Please don't overdo the clicks

"Got LRPD?" is only showing here, which means it's a "Site" ad as opposed to an "AdWord" ad. It costs a little every time it is displayed ("Impression") and clicking costs nothing extra. (AdWords cost is based on clicks.)

The default "CPM" - Cost Per Thousand Impressions - is $0.25. That pretty much guarantees that the ad never appears here. CPM = $10.00 pretty much guarantees all the ads are "Got LRPD?". Google gives statistics on average CPM, number of clicks, and average clicks per impression. It's not real time though.

The ad has had a little over 500 impressions so far, so I've decreased the CPM to make my ad appear a little less frequently..

You set a per-day maximum that you're willing to pay, so that you can have a high CPM without bankrupting yourself. Note, though, that the per-day maximum is a 30-day average. A particular day may exceed your limit, but over 30 days it'll average out. I've set the limit for $1/day, but I will probably eventually reduce that.

So far it seems to be working out pretty well, I think. Let me know your thoughts.

Finally, I'm considering having the ad appear on a couple of other sites to possibly get some new people here. It's not clear that there are decent sites that take Google Ads though. E.g. ComputerWorld, LinuxToday, Kuro5hin, etc., all use different ad services than Google. Any ideas?

Cheers,
Scott.

With an AdWord advertising campaign with Google, you select an "AdWord" that you want to be a trigger for your ad to appear when someone does a search or visits a site with Google ads. There are only a few ads that can appear at any time, so whether your ad appears (and where it appears in the list) depends on how much you're willing to spend - your CPC = Cost Per Click bid. If you're willing to give Google up to $5 when someone clicks on your ad, then you'll be more likely to have the ad appear than someone who's willing to give them at most $4.

This doesn't mean that if you bid $5 you will pay $5 for every click though. There's other things involved, like the "quality" of the keyword (e.g. more restrictive terms have higher "quality" than more general terms), what others are bidding, and some other stuff.

Popular terms cost more.

When I first set up the "Microsoft is guilty" Adword, I was told that I needed to bid at least $5 to have the ad appear. But there are exceptions in the fine print...

More info is available at [link|http://www.google.com/adwords/learningcenter/text/index.html|Google's Adwords Learning Center].

I've also noted that, at least for me, doing a Google search on "microsoft is guilty" has our MSiG forum show up 5th in the list of results, so putting up an ad for that probably isn't necessary.

There's a whole bunch of stuff that goes into these advertising decisions that I didn't appreciate before. No wonder Google has so much invested in it...

HTH a bit.

Cheers,
Scott.

