Google to Share Content Network URLs

[Mel66]

From the New York Times and JenSense, via Search Engine Land:

http://searchengineland.com/070226-093349.php

It's about time. This is huge news for those of us already in the content network, and those who opted out due to lack of control. Congrats to Google on being ahead of the pack yet again.

Melissa

[Toure]

WA-HEY!!

Finally. Yahoo next?! :D

[Discovery]

Make no doubt about it, this is a watershed event in SEM.

Many of us have been waiting for this news for nearly two years. Oddly I have not seen or heard the cry from many marketing professionals asking for this change.

This seemingly simple change has two very large ramifications:

#1 Like MP3 put music in the control of the consumer, Google has put the long tail in control of the advertiser and there will be NO turning back. Other engines MUST follow or fade away.

#2 Click Fraud was never the main issue in my view. Poor quality, or Junk Clicks were. Finally truly good content sites will be rewarded with our advertising dollars and junk click farms will be punished.

There are just a ton of other side effects that will have lasting impact on the way advertisers do business with the SE's.

Sebastian dare I summon thou a second time in two years? Come out of the shadows.. or have you fallen to the garbitrage dark side?

Peer reviewed advertising networks HERE WE COME!

Discovery

[AussieWebmaster]

From the New York Times and JenSense, via Search Engine Land:

http://searchengineland.com/070226-093349.php

It's about time. This is huge news for those of us already in the content network, and those who opted out due to lack of control. Congrats to Google on being ahead of the pack yet again.

Melissa

Guess our article on it just missed your eye: http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/070226-111057

:)

[Mel66]

I think you and I were writing at the same time, Frank! I meant to come back and edit my post but I guess I never did. Too busy imagining all the garbitrage sites I can exclude from Adwords...

Melissa

[AussieWebmaster]

I think you and I were writing at the same time, Frank! I meant to come back and edit my post but I guess I never did. Too busy imagining all the garbitrage sites I can exclude from Adwords...

Melissa

Not a problem... see you in NYC for SES?

[Mel66]

No, unfortunately -- I'll be in sunny FL on vacation that week. ;)

I'll be at SMX, and hopefully SES San Jose.

Melissa

[AussieWebmaster]

No, unfortunately -- I'll be in sunny FL on vacation that week. ;)

I'll be at SMX, and hopefully SES San Jose.

Melissa

SMX NYC or Seattle.... Danny needs to do these on weekends and I would go to all of them....

[Mel66]

Seattle. Sorry, I keep forgetting there are multiple SMX's!

I am glad they're during the week. A show in Detroit would be cool though. ;)

Melissa

[Jeff Martin]

A new degree of transparency is much welcome. Finally a way for advertisers to have more control over their content network advertising through the Adwords console. Let's hope it doesnt take too long to roll it out and for it to have an effective means to spot MFA and other sites that burn through marketing capital and a logical means to drop them from the campaigns.

[flyingrose]

I'm trying really hard not to be a cynic. Honest I am. Google finally decides to share a list of their content partners right after they start killing us with junk traffic on search? I influence decisions in hundreds of Google Adwords accounts and every one of them is opted out of the content network because of bad traffic and negative ROIs.

Unless Google allows us to opt out of the junk traffic they're now showing search ads on almost all of those Google Adwords accounts will soon also be opted out of the Google search partner network. That is a VERY painful decision none of us wants to make. We do not want to give up the quality search partner traffic. We do not want to cut traffic, clicks, and sales that deeply. The current risk of enormous spending spikes caused by this junk traffic plus expanded broad match is simply too high.

Please, Google, give us a break here! We love our PPC ads with you. Our clients love the business you drive. We want to spend MORE with you but for traffic that is profitable. Businesses simply can NOT afford to pay for traffic that isn't self-supporting.

[AussieWebmaster]

Interesting.... we get great conversion from the content network... but it took us some time and a lot of ab testing with keywords/ads and bids.

The search partners have been a little wacky lately and this will save us the expense of going through it all again.