PPC at Digital Point - Getting Sick Of IT

by nik0 Banned
28 replies
  • SEO
  • |
I had a PPC click campaign with an in line add and although it drove like 150-200 visitors a day at only $0,11-$0,16 click it didn't convert at all, not a single inquiry after 1500+ unique visitors. Later analysis showed that most people were from India and other type of countries where no one is really interested in paid SEO services.

The funny thing is that DP doesn't allow you to focus on countries with their PPC campaigns.

Then I looked into banner campaigns, I have a decent looking banner and with those campaigns it's allowed to target specific countries.

The minimium CPM need to be set at $3,- so that is per 1000 impressions.

My CTR after 19000 impressions: 0,04%

I can't even believe it and to my huge surprise I still got visitors from India, although considerably less this time.
#digital #point #ppc #sick
  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Maybe because the majority of the members are 3rd world.

    That place is neck & neck with Flippa for scammers.
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    • Profile picture of the author tinknocker
      Originally Posted by yukon View Post

      Maybe because the majority of the members are 3rd world.

      That place is neck & neck with Flippa for scammers.




      Agree
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  • Profile picture of the author ashishthakkar
    I can't even believe it and to my huge surprise I still got visitors from India, although considerably less this time.
    True. Many members from india over there.
    https://advertising.digitalpoint.com....1/site-detail

    That place is neck & neck with Flippa for scammers.
    I disagree. Flippa is sure to have a much higher percentage of scammers than DP.

    If you deal online, you are bound to run into scammers, be it dp or WF or flippa.
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    • Profile picture of the author nik0
      Banned
      Originally Posted by ashishthakkar View Post

      I disagree. Flippa is sure to have a much higher percentage of scammers than DP.

      If you deal online, you are bound to run into scammers, be it dp or WF or flippa.
      I disagree, lately I tried to find some high PR domain sellers at Digital Point and I even placed an add with clear instructions of what I was looking for:

      - Result, 10 people contacted me with fake PR domains, not a single one was legit
      - Result, out of the listings I went through 10 domains that were offered and each one turned out to be fake.

      So that's 20 people who were scamming out of 20 domains that I researched.

      100% scam rate it can't get worse then that. I was shocked!

      Back on topic:

      I cancelled the banner campaign as it's ridiculous to pay $4-5/click, and in the last 4000 impressions I didn't get a single click so that was another $4 thrown away.

      I enabled the PPC ad again with no geo targeting so that I at least drive traffic to my site @ $0,11-$0,16 per visitor and perhaps I'll get some leads from it in the future. I have $250 credit online there so I need to waste it anyway.

      Also did a tiny bit or redesigning of the site to increase conversions and setup some things in a different way and added a few more services to have some more variety. Who knows I'll manage to sell 1 single subscription and break-even on it in case they stay long enough subscribed lol.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bambu
    Digital Point is the biggest joke there is. Like you, Nik0, I have contacted several sellers on DP looking to pick up high PR domains and each instance they sent me a list of fakes. Who falls for this crap?!

    One of the sellers had the gull to write me back and ask if I was interested in any of the sites on the list. I responded that all of the sites had fake PR and no backlinks to speak of. His response was that he could get me domains with real PR, but they would cost more! LOLOLOLOL!! As if i want to do any business with someone who already knowingly tried to scam me once.

    It is sad that you had to sink so much money into PPC/V on that forum. Money lost no doubt.

    That reminds me that I still have 50 USD sitting in my 7Search account, which is another advertising network you should steer clear of.
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    • Profile picture of the author nik0
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Bambu View Post

      Digital Point is the biggest joke there is. Like you, Nik0, I have contacted several sellers on DP looking to pick up high PR domains and each instance they sent me a list of fakes. Who falls for this crap?!

      One of the sellers had the gull to write me back and ask if I was interested in any of the sites on the list. I responded that all of the sites had fake PR and no backlinks to speak of. His response was that he could get me domains with real PR, but they would cost more! LOLOLOLOL!! As if i want to do any business with someone who already knowingly tried to scam me once.

      It is sad that you had to sink so much money into PPC/V on that forum. Money lost no doubt.

      That reminds me that I still have 50 USD sitting in my 7Search account, which is another advertising network you should steer clear of.
      The typical response I got is what do you expect for $22,- (like I asked for $22/domains lol).

      I think it's mostly the same team that's active there with a few exceptions as I had like 3 pm's all with the same price tag.

      About PPC/paid ads, I should've though about it before, my sales threads there are kind of dead and I think that over a year time I got maybe a handful of clients from that forum. Should've said enough.

      I'll take a note about 7search, thanks for the mention.

