The offer consists in a free $75 credits on any new Google Adwords account created. If you are an existing advertiser, the offer does not apply but you are eligible to a Special Master Class seminar to improve the performance of your campaign.

Even if Google’s stimulus might be more targeted at increasing their customer base and generating good PR than a genuine act of charity toward Australian businesses ( read ITNews), it is still an interesting offer that many businesses will appreciate.

BTW: Yahoo Search Marketing is constantly offering a $50 credit on new account sign-up

Now, Yahoo thinks that this strategy has run its course, and they’ve introduced a new kind of search ads – Rich Ads. These enable publishers to add images, videos, and custom search boxes to their search ads – precisely the sort of thing that stopped working several years ago.

I’m not claiming that this is necessarily a bad move. Just like any other type of advertising, simple text ads can’t be the holy cash cow of search advertising forever; these things come and go, and Yahoo has probably decided that it’s time to bring the old trend back. If I were to judge by the picture on the left, courtesy of Yahoo Search Marketing Blog, I’d say that people won’t be too happy about having these in their search results.

Not even Yahoo is too sure about Rich Ads just yet, since advertisers can currently use them on an invitation-only basis. If the initial results are good, we can expect Rich Ads to be rolled out to everyone.

by Stan Schroeder

For those who aren’t so sure, you might ask, what is adsense?

AdSense is an advertising program run by Google. Website owners enroll in this program to enable text and image advertisements on their sites. These ads are administered by Google and generate revenue on a per-click basis based on website content. Though it’s pretty amazing how certain people can earn 4 figure income in a day through adsense, there are 2 BIG issues that come with it.

Click Fraud

If you are hated by certain groups for something controversial that you’ve said, you’re dead. There are certain groups of people out there who pick out websites that they disagree with and destroy the webmaster’s adsense income. All that has to be done is to click on the ads multiple times, say for example 100 clicks per person. A group of 3 is already enough to get your site’s adsense suspended.

Tracking Visitor Clicks

Of course it’s all great when you get clicks, at first. As time goes on, you’d want to improve the content and layout of your site. However, you can’t see who clicked what, where that visitor came from, how many clicks that particular visitor makes, or even which advertisement he clicked on. The only thing that you and I can do in the adsense dashboard is to see the clickthrough rate and how much you’ve earned.

However, the world of adsense publishing became a better place thanks to Trevor Fitzgerald, a 20-year-old student studying Business Administration at Michigan State University, who developed this amazing nifty tool called the ‘Adlogger‘. However, you gotta be able to use FTP to upload the folder to your website.

Guys, if you’re an adsense / YPN freak, you’re gonna love the 16 benefits that come with using the super cool, free, open source, amazing Adlogger.

1. Track and log when a visitor clicks on one of your AdSense ads
2. Optionally receive an email after every reported click
3. Receive an email after every reported multiple click
4. Secure administrative backend
5. Know the total number of clicks and the total number of unique visitors that clicked
6. Know the IP address, hostname, user agent, browser information, operating system of the visitor who clicked on the ad
7. Determine which advertisment was clicked
8. Get past click performance for a specific date or range of dates
9. Find your best performing pages
10. Custom channels help you monitor which pages are receiving clicks
11. Block ads for a specific IP address or range of IPs
12. Automatically block ads for visitors who are clicking too many within a certain time period
13. Know exactly when, why, and for whom ads were successfully blocked
14. If AdSense ads are blocked, you can display an alternate advertisement
15. Code generator page to make installation and setup easySynchronize all of the reporting to Google AdSense server time

You gotta start using it, man. Actually, everyone should. =)

Adlogger
Prevent click fraud & track clicks

Source: http://rangit.com/

CTR is an important factor that can influence the earning potential of a website. CTR can vary across industry. For example the CTR in a Google Adsense forum may be low as the users are very well aware of the ads present and they tend to ignore them. But in your industry (food) we can hope that the users won’t be very much aware of ads. Again CTR depends on ad position, its color and some other factors like the size of the ad unit. If optimized, a CTR of at least 4 – 5 can be achieved.

