Understanding Google’s PPC Monster

I think it's important for you to first understand the fundamental principles in which the system of Google Adwords is based on, as when you understand this, it will open up your eyes to understanding how to give them what they want and have much more success with Adwords overall.

First, remember more than anything else, Google wants (and is on the road to demanding) that you deliver RELEVANCY to what the user is searching for.

After all, the reason for Google's success to begin with is the fact they created more relevant results for users who were searching for virtually anything on the internet.

For example, if someone is searching on Google for "Apple Computer" Google obviously doesn't want ads displaying "how to make money online" or anything else that is not nearly relevant to the exact keyword.

They are only willing to accept ads surrounding the Apple Computing world such as sales, support, etc. This goes without saying, although there was a time in AdWords history where you could bid on such things as "Apple Computer" and send them directly to a webpage that was all about making money from home, or even dog training.  Obviously, as an advertiser, you don't want to be bidding on keywords that are unrelated to what you are selling.

But this didn't stop a lot of DUMB advertisers from trying to do it anyway. Sometimes you just cannot understand the lack of common sense some companies have, especially in the world of AdWords, but I digress...

Google has since come down on a lot of the advertisers in stages, with what has been not so affectionately termed as "Google Slaps" by the AdWords advertiser community.

The "Google Slap" is a somewhat murky algorithm that determines a specific pages "quality score" relating to the keyword that is being bid on.

For example, if you own a golf store, and you are looking for a way to find new customers for your business, you may try to bid on the keyword "nike golf clubs online" as an example. However, if Google determines that the web page you are sending traffic to is JUST about Golf Clubs, they MAY determine that your web page has a bad "quality score" and will either 1) Raise the price of what you will be charged per click or 2) Disable the ad from showing in the first place....(or a semi-combination of both).

Neither of these situations is optimal, obviously, and it drives a lot of advertisers NUTS that they cannot pay Google ENOUGH to get their ad listed! To them, it just doesn't make sense they won't accept the ad and will not take their money.

Now, there is a reason for this, and as you can imagine, it's about MONEY.

The bottom line is in order to maximize profits from the incredible Google Machine, you need to understand and appreciate their concern for relevancy. And it goes really far beyond what you may just see at the surface.

The bottom line is Google is looking long term. They want to provide their users who are conducting searches with HIGHLY RELEVANT results- because the last thing Google wants is to lose the confidence of their users to actually find what they're looking for when they are clicking on ads.

If users STOP clicking on ads, 97% of Google's revenue is gone, and they will be out of business. So, again, it's about relevancy for Google, as this will sustain the confidence from its user base to find what they are looking for and continue their very successful advertising model.

Interestingly enough, if you can write excellent ads (and it's not too difficult), you can literally being paying .15 a click when your competitors are paying 2.00 a click because Google REWARDS ads that get a lot of clicks. Makes sense, right?

Hope you enjoyed this article...

P.S. When initially getting started in your Google Adwords account, admittedly, you can feel as if you're getting into the cockpit of a Boeing 777 airplane. The interface can be quite confusing, and that's just the start of it. This is precisely why we offer our PPC Management service to clients who are looking to  properly manage their PPC campaigns and develop them into advertising campaigns that routinely deliver ROI's of 100% or more! For more information, simply click on the PPC Management link, follow the instructions and you'll get a free audit of your campaign!