| LED Digest 2292: AdWords - Scam and Exploitation? |
|
|
|
================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom pair Networks: The LED's Web Host Hosting and Domain Registration from a Trusted Leader pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. November 20, 2006 Issue no. 2292 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ====== NEW ====================== --== Is AdWords a Scam & Exploitation? ==-- ~ Roger Hass "20,000 business types represented on 101,435,253 Web sites..." ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Marketing Exclusivity ==-- ~ Tim Klimasewski "So we limit the period of the non-compete to 2 years after our work has been completed." --== Buying Links ==-- ~ Michael Linehan "It all looks a bit iffy - something that may end up biting you in the rear." ~ Jerry Harvey "Matt Cutts says you shouldn't buy links. Enough said." --== Getting Sued for SEO Work ==-- ~ Ian Parker "I would like to add my comments to the list of those who advocate that you defend..." ==== BILLBOARD =================== --== New Member Intro ==-- ~ Shel Horowitz ========== NEW ==================================== From: Roger Hass Subject: SEO - Is it a Scam and Exploitation? G'Day Folks, SEO -- Is it a Scam and Exploitation of your Greed, What do you think? (This should put the Cat amongst the Pigeons) Topic Introduction: To understand the phenomenal growth factor of web pages worldwide, here are some figures to consider. Back in March 2004 (now ancient history) it was estimated that approx 43 million web sites existed.* (* Source http://www.boutell.com/newfaq/misc/sizeofweb.html ) This was based on Google information of "Google states that they are indexing 4,285,199,774 distinct web pages." And divided by the average number of pages per site of "Dividing Google's figure of 4.28 billion by 100 gives us roughly 43 million sites." Estimating the current number of actual web sites (not pages indexed) is a little harder as the hype on the Internet is so full of it, that the "full of it" would feed all of the Rose Gardens in England for the next Century. In June 2005 it was estimated that approx 64.8 million web sites existed.* (* Source http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2005/06/01/june_2005_web_server_survey.html ) Survey quote from that source... ------------------------- "In the June 2005 survey we received responses from 64,808,485 sites, an increase of 1.27 million from last month's survey. In the first six months of the year, the Internet has added 7.83 million sites, a pace which approaches the torrid growth rate of 2000, when the Web added 16.1 million sites. By comparison, the survey added 10.4 million sites in 2003 and 10.9 million in 2004. "The bulk of this year's growth has occurred in the United States, with a gain of 5.14 million hostnames. Other countries with strong growth in the survey thus far in 2005 include Germany (+575K), The United Kingdom (+436K), South Korea (+237.9K) and Sweden (+143K)." ------------------------- To bring this information up to date, the November 2006 figures from the same source suggests that there are now 101,435,253 web sites on the Internet. All these figure, I suggest, are only a very crude estimate of the actual number and by the time I have finished writing this, many sites will have come and gone. However, I must remark that I have found the figures from "Netcraft" to be more accurate than most others. SEO - Page Ranking and Related Services, including the new "AdWords" Stock Exchange. I will make this simple for you all to understand. 1. On any Search Engine result, there are only 10 (ten) listed results per page. 2. It is considered by most that it is an advantage to be listed in the first 3 page which is equal to 30 places within this result. - OK so far? Now considering that in the English Language there are approximately 171,476 known words and not all are used as 47,156 are obsolete.* (* Source http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutenglish/numberwords ) Quote: ------------------------- "The Second Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary contains full entries for 171,476 words in current use, and 47,156 obsolete words. To this may be added around 9,500 derivative words included as subentries. Over half of these words are nouns, about a quarter adjectives, and about a seventh verbs; the rest is made up of interjections, conjunctions, prepositions, suffixes, etc. These figures take no account of entries with senses for different parts of speech (such as noun and adjective)." ------------------------- So, for the benefit of the sceptics, let's say that with the new Computer and IT Industry jargon we will allow (add) another 50,000 jargon words to the result. 171,476 - 47,156 - 9,500 + 50,000 = 164,820 words on the "Adwords Stock Exchange" at say 10 cents a word = $16,482.00 to be made from all the fools that would purchase them, not a bad money spinner for the "Conmen" to exploit. Next to consider is the categories / types and classes of businesses on the Web relating to different segments of businesses services on the internet with Web sites. This got out of hand with each state in the USA and other Countries giving and using different words (interpretations) in their results, so I went to the UN Classifications Registry to try my luck (besides suddenly going off air for maintenance until Sunday) and that's where I stopped as it got so confusing that, I think, if we started a discussion on this subject we would bring the house down. So for the purpose of the exercise, lets just say that there are at least 60,000 different Job and business types, who said 100,000 ? OK lets say 100,000 then. This of course means that 100.000 types of businesses are represented in 101,435,253 web sites, attempting to fight over 164,820 Adword(s) to get top ranking on the first 3 pages (30 places) of the Search Engine results. OK, lets word this differently and see if it sounds better (old marketing ploy = re-package it in a bubble pack) and it sounds like this; Each of the 100,000 types of Business groups, are represented by 1,014 web sites competing for your business and all attempting to get in the first 30 places of a search engine, giving odds of approx 33:1 -- "Good odds or Not Bad, you say?" Read my Lips Folks! Anything sounds better when we have manipulated the word usage and pull the wool over your eyes when your mind thinks of "Getting Rich Quick" methods. -- "There is no get rich method, the only people getting rich are those that get you to pay for their Get Rich Schemes." Here is the Punch