      Soon I will run some Adword campaings, the clicks are relatively expensive but at least you get more serious traffic. I think I'll upload a couple of 1000's very long tail keywords to keep the costs down. There is some tool out there that auto creates the adds to make them relevant to the search phrase.
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  • Profile picture of the author patco
    Why don't you use Google Adwords, Bidvertiser or any other PPC service that offer you much better results!
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    • Profile picture of the author nik0
      Banned
      Originally Posted by patco View Post

      Why don't you use Google Adwords, Bidvertiser or any other PPC service that offer you much better results!
      One thing at a time mate!

      Couple months ago I already burned through $1000,- with as good as zero results by trying out 5 different media buy companies at the same time.

      My site is better now but the conversions from banner to site just sucked, while my banner isn't that terribly at all, just straight to the point.

      Maybe it's just tough to sell SEO services to people who aren't aware of you, on forums you build up a reputation so that's completely different.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Atkins
    Yes I remember trying DP's PPC and banner services years ago. It was a total waste of money and I didn't do it again.
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    • Profile picture of the author nik0
      Banned
      Originally Posted by John Atkins View Post

      Yes I remember trying DP's PPC and banner services years ago. It was a total waste of money and I didn't do it again.
      I guess everyone has figured that out by now, hence the low pay per clicks lol

      Just in case anyone is curious where the people come from that are active on DP, here the last 10 countries that visited me through their PPC ad:

      - Spain
      - Namibia
      - Malaysia
      - Iraq
      - Iraq
      - Estonia
      - India
      - Canada
      - Ukraine
      - Hungary
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      • Profile picture of the author paulgl
        Originally Posted by nik0 View Post

        - Spain
        - Namibia
        - Malaysia
        - Iraq
        - Iraq
        - Estonia
        - India
        - Canada
        - Ukraine
        - Hungary
        Except for Canada, all those countries would be banned from the WF, DP, in
        a perfect world...but....no.

        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 nik0
          Banned
          Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

          Except for Canada, all those countries would be banned from the WF, DP, in
          a perfect world...but....no.

          Paul
          Looking at the numbers DP would be dead, like it deserves.
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  • Profile picture of the author micksss
    I saw your banner on DP last night and thought to myself, huh.. I talked with nik0 about DP ads a while back and we both agreed it wasn't worth it...maybe he knows something now that I don't know

    I still put in a $25 deposit once and a while and try to tweak things for my web hosting PPC ads on DP. Not being able to geo-target the PPC ads really stinks and the $3 CPM option for geo-targetting banner ads isn't worth it.
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    • Profile picture of the author nik0
      Banned
      Originally Posted by micksss View Post

      I saw your banner on DP last night and thought to myself, huh.. I talked with nik0 about DP ads a while back and we both agreed it wasn't worth it...maybe he knows something now that I don't know

      I still put in a $25 deposit once and a while and try to tweak things for my web hosting PPC ads on DP. Not being able to geo-target the PPC ads really stinks and the $3 CPM option for geo-targetting banner ads isn't worth it.
      The $3 somehow still comes down to $1 most of the time, but even at that rate still not worth it.

      I thought I give it a 2nd try as I remember that it drove quite a bit of traffic and it was hard to isolate the case back then as I used like 5 other media buys at the same time. Totally forgot where all those visitors came from lol.
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  • Profile picture of the author ashishthakkar
    - Result, 10 people contacted me with fake PR domains, not a single one was legit
    That sucks.
    I wouldn't really call it scamming though.
    Scamming would be selling you something, taking the money and then not delivering you anything.
    Or create a fake screenshot of earnings and traffic to sell you a site.
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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by ashishthakkar View Post


      - Result, 10 people contacted me with fake PR domains, not a single one was legit
      That sucks.
      I wouldn't really call it scamming though.
      Scamming would be selling you something, taking the money and then not delivering you anything.
      Or create a fake screenshot of earnings and traffic to sell you a site.

      You have to be kidding.

      Is that the problem with India, they actually think it's ok?

      The whole purpose of these clowns creating fake PR is to sell the domains based on the PR.
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    • Profile picture of the author nik0
      Banned
      Originally Posted by ashishthakkar View Post

      That sucks.
      I wouldn't really call it scamming though.
      Scamming would be selling you something, taking the money and then not delivering you anything.
      Or create a fake screenshot of earnings and traffic to sell you a site.
      I am about 1000% sure that you have contacted me at DP with the exact same explanation that you leave here.

      What a total loser are you.
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  • Profile picture of the author ashishthakkar
    You have to be kidding.
    No i am not kidding

    Is that the problem with India, they actually think it's ok?
    I do not know all Indians so cannot comment for all but there is a difference between fooling someone and selling something to a fool.

