Your Head will Explode over Google's Business Stats

8 replies
The Google Slap is an Opportunity

Say What!?


The buzz about new Google Slap for landing page quality has PPC marketers reeling. Not a few internet gurus immediately began peddling their latest "Slap Solution". You don't need to buy a solution. I got nothing to sell you. And you're missing the opportunity of the century unless you understand what Google is really up to. Read on for some insights...

Loads of Affiliate marketers were hit big time with their simple one page landings. The Slap it's called. But millions of dollars also stopped coming into the Google coffers as the Affiliates were knocked out of the game.

So you gotta wonder....

Why does Google Do This Stuff? Is it...

* Because they can.

* 5000+ Searches every Second. 24/7/365

* Google's bank deposit is $60,692,308 a day from Adwords advertisers.

Okay... but still, why in the heck would Google toss out the millions of dollars those affiliate marketers spent doing gazillions of CPA offers like Email and Zip submits?

The real reason is relevancy for those Searchers. Google loves its Searchers. 5000+ every second. Tick. Tock. Google serves the interests of those searchers... and that's why Google is the 8000 lb. gorilla.

Relevancy.

They live it... they breathe it, I think the evening prayers at Mountain View are sent up to the God of Relevancy.

Why? Because it works. Relevancy... it's been the business model since Day 1 for Larry and Sergey, while they boldly go about "organizing the world's information".

Relevance is the family crest for a good reason.

Searchers love Google because the reward is exactly what they wanted on the first page 80% of the time. Yahoo and Bing together get about 20% of all searches, that's how good Google is

Searchers come back again and again too. Google.com is my brower's home page and has been since 1999.

5000+ per second. Wrap your head around that number by multiplying 60 x 60 X 24 X 5000 = 432,000,000 daily

Blow your brains out by multiplying that last by 365. These are all shoppers... even if its only information they seek.

* Google is the new Gatekeeper for billions of shoppers around the world.
* That's why Google does what they do.
* Google only cares about their searchers.

Take Care of the Customers and the Money will Follow

PPC advertisers are not Google's customers. Nope, its not you the PPC advertiser.
The Searchers are Google's customers. And they both got you and me firmly by the cojones, my friend.

If you want those shoppers ya gotta pay the Gatekeeper for access. The shoppers aren't looking anywhere else to shop.

* Newspapers and magazines are over in ICU and nobody cares.

* Printed catalog marketing is around, but losing ground fast.

* Direct Mail? I ran with that game in the 80's and learned my trade. DM is now working best as offline followup to campaigns that began online with Adwords.

Anything else for shoppers?

The printed Yellow Pages are a dinosaur. And the online YP is seldom used.

Why screw with any yellow pages when Google gives me every dry cleaner's in a 20 mile radius in 2 seconds by typing in Plano dry cleaners. And a nice map with phone numbers to boot!

Everybody goes to Google to shop. Even when she's headed to Nordstrom's for the Black Friday sales, she checks prices online... using guess what to find latest prices on those Manolo Blanco's she wants badly.

Relevancy. They've been saying it all along. Ad Copy, and Landing Page Quality Score means it must have relevancy for the Searchers.

Slap? They don't care what you call it. They don't even pay attention to all the Buzz. For Google, the bottom line is the same every time.

Google demands relevancy at all the stops including the landing pages.

Google can't go look at every page manually, so they do it with technology.
Adwords bots check your landing and all pages linked to it, ad copy screening with Stop word lists, keyword screening for trademarks... all done in the blink of an eye when you have a 1000 or so data centers and each one contains 10,000 to 100,000 computers crunching data 24/7. And there's an algorithm using weighted scoring that keeps track of every campaign, ad, and landing page in your account you run... forever. If you hit the "possible bad guy" target score, you get a manual review. (They have buildings in Bangalore with 1000's of people sitting all day visiting sites manually that have been flagged for SEO or Adwords scoring.)

We all have to find our own way to the Temple of Relevancy and satisfy the requirements. Or you don't get to play. You don't like it, you go home.
Here is what's working for me in Adwords...