Post #253,598 by admin 4/27/06 9:50:37 AM Reply	Please don't overdo the clicks I know you want to help, but I'm assuming that if they see: a) too high a percentage of clicks per impression (right now we're at 18%... that's high - I get the impression that normal levels are more like 5%) or b) many duplicate clicks (same ad) per IP then they'll yank the account because it will look like a click farm. By all means click on stuff if it looks interesting, or whatever, but don't overdo it please. Regards, -scott anderson "Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
Post #253,602 by Another Scott 4/27/06 9:53:29 AM Reply	I'm considering buying an ad. Any issues in doing so that I need to be aware of? Can I limit the maximum it'll cost? I'd hate to be in a situation where a little text ad here cost $100 a month or something. :-) Cheers, Scott.
Post #253,604 by admin 4/27/06 9:54:49 AM Reply	I think you can limit that. I'm not entirely sure how it works, though. I'll do some research. Regards, -scott anderson "Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
Post #253,675 by Another Scott 4/27/06 8:59:30 PM Reply	I've done it - Got LRPD? I haven't seen it here yet though. It's rather innocuous and is set up to only show up here. If it's not too expensive, I may spread it around a couple of other places - later. Let me know if it causes any problems. Cheers, Scott.
Post #253,860 by Another Scott 4/30/06 10:41:02 AM Reply	I've learned a few things. Should the ad appear elsewhere? "Got LRPD?" is only showing here, which means it's a "Site" ad as opposed to an "AdWord" ad. It costs a little every time it is displayed ("Impression") and clicking costs nothing extra. (AdWords cost is based on clicks.) The default "CPM" - Cost Per Thousand Impressions - is $0.25. That pretty much guarantees that the ad never appears here. CPM = $10.00 pretty much guarantees all the ads are "Got LRPD?". Google gives statistics on average CPM, number of clicks, and average clicks per impression. It's not real time though. The ad has had a little over 500 impressions so far, so I've decreased the CPM to make my ad appear a little less frequently.. You set a per-day maximum that you're willing to pay, so that you can have a high CPM without bankrupting yourself. Note, though, that the per-day maximum is a 30-day average. A particular day may exceed your limit, but over 30 days it'll average out. I've set the limit for $1/day, but I will probably eventually reduce that. So far it seems to be working out pretty well, I think. Let me know your thoughts. Finally, I'm considering having the ad appear on a couple of other sites to possibly get some new people here. It's not clear that there are decent sites that take Google Ads though. E.g. ComputerWorld, LinuxToday, Kuro5hin, etc., all use different ad services than Google. Any ideas? Cheers, Scott.
Post #253,876 by altmann 4/30/06 1:03:39 PM Reply	I think we're a "horde", not a "hoard". -- Chris Altmann
Post #253,878 by Another Scott 4/30/06 1:27:46 PM Reply	Ack! At least we're not "whored". :-/
Post #253,877 by inthane-chan 4/30/06 1:18:36 PM Reply	arstechnica.com Geeky, intelligent, and uses google. When somebody asks you to trade your freedoms for security, it isn't your* security they're talking about.*
Post #253,879 by Another Scott 4/30/06 1:28:14 PM Reply	Thanks.
Post #253,913 by jb4 4/30/06 7:39:04 PM Reply	I'm confused... ...which varies from normal how? I takeit that you created a "welcoming" add for IWeThey. Cool. Your post was about controlling the frequency of it appearing on Goolge Ads. Do I have that right? If so, then on to the next question...Why haven't I seen it? I look at the ad banners on just about every page I go to, and I haven't seen it yet...mostly everything I get is about ringtones or Hillary... What am I missing (besides the IWeThey ad)? jb4 "Every Republican who wants to defend Bush on [the expansion of Presidential powers], should be forced to say, 'I wouldn't hesitate to see President Hillary Rodham Clinton have the same authority'." — an unidentified letter writer to Newsweek on the expansion of executive powers under the Bush administration
Post #253,919 by Another Scott 4/30/06 8:02:34 PM Reply	I had to edit it. It takes a few hours to be re-approved...
Post #254,252 by jb4 5/3/06 8:39:00 AM 5/3/06 8:39:24 AM Reply	It came. I saw. I clicked. Brought me right back to where I was (how fortunate!) Cool, Another Scott! [Edit: Tyop] jb4 "So don't pay attention to the approval ratings that say 68% of Americans disapprove of the job this man is doing. I ask you this, does that not also logically mean that 68% approve of the job he's not doing? Think about it. I haven't." — Stephen Colbert, at the White House Correspondent's Dinner 29Apr06 Edited by jb4 May 3, 2006, 08:39:24 AM EDT Expand All History
Post #254,256 by Another Scott 5/3/06 9:09:49 AM Reply	It's out on the greater web now... I bid on some "AdWords". So if you do a Google search on: python, perl, LRPD, current events, Ubuntu, politics, IT, economics, discussion, Mepis, Debian, Zope, science, health, threaded discussion, diet, ICLRPD, ObjectiveC then there's a decent chance you'll see the "Got LRPD?" ad too (some more frequently than others). AdWords are free until someone clicks on them (one pays for the click). The ad here is a "site" ad - one pays for each "impression" - display of the ad. 1 click out of 8,324 impressions on the AdWord ad so far. :-) I plan on keeping it up for a while. The site ad's frequency may change over time, depending on whether I find other reasonable sites to put it on. If you can think of any other relevant "AdWords" for us, let me know. Cheers, Scott.