    If i show you my PR less, no traffic, google banned website and ask you a million dollars for it and you pay me then i don't think you can call me a scammer.
    Buy if i show you the same site with a fake paypal earning screenshot and photoshopped analytics and then i ask you to pay me big money for that site then yes i am scamming you.

    I don't know the DP thread so cannot comment much on it - Maybe the buyer did not mention all details in that wtb thread like he wouldn't like to have a dropped domain or new domain, etc.

    Anyways, scammers are there on each and every site and every part of the world. It will take me few mins to create a DP account and try to sell a fake product. Point is that you should know your buyers and sellers - new sellers OR buyers should not be trusted much on that site.
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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by ashishthakkar View Post

      No i am not kidding


      I do not know all Indians so cannot comment for all but there is a difference between fooling someone and selling something to a fool.

      If i show you my PR less, no traffic, google banned website and ask you a million dollars for it and you pay me then i don't think you can call me a scammer.
      Buy if i show you the same site with a fake paypal earning screenshot and photoshopped analytics and then i ask you to pay me big money for that site then yes i am scamming you.

      I don't know the DP thread so cannot comment much on it - Maybe the buyer did not mention all details in that wtb thread like he wouldn't like to have a dropped domain or new domain, etc.

      Anyways, scammers are there on each and every site and every part of the world. It will take me few mins to create a DP account and try to sell a fake product. Point is that you should know your buyers and sellers - new sellers OR buyers should not be trusted much on that site.
      No need to try & justify fake PR domain sellers, it's a scam.
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  • Profile picture of the author AlexGeorge
    A lot of Digital Points members are from India so the amount of traffic from that region is to be expected. There are loads of other alternatives out there though for advertising. Facebook and Adwords are some of the most popular choices out there for advertising, so you should check them out. I've never advertised on there myself, and probably never will.
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  • Profile picture of the author G0nzalez
    Banned
    More scam's are done on DP then Flippa, there are lots of Indian people on DP, you cannot trust no one. The best method is to verify everything you want to buy.
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    • Profile picture of the author tinknocker
      Originally Posted by G0nzalez View Post

      More scam's are done on DP then Flippa, there are lots of Indian people on DP, you cannot trust no one. The best method is to verify everything you want to buy.


      Places like DP I avoid all together, it's not worth the time.
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  • Profile picture of the author mathewsps
    I was also testing DP and already spend some money on banner & text and not even a single click at all waste of money.
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  • Profile picture of the author ashishthakkar
    What a total loser are you.
    1. I am 10000 % sure i havent contacted you on dp as i never give such explanations on wtb threads.

    2. Dont be a baby.
    Dont keep crying.
    Is this your first year on the internet or something?
    This happens everyday.
    If you mention something in your wtb thread and you get something which is not relevant or someone is selling you fake pr then just ignore it. There is also a report option available there. Use it.
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    • Profile picture of the author nik0
      Banned
      Originally Posted by ashishthakkar View Post

      1. I am 10000 % sure i havent contacted you on dp as i never give such explanations on wtb threads.

      2. Dont be a baby.
      Dont keep crying.
      Is this your first year on the internet or something?
      This happens everyday.
      If you mention something in your wtb thread and you get something which is not relevant or someone is selling you fake pr then just ignore it. There is also a report option available there. Use it.
      Lol about crying.

      It was more meant as a warning for other people.

      It's not something, every single offer was based on faked crap.

      Enough said, I'll just avoid that forum from now on.
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  • Profile picture of the author ddev
    I wouldn't call DP site a scam. It isn't. Does the traffic convert poorly? Yes. Absolutely.

    Just pay attention to the analytics and you'll see (pay attention to the countries where they come from, the time spent on your site and ....conversions).

    That said, i wouldn't call it a scam site.
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    • Profile picture of the author nik0
      Banned
      Originally Posted by ddev View Post

      I wouldn't call DP site a scam. It isn't. Does the traffic convert poorly? Yes. Absolutely.

      Just pay attention to the analytics and you'll see (pay attention to the countries where they come from, the time spent on your site and ....conversions).

      That said, i wouldn't call it a scam site.
      No one called it a scam site, perhaps you should learn to read.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kael41
    Sigh, does anyone remember when DP was the GO TO site back in the day? First it was Sitepoint and then DP started to take off. Is what's his name's (owner of DP) sister still running her lingerie blog?

    I gotta give credit to DP for one thing though. Back when it was just constant content producing articles for people, and the third world countries weren't yet producing shit content articles for $2/300 word article, I got my start with Article Authors back then and built out a pretty big content empire. At my peak I had over 300 writers (200+ US based and the rest in the UK), and I can honestly say that DP allowed me to launch it back then and test the waters out.

    Doesn't surprise me that the place turned to shit.
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