So in your case, this will be the equation.
CTR = (clicks/1000)*100 = 5
clicks = 50
ie; you will have approx 50 clicks a day.

Now the pay per click will depend on your site’s content. You will have to use keyword research to find the good paying keywords in your industry (food) and write more pages on these keywords. You can drive traffic to these pages and monetize them better.

Now you can find for yourself what your earnings would look like. If your keywords give an approx 0.5$ a click, you will make 50*0.5 =25$ a day.
If the keywords are good enough to give 1$ a click you make 50$ a day!
It can also be low depending on the keywords. So pls do some research!

Again I would recommend Adsense, as managing the ads are really simple here and you end up getting more time to concentrate on your site’s content and promotion.

Building consistency between the PPC published advertisement and the landing page is an excellent technique. After all the visitor believes that they are looking at something very specific because that is what the advertisement told them. Having pictures, information or other tidbits relevant to the advertisement will keep the visitor on the site. In fact the lack of consistency is a real sore spot for most visitors when they are looking at something completely different than what the advertisement was selling.

Inconsistency or poorly built sites can create what is known as a bounce rate, therefore decreasing sales. A bounce rate refers to a visitor that moves along quickly after clicking on the PPC published ad or clicking to another site. This means that for whatever reason the visitor did not feel that they were delivered what the ad showed them. The bounce rate should be low, though every site will have some bounce rate, but it should be worked to avoid at all costs.

By Mark A. Abrahams
http://ezinearticles.com/

• Who Pays more?
  Publishers report that clicks that come from YPN ads can bring much more dollars on Pay Per Click, but they give low CTR(click through rate) due to low ad targeting. Yahoo Publisher network has a less sophisticated way to target ads due to your site content, resulting in a low CTR.
  By the otherside Google Adsense pays less per click, because of smartpricing, and will show regional ads and in that case PPC may depend on visitor IP. But Google CTR is higher because of relevant ad targeting.
  This means that visitors that will come to your Flower Site, which is using Google ads, will see ads showing Flower advertisments and probably click your ads. This might not happen with YPN because of low ad targeting.
• Can non U.S publishers participate?
  Google Adsense program is international and everyone from all over the world can have an account.
  On the contrary Yahoo Publisher Network accepts accounts either from U.S members or by invitation only. You are required to state your U.S address and your tax ID.
  There is no official announcement when YPN will become international or come out from their Beta version.
• What is lacking?
  Google Adsense – Does not provide RSS feed ads!
  - Image ad stats not provided.
  - Publishers cannot block low paying ads( advertisers can set the price per click).
  - Does not pay for PSA ads(public service ads).
  - Cannot transfer Adsense account balance into Adword balance.
  Yahoo Publisher Network – No image ad formats, no ad links!
  - YPN does not pay per thousand impressions(CPM)
  - No ad preview
  - Channel update hourly(they update daily)
• Which are the best of Google Adsense?
  - Excellent ad targeting due to content/keywords(influences clicks)
  - Great CTR( influences your revenue).
  - Detailed reports and statistics(Google analitics,Webmaster Tools, Channels, Templates).
  - You can download CSV files and create charts to compare your earnings.
• Which are the best of Yahoo Publisher Network?
  - YPN for RSS feeds included(showing Yahoo ads on your RSS Feed)
  - No penalty on self clicks(filtered automatically, you get 0$)
  - Revenue per click(RPC, chart to view your revenue).

It would be better to not mention the disadvantages of each these networks, but instead I will give you some advices on what you must absolutely avoid.

Note that:
Sometimes you may see Google public service ads(PSA) showing at your website, which count as impressions but you don’t get any revenue from their clicks or their impressions.
The reasons for this maybe considerable and I consider not relying much on webmaster sayings but check this Google article taken from their support center:Why am I getting PSA’s ?.

