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There seems to be a ton of discussion going on at DigitalPoint Forums and some at WebmasterWorld about a recent Google AdWords Quality Score update where many AdWords advertisers saw their minimum bids spike up.
The reports all come from advertisers noticing a major change in their minimum bids as of yesterday, March 5, 2008.
When major price changes occur in AdWords, it has been coined a Google Slap. People say Google is forcing them to pay more for the same quality traffic. Some PPC professionals just say these advertisers are complaining and they should make higher quality sites. Some of those professionals have actually been hit by the increased prices and are likely no longer saying that, while some can still boast success.
I am not one to judge but there are many reports of a Google AdWords Quality Score update, impacting the minimum bid of many advertisers - all starting March 5th.
Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums and WebmasterWorld.
Comments:
Dave
03/14/2008 09:20 am
Literally Millions of people have gone out of business because of this last QS update. More discretion is needed on Google's part.
London
03/24/2008 03:38 am
Google is pure evil and everyone should go advertise on Msn, Yahoo and Megaglobe. Please leave Google alone, look at the way they treat advertisers, this is a shame on earth.
Alex
04/09/2008 05:37 pm
The people being put out of business are those not running legitimate businesses. this slap served to penalize those people running link farms and ad arbitrage and reward relevant advertisers. the end result is a better experience for the users as well as the legitimate advertisers.
tommy jonq
07/06/2008 08:37 pm
my experience with google adwords so far is that they are, at best, misleading. they come on with an offer of "five cents a click" but if your ad doesn't generate a certain number of dollars for them within the first 24 hours—or LESS—they don't want it. there is simply no other explanation for jacking up bids every day for ads that have zero competition. i could see waiting a week to measure an ad's performance, but only ads for get-rich-quick scams and "hot singles in your area" can withstand the kind of blistering expectations for instantaneous profits google seems to expect. on the other hand, i have found a way to use google adwords to my advantage anyway. all for less than a dollar a day. (no, it's not a gold mine, but it's useful.) but all in all, if you can't afford at least $1.00 or $2.00 a click and several hundred a month, don't be dazzled by google's own ads.