High Google Adsense Payout is A Myth

(((This was originally posted at WMW 1 hour ago. The response was a slap on the wrist. I felt unsatisfied, and DISMISSED! So I thought that I would try it here, to see if any SEOChat folks feel the same. Here it is, word-for-word.)))

I study and take data. I take more data and study some more.
The conclusions form themselves - this isn't my "opinion".
This is what Google does to me.
I visit every forum, and read most of the posts. I see the same comments over and over.
Google has stated that their publisher payout overall is OVER 50%.
NFW.

I just ran the "purist" test I could muster.
I placed one ad on a large 5-year-old site that never had a Google ad.
The 3 top bids are very stable and are over $1.
This item is VERY popular right before Christmas.
CTR is great - very high - as Google might say, "Over 50%".
Traffic is high, the clicks are many.

EPC is ALWAYS LESS THAN ONE-FIFTH of the bids.
20% is NOT 50%.

Maybe all the gold goes to the top 3% of publishers. Is that it? I see the same comments over and over. Google is about to lose the rest of us.

Have you ever considered why Google is so secretive about their Adsense Publisher payout? Their is only ONE REASON - they don't want you to know how poor it really is. Period. Think about it. They are totally paranoid about anybody discussing ANY stats. They simply don't want you to know the truth. Have you noticed?

When the alternatives arrive, Google is finished. Many will realize just what slaves that they have become. All for peanuts. One way or the other, Google's quick ride is OVER. Grabbing up all the low-hanging fruit will be a thing of the past. Google will have to pay out more. Many publishers will leave for the money. Some will leave just on principle, having been lied to, and messed with one time too many.

I don't like the fact that they are secretive about the payout... it doesnt earn my trust at all. IMO they do give publishers less than a 50% cut of some clicks - at least some of the time - but who can say for sure without seeing all of the numbers.

After saying that... I run adsense on retail sites right up against my shopping cart items. I keep good records of conversions and traffic and profit and space devoted. Adsense earns the space that I give it on all but my highest converting shopping cart pages.

So, I am going to run it on my sites because it brings in good yield. I watch stuff close enough to know when it performs at a lower rate than the slowest converting item on the page... or if I think that it is costing me sales.

The thing that would make me really happy is if google would allow me to specify broad categories that are related to my theme - such as sporting goods or simply send high yielding general topic ads (and allow me to block some categories). That way the adsense would not directly compete with my merchandise. I think that would be win win win for google me and advertiser.

I would say - the only way to know for sure - would be to be both an adwords and adesnse customer -


Then place an ad for something obscure - then create a page just for that term - then you'll be able to compare exact charge vs payout.

Think of it this way, SD;

Google Adsense is the largest contractor in town who hires people to dress up in silly chicken outfits and stand in front of stores to try and attract customers. You get paid a commission on 'how much money you make the store', not, 'how many people you physically get in the store'.

You sign up with them and right away hit the streets. You have an array of tactics to try, including running out into traffic, jumping up and down, doing a little dance, or flat out clubbing someone on the head and dragging them into the store. Some of these techniques will increase the number of people you get into your target store, some will get you in trouble, and some will definitely not be creating what was described in your contract, a 'person who makes money for the store'.

Adsense pays on 'Performance Per Click', not 'Pay Per Click'. This is part of why they are successful. If you do a 'purist' test, make sure it involves months of data involving a wide spread of factors, not 1 page on a brand new publisher site. WW probably banned your message because what you are saying is essentially 'I danced around for 5 minutes in front of the store and have hardly made anything'.

Google follows the 'Golden Rule' when it comes to Adsense or Adwords:

Heh it's no myth. I make a ton off Adsense an my webpage only gets around 1700 hits a day.

A ton!

Ah, that clears it right up!
I didn't know.
What's your secret?
Keyword choice?

Do we get no clue at all?

There is no secret, different markets just pay more per click.

yes, keyword choice is huge, as is content. And unfortunately, bad content often leads to good ctr.

There are many alternatives but Google is the best. I don't know if the publisher payout is over or less 50%, but Google pays me very well.

"You can't look a gift horse in the mouth."
...

Yeaaah, I get a little sumthin too. Oh, well. I'm a hypocrite.
Greed - I'm just not getting enough.
And fear -Afraid that somebody else might be getting more.

Hee-hee-ha-ha-ha.
Merry Christmas

I'm still not going to stop looking - it is my latest, greatest quest -
Don Quixote (tilting at windmills)!
Ponce de Leon (fountain of youth)!
Albert Einstein (universal field theory)! and
Page et Brin (small publisher payout algorithm)!

I've been hearing about "adsense competition" that is going to "kick their ***" since adsense came out. So far no one has come close. I know we can't discuss numbers here, but I just quit my job and bought a new house and car this year thanks largely in part to google. hopefully MSN comes out with an adsense like program just so there are a couple big players running the field, but I don't hold much to the small players out there saying they are going to offer better earnings.

Thank you, gchaney. And a Happy New Year to you, as well.

My thoughts and experiences are very similar to yours.
I prefer a forum where you can actually SAY something, ESPECIALLY if it is controversial. Who wants to read censored, watered-down, mealy-mouth, say-nothing drivel? Not to mention, in some cases, actual misdirection from some ("no filters", "Google never does evil", "how dare you question?", etc.), while at the same time they are profiting immensely.
WMW= Republican (we have the marbles, and we are going to keep them.).
SEOChat= Everybody else, democrat, Green, Nader, P&F (we want in)

I think that some of these folk have learned "real truths" (for the moment, anyway), and have a profound interest in exploiting that knowledge, which would include the additional expedient of NOT TELLING YOU. But, would they actually LIE?
If you were one of those with valuable, secret knowledge, what would you do?

THE THINGS THAT WE WANT TO KNOW ABOUT, ARE THE THINGS THAT GET "SNIPPED". WMW is an exclusive club, not a forum for open discussion.

I think that many of us have had the WMW experiences you describe, and that is why we are here. And, as you say, the growth over here is hard to miss.

Self-restraint = Open Forum
My biggest problem is self restraint. There is always more I want to say. I don't know when to shut up, like right now. I had only one post not show up here, and I'm glad - it was not good. Call me thankful.

Surf-Dude, Google is not only secretive but their algo has arbitrary twists and turns just to throw us off track.

I have a very new site (went up on 15th of Nov) that has Adsense. After the initial frustration I striped Adsense out of all pages except one. Traffic is very low to the page, at around 50 a day. That way I can actually figure out what's happening. The page is optimized for a mortgage term. The ads have been very stable, pretty much the same people all along yet the payouts have hit a low of 15 cents.

What 50% payout? Can you find a mortgage term for 30 cents? Can you find one for a Dollar? Where are my 15 cent hits coming from?

Right now G* is the only game in town and they pretty much do what it pleases them to do.

raz

I don't agree with that. I actually run several adwords campaigns on mortgage terms where I pay as little as 5 cents a click. just because the top 3 bids are 30 dollars or whatever doesn't mean they all are. ;)