It is possible to apply for an account or getting started here:Yahoo Publisher network or see a simple tutorial about general notes of how does the Yahoo Publisher network works:Take a tour.

There are 3 simple steps to proceed with yahoo publisher network:

• Design your ad format size and layout to properly fill with your site.
• Copy the code and paste it into your website.
• Make money on qualified clicks.

Yahoo Publisher network allows you to put ads on RSS feeds which stands for “Really Simple Syndication”, and allowing your subscribers to see ads appending to your news feed and so making possible to monetize your RSS Feed. Ads placing in RSS Feed is compatible only with two platforms such as: “MovableType” and “WordPress”. To get instructions on how to set up your RSS feed for Ad showing check:Ads in RSS setup Guide.

There are four ways Yahoo can pay you after reached the minimum required(100$), on pre-defined days of each month:

• PayPal – Payment will come within same day and minimum is 50$
• Check – On your Home address – delay of 7-10 business days
• Direct Deposit – On your bank account
• Directly to your Yahoo Search Marketing account(like Google Adwords).

Fur further information regarding using the Yahoo Publisher network you can see their FAQs.

To improve your visitors web experience Yahoo Publisher network enables a variety of options such as:

• Search functionality – you can put search boxes into your website and earn revenue from yahoo
• Badges and buttons – badges to display your recents vistor photos, popularity badge, media tools, Del.icio.us tools, podcasts..etc.
• Develop New features – Yahoo Maps, Yahoo finance, Yahoo Feeds, HotJobs.
• Find Open Content – You can reuse content not copyrighted.

How does Bidvertiser differ from other similar programs (e.g., Google, YPN)?
1. Other similar programs show your ads due to keyword and content targeting, while Bidvertiser allows you to choose ads shown on your website by your own desire.
2. The price-per-click price at other similar networks (Google, YPN) is based by keyword relevance, while Bidvertiser price-per-click is raised as your site popularity grows. If you have a high traffic website, your visitor clicks will make you earn more.
3. If you have a site with little or no content (Google ads are not allowed to show at no content pages), flash based sites, login secure web page, that fact would not affect ads shown on your website with Bidvertiser because of bidding-based-system. This is a system that accepts such all kind of sites.

If you want to get started: Join BidVertiser

Immediately after signing up you can start creating your own ads and pasting the html code to your website. Your website and the type of ad you choose must previously be approved by Bidvertiser team. You can put as many ads as you want on your website, while Bidvertiser offers different kind of ads such as: text ads, banner ads, inline ads, buttons, skyscrapers.

Bidvertiser will only pay you on cost-per-click of ads shown on your website. This means that you cannot be paid per impressions of your ads. Your cost-per-click price will vary depending on your website popularity and advertiser bidding prices for your website ad space. But your bid will increase over time.

How do you get Paid?

• Paypal. The minimum reach is 10$ and you will be paid 30 days after the end of the month your ads have started to show on your website
• Check. The minimum reach is 50$ and you will be paid 30 days after the end of the month your ads have started to show on your website

Note that Bidvertiser prohibits ads shown on:
1.Websites that have adult, drugs related, hacking, pirate CONTENT.
2.Not genuine generating clicks programs such as: pay to surf (Your website must get genuine clicks).
3.Sites under construction
Get to know more about this: Bidvertiser GuideLines

Bidvertiser User Experince
Though being a relatively new Ad network company, Bidvertiser has a good reputation over the web due to its ad eligibility and compatibility with Google ads in additional to low reach minimum payout at 10$. You can choose by yourself your advertisers bid and pick the highest CPC bid. With your site growing in popularity and getting higher traffic, you can attract higher advertiser bids.

But Bidvertiser stating from user experience has a low CTR(click through rate), especially when displaying non-contextual ads or misplacement of them on your website. It is also time consuming especially when you are busy to choose the right/proper and the most appropriate one for your website due to big list of advertiser bids.