Post #254,258 by jb4 5/3/06 9:14:28 AM Reply	How 'bout "Microsoft is Guilty"? jb4 "So don't pay attention to the approval ratings that say 68% of Americans disapprove of the job this man is doing. I ask you this, does that not also logically mean that 68% approve of the job he's not doing? Think about it. I haven't." — Stephen Colbert, at the White House Correspondent's Dinner 29Apr06
Post #254,260 by drewk 5/3/06 9:33:41 AM Reply	Good one, seconded === Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link\|http://DocHope.com\|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats]. [link\|http://DocHope.com\|http://DocHope.com]
Post #254,263 by Another Scott 5/3/06 9:47:14 AM 5/3/06 11:06:11 AM Reply	Good idea. Whew! $5 bid required. E.g. $5 per click bid required. :-/ We'll give it a go for a while, but if it's too popular I'll have to kill it quickly.... It should be active soon. [edit:] I had to make the AdWords more restrictive or the necessary bid to have the ad appear quickly escalated. So I changed most of them from, e.g., python to "python discussion". We'll see how it goes - I'll probably have to modify them over time. It's clear that getting this web advertising stuff right is a labor-intensive process. :-( Cheers, Scott. Edited by Another Scott May 3, 2006, 11:06:11 AM EDT Expand All History
Post #254,308 by jb4 5/3/06 4:14:06 PM 5/3/06 4:14:42 PM Reply	Pardon my iggerance, but what's this "$5 bid"? jb4 "So don't pay attention to the approval ratings that say 68% of Americans disapprove of the job this man is doing. I ask you this, does that not also logically mean that 68% approve of the job he's not doing? Think about it. I haven't." — Stephen Colbert, at the White House Correspondent's Dinner 29Apr06 Edited by jb4 May 3, 2006, 04:14:42 PM EDT Expand All History
Post #254,315 by Another Scott 5/3/06 4:54:48 PM Reply	A Google AdWords property = CPC With an AdWord advertising campaign with Google, you select an "AdWord" that you want to be a trigger for your ad to appear when someone does a search or visits a site with Google ads. There are only a few ads that can appear at any time, so whether your ad appears (and where it appears in the list) depends on how much you're willing to spend - your CPC = Cost Per Click bid. If you're willing to give Google up to $5 when someone clicks on your ad, then you'll be more likely to have the ad appear than someone who's willing to give them at most $4. This doesn't mean that if you bid $5 you will pay $5 for every click though. There's other things involved, like the "quality" of the keyword (e.g. more restrictive terms have higher "quality" than more general terms), what others are bidding, and some other stuff. Popular terms cost more. When I first set up the "Microsoft is guilty" Adword, I was told that I needed to bid at least $5 to have the ad appear. But there are exceptions in the fine print... More info is available at [link\|http://www.google.com/adwords/learningcenter/text/index.html\|Google's Adwords Learning Center]. I've also noted that, at least for me, doing a Google search on "microsoft is guilty" has our MSiG forum show up 5th in the list of results, so putting up an ad for that probably isn't necessary. There's a whole bunch of stuff that goes into these advertising decisions that I didn't appreciate before. No wonder Google has so much invested in it... HTH a bit. Cheers, Scott.
Post #254,318 by drewk 5/3/06 5:09:46 PM Reply	Recommend form be renamed (new thread) Created as new thread #254317 titled [link\|/forums/render/content/show?contentid=254317\|Recommend form be renamed] === Purveyor of Doc Hope's [link\|http://DocHope.com\|fresh-baked dog biscuits and pet treats]. [link\|http://DocHope.com\|http://DocHope.com]
Post #253,898 by admin 4/30/06 5:35:20 PM Reply	Just send it to Greg. No Google vig involved. Regards, -scott anderson "Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
Post #253,899 by Another Scott 4/30/06 5:59:45 PM Reply	But then we'd have to suffer with the Fart button... Any idea how Google's fees compare with PayPal? Checks require effort. ;-) I don't mind doing things this way - it's educational, I can adjust things on the fly, and it might be useful for promoting these haunts. I've added arstechnica.com to the list of sites for that ad, to see if we can get some new visitors using a simple ad like that. I fear, though, that it's too rich for me (100k-500k possible impressions/day). I'll give it a couple of days to see how it goes. If it gets to be annoying or counter-productive, let me know. Cheers, Scott.
Post #253,903 by admin 4/30/06 6:22:01 PM Reply	I turned off image ads. :-) Regards, -scott anderson "Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
Post #253,904 by Another Scott 4/30/06 6:51:24 PM Reply	Woot! :-)