* Think landing domain, instead of landing page.

* Think website. With lots and lots of supporting pages of content relevant to your ad copy and offers.

* Think Effective Strategy. Go after entire markets, not CPA offers by the 100's. A domain strategy is more work, and lends itself to targeting evergreen niche markets, not going after loads of different irrelevant offers.
Become the Master of One, instead of the master of None.

That's my two cents on the Slap. The golden opportunity is in seeing thousands of people quit Adwords and online marketing because Google is unfair. NOT true, folks. They are just good businessmen with a good model... also happens to make them the GateKeeper to the world. Understanding the gatekeeper's rules is your opportunity to stay in the game profitably while others leave in disgust.

Good luck to all on the journey to PPC profit and Adwords relevancy.

All the Best,

Jan Gregory

P.S. GateKeeper? Gorilla? You bet. At all the levels. The Lion's share of PPC spend for sure. Google's Affiliate Network... what do you think that's for, as 1000's of new merchants climb on daily? Google wants to charge you to advertise and then control your affiliate commissions too, which you get only thru your Adsense account check... hmmm. See the connections here? Google is a new domain Registrar. They now have unfettered access to the private registrar's Whois and ICANN databases to cross-check anything about you and your domains. Why do they give away free access to gmail, Google Docs and tools? These are all sales funnels with loss leaders to bring in the flocks with freebies.

The ultimate goal has to be a Google Profile page for everyone in the entire world... one stop for gmail, tools, groups, webmaster tools, analytics, Adsense, & Adwords accounts. Did you know its required to get a Google Profile to get your free Local Business Center listing? So that's millions more newbies climbing on the wagon... all with Google Profile pages which will be the main gate for billions and billions of dollars all controlled by a single GateKeeper. Slap? No, its not. It's not a conspiracy. It's just a good business model.
#google adwords #google relevancy #google slap #ppc #stats
  • Profile picture of the author DS Marketing
    Jan, great post!
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  • Profile picture of the author 20092009
    Well Ill say, great post, and I would like to know where you got you numbers, it would be fun to check then out!

    BUT, I do have this to say.... Who Cares?

    The CPA offers make a TON ( TON ) of money... On google and other places. But there are so much money to be made with them, it is very very worth all the hasel and take way less work then trying to take a whole market.

    Plus, USE A DIFFERENT SEARCH ENGINE!
    Yes google has a lot of traffic BUT other search engines have a ton of traffic aswell.... Plus they are not as saturated and are not so crazy about slapping.
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  • Profile picture of the author J Bold
    That's great but largely only relevant to PPC marketing.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jgregory
      Jan, great post!
      Thank you Dan. I'd hoped it would be refreshing for everyone to share some reality.

      and I would like to know where you got you numbers
      Google the numbers and they should show. They might not be totally accurate since google isn't sharing their tax returns with me. And my buddy, Perry Marshall, agrees with several those numbers.

      Zip submits have been nice, but Google policy is like the weather... hang around and watch it change. Landing pages for affiliate reviews sites just went down. Direct linking or iFraming Email submit offers will be history someday.

      That's great but largely only relevant to PPC marketing.
      I thought we were in the sub-forum for PPC marketers...
      > Ad Networks - CPA, CPM, CPL - Millionaire Makers
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  • Profile picture of the author TrinitydelaCruz
    Wow thanks a lot, that totally helped me see it in a whole new light. Just the perspective change is valuable, thank you!
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  • Profile picture of the author Fox30
    Awesome post. I can't wait to see the next CPA PPC product that addresses all these issues.

    Thanks!
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    • Profile picture of the author Jgregory
      Was away for awhile and I should add a few more points...

      * There's more than one way to make money on the internet. Some are sustainable over the long-term. Some are fast and furious races for ever changing CPA offers. Both make profits if managed well.

      True, but this isn't just a new trend for Google's reach. Google actually does control almost 70-80% of total searches. And has for a long time. Whatever IM game you are in now, the future you plan should take this power into account. I've been around a long time. Everything changed over time, and now its at warp speed as Search Engines forge ahead. New Policy changes come overnight... and can ruin your entire business model.

