a question about "operation camouflage"

[NewKidOnTheBlock]

I just read that article that Aussiewebmaster posted (good stuff btw):

http://www.engineready.com/company/o...mouflage1.html

What Im wondering, though: Why have your ads display low instead of not having them display at all? Technically this would lower "competitive click fraud" and get you off your competitor's radar completely...

Would that be too obvious as the competitor knows you exist?
Or is the assumption behind this that having your ads appear low will still mean some profit for you (and thus better than not having them appear, at all)?

[EngineReady]

Good question. The thinking was if the ad never gets impressions, or a zero CTR, it might end up being automatically disabled for non-performance, exposing the regional or national ads it is supposed to cover-up. That means an additional step of having to check up on the ad frequently or potentially being exposed sooner than you hoped.

Also, if competitors are in major cities, like NY or Chicago, a radius of just one mile can rule out a dense business district, so we may need that exposure, as you eluded to. You can tweak this strategy to best fit the situation.

[NewKidOnTheBlock]

Anyways, it does seem like a nice strategy. I havent had time to get deeply into PPC, yet, but the more I read about it the more I realize how savvy marketers can outperform non-savvy ones in this game - which I think is great, b/c Im not into playing games of chance ;-).

[kpraveenkumars]

My other input would be to display at position 6, 7 this would increase CTR as they are more near to white space.

[AussieWebmaster]

Originally Posted by EngineReady

Good question. The thinking was if the ad never gets impressions, or a zero CTR, it might end up being automatically disabled for non-performance, exposing the regional or national ads it is supposed to cover-up. That means an additional step of having to check up on the ad frequently or potentially being exposed sooner than you hoped.

Also, if competitors are in major cities, like NY or Chicago, a radius of just one mile can rule out a dense business district, so we may need that exposure, as you eluded to. You can tweak this strategy to best fit the situation.

welcome to the forums... hang around and contribute some insights mate!

[AussieWebmaster]

You want the presence but if you are know to be a major competitor and you are sitting low... maybe they drop bids and it lowers what you end up paying for the number one spot everywhere else.

I love this one and will be testing it on a very large scale in a very competitive market.... though a few of my opposite numbers are members here so they will be looking for this!!

[NewKidOnTheBlock]

I think it sounds extremely interesting, too.

Could this also work in a country like Germany, which is a lot smaller than the US is, though?

[SearchEnginePPC]

Why not just use IP address exclusion for those top competitors? Then they don't see your ads at all, and may think you've stopped using PPC altogether.

[AussieWebmaster]

you want to appear but not as number one and then they will lower their bids perhaps