Tue - June 19, 2007

The Death of Made for AdSense (MFA) Sites - IMS #125


Question: Have you heard about the AdSense Arbitrage sites going down, along with the Made For Adsense (MFA) type sites? Interesting stuff is happening. What do you make of it?

Answer: I haven't "heard" much about the MFA debacle. I don't listen to gossip, or frequent the SEO forums. What I do pay attention to, are the official Google blogs, and those of prominent Google engineers like Matt Cutts.

All I can say is, they're going after them and shutting them down. Hundreds of people got handed their final AdSense checks, as they didn't fit with the Google philosophy.

If your idea of a sustainable business model, was building automated sites for AdSense revenue, then you got whatever you deserved. Same deal with the arbitrage junkies.

I tried to warn people about the MFA templates. I told my readers not to buy them. A quick glance at the HTML code, revealed detectable footprints. Well maybe not footprints... more like blinking red arrows.

Several template designers left their names in the code, or included comment fields, that were easily detected and filtered. Even if you bought them from a "brand name" direct marketer... it's not like he designed them personally, or even has the technical ability to examine the code...

Not only that, Google has provided clear instructions, on how to report MFA sites, arbitrage sites and ad farms. The writing was... on the wall, so to speak.

So I won't say much more about it, other than... "I told ya so." When it comes to building a business, a foolish man builds his house upon the sand, the wise man builds his house upon the rock.

Stick to the rock solid fundamentals. :-) Build affiliate revenue sites and maintain relationships with your customers, through newsletters, audio and video. Give value first, and you'll reap what you sow in return.

Posted at 01:29 PM    

Wed - February 21, 2007

Google Reveals Quality Score - IMS #119


The minimum bid price you'll pay on AdWords, is directly related to your Quality Score. On Friday February 16, Google released Google Slap 3.0 (GS3).

Did your bid prices soar once again? Did you feel the cold hard hand against your face? Or did a whispering wind tickle the crocus blossoms with hardly a notice?

At least now you can get answers by logging into your Google AdWords account. Click the Keywords Tab, and then click on the Customize Column link. Choosing "Show Quality Score" from the pop up list, reveals Google's report card on how well you've done.

I'm happy to say my QS Score is "Great" across every single one of my keywords. That means my ad group tightly matches the landing page. And from the landing page, Google's Bot can find all the rest of the content on my site. Maybe you weren't so lucky.

Fortunately Perry Marshall just wrote a full page article on GS3. In it, you'll find out how to reduce your bid prices, and helpful tips on how to avoid getting slapped in the future.

Google Slap 3 ==> http://www.cdzn.com/pm3

Posted at 07:19 PM    

Wed - February 7, 2007

More AdSense Changes - IMS #118


The best way to know what's going on with AdSense is to get a direct feed from Google.

You don't have to rely on marketers... afterall, where do you think they get THEIR news from? They subscribe to the Google AdSense Blog:

AdSense Blog ==> http://groups.google.com/group/Inside-AdSense?hl=en

Just recently Google increased the payout amounts, for referring to them, both advertisers and publishers. Now they'll be paying out up to 40% of the first 100 dollars and offering sweet bonus incentives as well.

Once you join the group, you can choose the schedule and type of post summary that you would like to receive via email. I highly recommend that you start getting Google's "Inside AdSense" on a daily basis. You'll get the news that affects your business as it happens.

Posted at 10:14 AM    

Tue - February 6, 2007

New Yahoo PPC Goes Live - IMS #118


Yahoo has long promised to make its PPC service more Googlier. To make it more user friendly and easy to use. This week they finally launched the new service code named Panama.

One thing that makes it more Googlier, is that it's no longer just bid price that gets top spot. They've added a "quality score" algo into the mix, so that the quality ads will get positioned higher.

The factors that go into a quality ad and landing page combo are nearly identical to Google's. So if you've been writing ads for AdWords, the same rules apply.

One thing to watch for though, is that ad optimization is automatically set "ON" within your account so that better performing ads (based on click-through rate) are served more frequently. You'll want to shut this feature OFF while split testing your ads, so it doesn't skew your results.

Bottom line though... is anyone going to use it? With Yahoo's search share below 25% would the last one to use it, please shut off the light. ;-)

All kidding aside, the big three Google, Yahoo and MSN account for nearly all search. Tinker toys search wannabe's like Ask are way down the list, getting just 2.1%.

We need all the competition in the search that we can get. But with Google buying up talent and filing patents and light speed, it's only going to get harder and harder to create a unique startup and compete with them.

Good luck Yahoo... you'll need it. I hope your Panama turns out to be your canal to higher profits and a better search engine experience for all of us.

Posted at 05:04 PM    





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