      You hear this a lot... "Don't build your business on sand." Okay, but I think it's more important to say... engage long-term IM strategies and have a sustainable business model. When you brainstorm, keep the Google gatekeeper model at top of your mind. They stand at the gate for 80% of PPC and SEO.

      Here's a question for you... and haven't seen any testing on this, but it rings true.

      I search exclusively on Google on a daily basis. Would I be likely to ever switch over to Yahoo or Bing?

      What do you think... is that typical for all Google searchers? Those folks loyal to Bing or Yahoo because it came with there Verizon ISP package... would they switch?

      Think about it. Do you think Google is likely to lose any ground in this contest? Do you think this trend of shoppers going to Search Engines first is going to change? One more point... Google earned the loyalty of their searchers by delivering relevance. MSN came with the computer or ISP. Even if they never switch... that's a point in a prospect profile you should consider.

      This is what I wanted to drive home. 80% of total searches.
      They are heading towards 500 million searches daily on global basis. Just let that soak in for a minute 1/2 billion times... fingers type, hit Enter key.

      Google has a lock on the largest group of shoppers in history. The gatekeeper for every market that exists. From backhoes to barbers around the block.

      * CPC bids have soared on Adwords. That's because advertisers want the action. They make money with high click prices. After all, it is an auction with position and impressions going to highest bidders.

      More importantly, the profile of the Searchers at Google includes the big spenders. So, it has squeezed out many. The olden days of 5 cent clicks driving arbitrage to Adsense sites are long gone.

      Affiliate Marketing & Adwords

      IMHO, unless you have a backend funnel with a high LCV (Lifetime Customer Value) you can't play the Adwords game. Most will lose trying to bid keywords to make a $30 commission. The numbers are all wrong on conversions metrics to sales using Adwords without backend sales from those expensive clicks. Yahoo and Bing maybe you can, but for how long? I'd keep it quiet if I felt like Yahoo was a goldmine for my affiliate business.

      Before you point out this or that product to prove wrong, yes I admit there are exceptions with branded products that have been around a long time. There are still Adwords advertisers mining affiliate commissions on Keyword Elite.

      But those are few and getting fewer. This post was to give you look into a future with a fresh look at the reality of the 8000 lb. gorilla

      * Yahoo and Bing for Affiliate Marketing - Yes. Just smaller action than Adwords It a smaller pond, and right now few sharks.

      * Yahoo MSN(bing) for CPA offers - Yep. smaller crowd of CPA affiliate/advertisers for now(watch that change) and cheaper clicks and pretty much the right profile of searcher looking for winning free iPods by submitting a Zip code.

      What about me? I manage PPC for my clients mostly. Commercial/industrial businesses with their own product or service and looking for new business. Steel safety doors to prostate clinics. Before you say high click prices are not the same issue for them, I assure you it is.

      They pay me to build funnels and build campaigns based on testing and conversion ratios that are profitable. It doesn't matter what you pay per click, if your conversions to profit can sustain and reach the target margins.

      My specialty for high-end clients is building an online game for them that kicks butt so hard, my client rules... becomes the gatekeeper for the keywords we target. Once at that top position, his costs fall, CTR goes way up, and it takes heaps of dough for a new adwords bidder to knock him off the perch.

      My own stuff in IM pay-per-click advertising uses Adwords to give products away. Loss leaders to build a mailing list. Offers like "Free XYZ for $4.95 S&H". I just get the best prospects from Adwords for my business model and have a high LCV from the Mailing List.

      LCV is not just a fancy acronym. Recommend you try it as a long-term business model... It works. Properly done in the right market, $3 clicks with $200 customer acquisition cost can make a business $1000's in profit for each new customer in the funnel.

      If you are not considering your back-end profits, you should be. Adwords still attracts the IM marketing pros owning their own $30 to $100 infoproducts and they usually have a backend with LCV 10 times higher than the first sale.
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  • You are brilliant,.... And I thought I would never find someone as brilliant as me (shakes head).
    Well done.
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