR).

    GKT's numbers are a reliable means of testing which niche is best relative to the others - but it is a poor tool for estimate potential revenue.

    To estimate revenue, I generally take the following: (GKT CPC * Monthly Searches * .4 * .2). Looks complex, but the .4 is because 40% or so of Google traffic clicks the top link (my target), and the .2 is my assumption that the average CPC is 1/5th of the GKT CPC.

    Now, that's a lot of numbers in one post. I hope it was coherent
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