Creating your ads for AdWords Creating your ad copy is the single most important part of any ad campaign. You want your ad to stand out amongst the others and scream out ‘click me!’ If your add looks and says the same thing as everyone else users will simply pass it by.

Before creating your ads you need to determine your target market and keyword selections. If your company focuses on a specific market niche try to target your ads in regards to that niche. Properly targeted ads will almost always out-perform those directed at a general audience.

When creating your first ad be sure to fit in your main keywords either in the title or near the beginning of the body text. Say something to draw attention by using call to action phrases and words that provoke enthusiasm and response. Things like “ Save on DVDs,” “Get cheap stereos,” or “Join now for 20% discount,” etc. Just be cautious, if you advertise something that you don’t offer, Google will pull your ad. If your ad says you have something for free, you better have something for free listed on your landing page! Always be sure to follow Google’s Guidelines.

Once you are happy with your first ad, create 3 more ads that are radically different from the first. After 3 or 4 days take a look at how your ads are doing. (If you are using less frequently searched terms you may have to wait 1-2 weeks for better results.) Check the click through rate (CTR) of each ad. In most cases one of the 4 will show to be out-performing the rest. If this is the case, delete the poorly performing ads and create 3 new ads that closely resemble the successful one, each with subtle differences in the title and body text.

Again wait 3 or 4 days to see which of the ads is out performing the rest. If you again notice that one stands out, repeat the process. Eventually you will end up with 4 quality ads that are performing equally. Once the ads have leveled out, continue to keep an eye on them, I recommend daily. If one begins to slip, slightly tweak the wording. You must always keep an eye on your ads if you wish for them to continually perform well.

Determining your Max Cost Per Click with AdWords With AdWords when you enter your MAX CPC, it will then show you what Google estimates your average position will be for each keyword. ( The position predictions provided by Google are based on historical data from previous advertisers and are not 100% accurate, but it will give you an idea what to expect.)

Unfortunately there is no way to see what the competition is paying, so in most cases it’s a bit of a duck hunt in the beginning. I suggest starting out with a MAX CPC slightly higher than you would normally, this will give you a slightly higher ranking and increase your chances of accumulating clicks. If your ad performs really well your rank will increase. As you begin to establish a good click through rate (CTR) you can adjust your max CPC to reflect the position you wish to obtain. (See part one of this article to find out how Google ranks ads.)

Creating your ads for Overture With Overture, writing the perfect ad is slightly different than with AdWords. Overture only allows you to create one ad per keyword, so this takes away the option of trying out various ads and going with the obvious winner, however, the basis for creating your initial ad remains virtually the same. After you have selected your target market and main keywords, write a specific ad targeting each individual keyword and be sure to include the keyword in the title or beginning of the main body text along with a call to action phrase or something that is sure to draw attention. Remember to check the status of your ads on a weekly basis, and tweak as needed. Keep and eye on your click through rate and regularly tweak poorly performing ads

Determining your Max Cost Per Click with Overture Deciding how much to spend on Overture is simple. Take a look at what the competition is spending, and out bid them. With Overture you should always try to be in the top 3 if you wish to have your ad dispersed among partner sites. (Yahoo, Lycos, MSN, etc). If the number 1 spot is currently paying 25 cents per click you need only bid 26 cents to grab the number 1 spot. If you want the number one spot, but are also willing to pay more, you can bid 40 cents, and will only be charged the 26 cents. One penny above the competition. Keep in mind though, if someone else increases their bid, your actual cost will also increase up to the max CPC you have entered.

Managing an AdWords or Overture PPC campaign can be confusing at first, but it doesn’t take long to get a handle on what works.

Creating a highly successful ad the first time around with either AdWords or Overture is a rare occurrence, but with a bit of regular maintenance and a well targeted campaign it won’t take long to start seeing results.

By Scott Van Achte
http://www.1choice4yourstore.com/

For quite some time now Google has been the primary source for web search. Nearly everyone who has ever use a computer has either used or at least heard of Google. But as the Florida update has shown us, free placements in the search engines are not as stable as we would like them to be. Sure after an algorithm change we can go back to the drawing board figure out the newest line of attack, re-optimize a site, and bring back that first page placement, but how much traffic and sales are lost as a result of the down time?

