Why Your Adsense Clicks Aren't Equal To Adwords CPC's

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One of the common themes I see here and elsewhere regarding Adsense is the whole notion of "high paying keywords".

Of course anyone monetizing sites with Adsense wants to maximize their earnings - in fact, this is often what drives niche and keyword selection.

But their is this mistaken notion that Adsense clicks are equal to Adwords CPS's (Cost Per Click), minus whatever Google's cut is.

Many people use Google's Adwords Keyword tool, SpyFu, or SEOBook's Keyword Tool in order to determine what the payout should be for their keywords.

Here's the problem with that idea: All those keyword tools are reporting (to greater and lesser degrees of accuracy) the costs for advertising on SEARCH NETWORK.

Adsense ads appear on CONTENT NETWORK.

There is a HUGE difference. Not only is the base cost structure different, but in some cases the RELATIVE costs are different.

For instance, "mortgage" is a high-cost keyword - if you're going to run ads on the search network.

Google's Adwords tool shows an estimated CPC of $15.37 for ad positions 1-3.

SpyFu shows a CPC of $1-$16.72

I am running ads in that niche - ON THE CONTENT NETWORK - and paying $0.12/click.

In another example, I have an Adsense site in the "credit" niche. I am getting appx. $1.50 per click for ads targeting the phrase "credit repair".

Google's adwords tool estimates the CPC at $8.24.

The point is, estimates for clicks are based on the search network, but Adsense ads payout based on costs on the content network.

To further "muddy the waters", the content network isn't keyword-targeted. Advertisers aren't bidding on keywords, they are bidding on placements for their ads.

The net is that Adwords CPC's don't equal Adsense payouts.

Can you use CPC's as a relative guideline? Yes - to a degree. It's important to realize that content network advertisers pay a small fraction of search network CPC's for those ads.

It's also important to realize that the ad payouts drop precipitously, from the "first" ad (the one that is encountered first in the HTML source code). If someone clicks on ad #3 in an adblock, or even ad #1 in the second ad block, it may very well pay pennies even for a "high-paying" keyword/niche.

Mark
#search engine optimization #adsense #adwords #clicks #cpc #equal
  • Long story cut short...that's how big G making their billion $$$ year in year out. Therefore, the G will ALWAYS making sure that the inequality of costs is there forever.

    Just my 2 cents.

    ebuyer
    • [2] replies
    • Hi internetmarketer99,

      You make some valid points, the Search Network and the Content Network are very different.

      This is no mistake, it is what actually occurs, and yes it is AdWords advertisers that are advertising on the Content Network. There is nothing sinister or evil going on here.


      These tools do not claim to report your payouts, they tell you what it cost the advertisers for the top ad positions. I don't see the problem, these tools clearly state what they show you. Why would you consider this a problem?

      This is a comparison of the range bids will vary in a niche. You have taken one of the single highest Search Network keywords in a niche and contrasted that with what one might expect at the low range of the Content Network for the niche, not the term. There will be many keywords that will be far less expensive in this niche and those same keywords will trigger ads on a blog in this niche.

      If your website is generating bids at the low end, and I believe for this niche it is, you should take heart in the knowledge that the opportunity exists to earn much more in that niche. You are competing with lots of other websites in this niche and you will earn far more if you sharpen your skills.

      Yes it is, and as far as I can tell this has been made painstakingly clear by the AdWords and AdSense programs. I see nothing "muddy" here. Maybe I am misunderstanding your tone, but what problem do you see with this?

      You are competing with other AdSense publishers and only the best converting sites will get the highest clicks. It's a market, you have to be at the top to earn the top pay.
      • [2] replies
    • Yes, Google does an excellent job of providing superior value to their searchers, publishers and advertisers.

      It's a wonderful thing to see folks do well for their suppliers, customers, employees and investors and earn accordingly. It sure makes me proud to be American.
  • ***Content Network***

    Only if you are placement targetting.
    Otherwise, it is keyword targetted - it is the keywords which you include in your ad groups which are used to determine where to display your ads.
    The number of impressions you get, obviously, will depend on your bid price.


  • Thanks Don.
  • Excellent post IM99.

    I wonder, what sort of click-thru are you experiencing on your $1.50 credit repair ads?
  • This thread has answered alot of questions for me. thanks.
  • adesense and adwords payout are different..........google do no declares anything about it..........the fact that there is diff in them is that as google being the third party eats away some part of the earned amount.............wen you use adsense on your website you receive less than what you pay for adwords..........
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