Post #253,615 by inthane-chan 4/27/06 10:15:47 AM Reply	I'm limiting myself to once per day assuming regular usage. That'll keep myself to under 5%. I even pressed the fart button When somebody asks you to trade your freedoms for security, it isn't your* security they're talking about.*
Post #253,619 by boxley 4/27/06 11:08:35 AM Reply	how can one NOT click the fart button? Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 50 years. meep
Post #253,620 by admin 4/27/06 11:11:04 AM Reply	Truth. Regards, -scott anderson "Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
Post #253,637 by jb4 4/27/06 1:38:39 PM Reply	ICLRPD (new thread) Created as new thread #253636 titled [link\|/forums/render/content/show?contentid=253636\|ICLRPD] jb4 "Every Republican who wants to defend Bush on [the expansion of Presidential powers], should be forced to say, 'I wouldn't hesitate to see President Hillary Rodham Clinton have the same authority'." — an unidentified letter writer to Newsweek on the expansion of executive powers under the Bush administration
Post #253,630 by inthane-chan 4/27/06 12:22:11 PM Reply	Are they on currently? Possibility exists that my work filters such things. When somebody asks you to trade your freedoms for security, it isn't your* security they're talking about.*
Post #253,633 by admin 4/27/06 1:26:46 PM Reply	The ads? Yes. A lot of people have the pageads2.google.com server in their Adblock settings, too. Regards, -scott anderson "Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
Post #253,638 by inthane-chan 4/27/06 1:41:51 PM Reply	D'oh! Forgot I even had that thing installed at work. :P When somebody asks you to trade your freedoms for security, it isn't your* security they're talking about.*
Post #253,658 by folkert 4/27/06 4:36:24 PM Reply	Due to the overwhelming removal regexs in adblock (the updater) I needed to whitelist pagead2.googlesyndication.com. -- [link\|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net\|greg], [link\|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry\|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ *i_wethey* Freedom is not FREE. Yeah, but 10s of Trillions of US Dollars? SELECT * FROM scog WHERE ethics > 0; 0 rows returned.
Post #253,659 by inthane-chan 4/27/06 5:05:11 PM Reply	I just whitelisted z.iwethey.org
Post #253,669 by folkert 4/27/06 5:50:37 PM Reply	I needed to do the pagead2 becauase I whitelisted Z... but nothing showed -- [link\|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net\|greg], [link\|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry\|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ *i_wethey* Freedom is not FREE. Yeah, but 10s of Trillions of US Dollars? SELECT * FROM scog WHERE ethics > 0; 0 rows returned.
Post #253,635 by jb4 4/27/06 1:37:32 PM Reply	Re: Please don't overdo the clicks OK then... But you know I have to click on the "Anti Bush Shirts and Gear" link at least once a day... jb4 "Every Republican who wants to defend Bush on [the expansion of Presidential powers], should be forced to say, 'I wouldn't hesitate to see President Hillary Rodham Clinton have the same authority'." — an unidentified letter writer to Newsweek on the expansion of executive powers under the Bush administration
Post #253,654 by admin 4/27/06 3:08:30 PM Reply	Do what you gotta do... ;-) Regards, -scott anderson "Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
Post #253,642 by jb4 4/27/06 2:08:37 PM Reply	I love what my .sig does to the Goooooogle ad server. It's even funnier what lincoln's does! (Gets lots of adds about God & religous paraphenalia...of all things!) In fact, that might just make for an interesting new thread on the test Forum...Listing what Google thinks of your .sigs (if you have them). jb4 "Every Republican who wants to defend Bush on [the expansion of Presidential powers], should be forced to say, 'I wouldn't hesitate to see President Hillary Rodham Clinton have the same authority'." — an unidentified letter writer to Newsweek on the expansion of executive powers under the Bush administration
Post #253,660 by inthane-chan 4/27/06 5:06:14 PM Reply	It apparently thinks I like fart jokes.
Post #253,664 by imqwerky 4/27/06 5:35:08 PM Reply	Me too, Thane, me too. This signature brought to you by Google
Post #253,668 by ben_tilly 4/27/06 5:45:05 PM Reply	Seems like they can read your mind, huh? I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)
Post #253,672 by ChrisR 4/27/06 7:43:16 PM Reply	Knows target market => Serious AI going on there!
Post #253,661 by tuberculosis 4/27/06 5:11:28 PM Reply	I've turned them off let the tourists click. [link\|http://www.blackbagops.net\|Black Bag Operations Log] [link\|http://www.objectiveclips.com\|Artificial Intelligence] [link\|http://www.badpage.info/seaside/html\|Scrutinizer]
Post #253,688 by rcareaga 4/27/06 11:07:27 PM Reply	ads off for me But I will make it up in spades come IWT Remembrance Day, August 1, and trust that most of the Inner Party will do the same. cordially, Die Welt ist alles, was der Fall ist.
Post #253,695 by ben_tilly 4/27/06 11:58:04 PM Reply	It may be easier to make it up at the party... I have come to believe that idealism without discipline is a quick road to disaster, while discipline without idealism is pointless. -- Aaron Ward (my brother)

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