Adwords Question

stender · Aug 7, 2006

Can anyone tell me (as google can't. They just spam you with irrelevant links) I have an adwords account for an old site I no longer use. Can I and if so how delete that domain and setup another one, or do I have to register for a new account?

Thanks in Advance

mishmash · Aug 7, 2006

The terms allow you to use your existing account on multiple domains as long as all sites you place adverts on meet Google's criteria.

You can also have more than one Google account, if that's what you prefer.

stender · Aug 9, 2006

Thanks mishmash. sorted now. but.....

Another adwords question as google don't answer!

Why is it I have keywords that have no other ads appearing, yet if I set my cpc to £0.01 minimum bid it says the keywords are inactive and I have to set at 22p???? Bit of a con isn't it if there's no ther ads???

clem · Aug 9, 2006

stender said:
Thanks mishmash. sorted now. but.....

Another adwords question as google don't answer!

Why is it I have keywords that have no other ads appearing, yet if I set my cpc to £0.01 minimum bid it says the keywords are inactive and I have to set at 22p???? Bit of a con isn't it if there's no ther ads???

Ahhh, the joys of Google.
Basically, each ad group you have has a "quality score". How this is worked out, nobody knows...(although we do make educated guesses

). The QS is based on how closely the page matches the keyword, how much unique content is on the page, the historical performance of the ad-group. As your QS increases, your minimum cost should decrease. Bear in mind that QS is currently only applied to search, and not to content. So, even though your keywords are inactive, you may find that you still get clicks from content. Be thankful that your min bids are only 22p. After the last round of changes, some of my keywords got pushed up to £5.75

I've heard of people with bids of £10 or more....

The whole system is a complete farce - how does paying more for your keyword make your page suddenly "acceptable"? Some people have experimented by taking two identical domains and setting up two accounts with identical adgroups. Both ads had about the same CTR, yet totally different minimum bids....work that one out

Also, bear in mind the often take accounts offline for 'manual review' but they won't tell you. So, if you find that you have no impressions over a day or so, email them to ask, and they will then let you know whether your account is in review or not.

Sorry for the long ramble...

Incidentally - random thought. I don't think you are meant to have more than one Google account...I have a feeling it's against the Ts and Cs. They have been known to consolidate accounts into one, or to just switch an account off when they find you have more than one account. Of course, this is a rarity, and probably will not apply to you as one is a very old account, however it's something that's good to know

stender · Aug 9, 2006

What a joke! surely if there are no ads for a keyword you should be able to set the minimum???

I used the same adwords account in the end but google do offer an adwords client center for managing multiple accounts so it must be legal.

clem · Aug 9, 2006

Via the client centre is fine, but random multiple accounts is not. The client centre is excellent for those wanting to take the GAP cert too. I don't think they often close/consolidate multiple accounts anyway - they'd lose too much money

Google is now a business, and that takes precedence over "Do no evil". That means they want to squeeze as much money out of you as possible - if you are willing to pay 22p (and realistically, do you have an alterntive?) rather than 1p, well, that's great for them. However, if you are the only person bidding on that term, then you should get great CTR therefore your QS should increase quickly meaning that your minimum CPC will drop. Bear in mind you don't have to set this either - if you set it to 22p, as your QS goes up, you should see that Google automatically starts to set your CPC lower for the same ad postition.

There really are no alternatives right now either if you don't like their tactics (roll on Panama!! It sounds like it's going to have some excellent features). Yahoo is full of click fraud (although they are addressing this, albeit slowly) and MSN AdCentre is too buggy right now, and also doesn't get the traffic.

Rock....hard place....!