When it comes to most PPC campaigns you can be sure of one thing: Your rankings are stable. When you go to bed, you know that when you wake up the next morning you placements will still be there. Now, of course in many cases you may be out bid in overture and find your self slipping a couple of notches, but after a quick adjustment to your maximum bid, you’re back in contention. This is a far cry from the potentially months lost after slipping, in some cases off the charts, into the dark abyss of positioning into the thousands.

Google is not going away any time soon, so it is still very important to optimize and try to get those top placements regardless of whether or not you wish to pursue a PPC campaign. If you are ranking well on Google, in many cases it is still well worth it to pursue PPC placements as well to get that extra exposure. With a PPC campaign its important to remember that it isn’t always as simple as paying top dollar to dominate the number one spot. Regular tweaking and maintenance will be required.

So what is involved in achieving top spot in a PPC campaign?

Google Adwords
Your Google AdWords Ad is given a ranking value by multiplying your maximum Cost Per Click (CPC) with your current Click Through Rate (CTR) and ads are sorted according.

For AdWords you must constantly monitor the performance of your keywords and ads. If the CTR of your keywords begin to slip then your position will most likely drop, and its time to either re-write your ads to draw attention, adjust your max CPC, or a combination of both. What will work best, depends on a variety of variables; your CTR, current CPC, how competitive your keyword phrase it, and the wording in your competitors ads. Remember you want to stand out as the obvious best choice.

Looksmart
Looksmart has a PPC Service that is somewhat different than AdWords and Overture. With Looksmart you write your own title and ad text for your listing and pay a set rate of 15 cents per click. The ranking order for listings is “ based solely on their relevance to a user’s search as determined by LookSmart’s proprietary search algorithm. Payment does not influence the appearance or rank of the listings in the Reviewed Web Sites section.” – Looksmart

If you choose to use Looksmart, it is essential for your website to be properly optimized. The one main downside to Looksmart is that your payment of 15 cents per click is just to get you listed, and does not guarantee any positioning.

Overture
The ranking of your Overture listings is determined by one thing and one thing only. How much you are willing to pay. If your ad position drops, increase your bid and within seconds you are back to where you left off. Now remember, being number one is not everything. If people see no interest in your listing they will simply click on number two. Of course this doesn’t cost you anything directly, but indirectly you may be losing the all so important sales. This is why it’s important to have carefully written copy for your listing.

In the case of Overture, Looksmart and Google ads, the copy you choose does not affect your position, so you don’t need to worry about the ad being ‘search engine friendly,’ but you do need to ensure it is searcher friendly. Carefully select the wording to use in your ad copy and be sure to include the keyword phrase in either the title or the beginning of the text. Say something that will jump out at the reader. You want them to see your ad as being highly relevant to their search, as well as being interesting and inviting. Remember; just because you dominate the top spot, does not mean you will necessarily draw all the traffic (although it does help!)

Before you get started with any PPC Campaign be sure to understand the billing practices of the search engine before you starting using it. Google AdWords charges a one time, $5.00 setup fee, and after that you pay only for delivered traffic. Overture does not have a setup fee, but they do require a minimum charge of $25/month regardless of weather or not your click through’s have accumulated to that total. Looksmart bills 15 cents per click flat rate, and a minimum usage of Each Search engine has different billing plans, and its important to understand them so that you don’t get burned.

Once you have selected what search engine, or engines, you wish to use start off by reading through their FAQ page, guidelines, tips pages, and absorb as much information as you can to get a good grasp on how their PPC system operates. If you are new all this, at first glance AdWords and Overture will seem extremely overwhelming, but you will find the more you explore, the better understanding you will develop. It doesn’t take long to get a firm grasp of the various systems.

By Scott Van Achte
http://www.1choice4yourstore.com/