Line Folks - The Facts! Unfortunately there are not 100,000 Business classes or groups, unless you want to dissect Jobs, Businesses Types and Services into specialised field, e.g. A Plumber now becomes, 1. a Tap Plumber, 2. a Pipe Plumber, 3, a Sink Plumber, etc. "A Plumber is a Plumber, unless you think you can find a Toilet Plumber." The reality is (just look at your local Business Directory, they have used the bubble pack ploy on it) you will find approximately only 13,545 Types of Businesses, even if I'm kind and up that to *20,000 the result still looks bad and not good for the bottom line. My calculations are as follows, using the inflated *20,000 number: 20,000 business types represented on 101,435,253 web Sites. This means that there are 5,072 web sites for each Business Type attempting to get a top 30 listing on any Search Engine result. Makes this odds of 169:1 that they might succeed, while they fight over 164,820 possible Adword(s) trying to get there! You can do your own cost estimates on this by going to the Google Traffic Estimator Link: https://adwords.google.com/select/TrafficEstimatorSandbox and perform your own word search and get the cost estimate, just remember that you only stay on top with a Adword until someone outbids you on it. Here is the result of what it would cost per day to have the word "Computer" as your Adword: - Keyword: Computer - Estimated Avg. CPC: $2.80 - $4.16 - Estimated Ad Positions: 1 - 3 - Estimated Clicks/Day: 34,442 - 43,086 - Estimated Cost/Day: $96,490 - $179,390 Yes Folks, this is correct, it can cost you between $96,490 and $176,390 PER DAY! Remember the story of "Cinderella" the shoe only fitted on one foot, although thousands where attempted! More interesting reading - http://www.bricklin.com/smallbusiness.htm - http://my.execpc.com/~helberg/statistics.html Best Advertising by far is "Word of Mouth." Good luck with your SEO, when I use specific search term such as "PC-Bug Fixer" I'm always on top. Try a search for your web site name (without the www and extension) and you get top ranking. Now think about what I tried to tell you and why I think that all the hype on SEO and Adword optimization is no more that a "Scam and Exploitation." Point 1. - I'm in Sydney, Australia, so I doubt if anyone from the USA or England is going to send or bring me their "Computer" to my work shop to service it. Point 2. - Why would I now need top ranking on an International Search Result? Point 3. - Ask yourself these two questions before you get sucked up with all the hype. Point 4. - Remember that having a Web Site, is no guaranty of Success or Instant Riches. Point 5. - Business success starts by doing a better job and giving better service than your competitors! Point 6. - A Customers recommendation is worth a $10,000 Commercial Advertisement. Point 7. - There is no substitute for "Word of Mouth Advertisement." Roger Hass pcbugfixer.com <Moderator Comment> Couple quick comments so others don't have to correct you: - AdWords is a PPC market, it's not SEO; - SEO techniques are mostly used to achieve natural (organic) search rankings; - your example of "computer" is an extremely competitive single keyword. The art of PPC is finding less competitive terms and phrases. Simple supply and demand. There are endless niches where this is available to the creative. - when you consider keyword phrases rather than just single words, you realize the amount of possible combinations is truly endless. Plus targeted phrases will usually convert much better than single keywords; Still, an interesting post that reveals some common complaints about the PPC model. (I think you really summed up what Web business is about with your Point 5, BTW.) Best wishes, Adam ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Tim Klimasewski Subject: Marketing exclusivity > Once you work with a marketing vendor you would expect > them to NEVER, EVER, EVER work for a competitor? ... Would > anyone care to explain their thoughts and why they believe > this is a legitimate request? - Leah Driver, LED Digest 2291 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1365/55/ I had originally posted about limiting marketing vendors from doing similar work for competitors. We have a standard consulting agreement for that purpose. But you are correct that US courts assert the rights of individuals to work and make money in their chosen field. That is where non-competes become gray, as has been pointed out. So we limit the period of the non-compete to 2 years after our work has been completed. The legitimacy of any non-compete is based on the ownership of the knowledge gained during the engagement. When I pay someone for internet marketing help, they need to learn about my business: customer personas, keywords, etc. We do testing. We learn what works and what doesn't. There is a cost associated with this work and this is what I am paying for. All I am saying is that it would be unfair for a vendor to take the specific knowledge that has already been paid for and sell it to someone else, either during the engagement or soon after. We have determined that period to be 2 years. Tim Klimasewski www.spectracomcorp.com -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Michael Linehan Subject: Buying links Andy Hagans of Text Link Ads, and also "review ME" which launched last week, just participated in a forum at WebmasterWorld's Search Engine & Internet Marketing Conference currently on. In a summary report it was stated, -------------------- "What can happen to me for buying links? Your site can get kicked out of the SE's. Your ranking is approximately 30 positions worse... this is a new "minus thirty penalty" that apparently is related to buying links, according to recent forum and blog discussions. Also, if you are ranking for anything except the targeted term, then you may have been the victim of a penalty on a single terms. For example, if you are targeting 'water bottles,' but do not have rankings for that but do rank for 'cheap water bottles.' "In QA, Thomas says that he feels that Google has directly penalized some sites including his own that used Text Link Ads. Andy says that typically what they see is that sites that have already gained a fair amount of trust prior to buying links can do very well doing this. However, sites that are newer may run into problems." -------------------- So even Andy Hagans is stating multiple cautions. It all looks a bit iffy - something that may end up biting you in the rear. My hit on it is that it's like going to a networking meeting at your local Chamber. Then you pay a few people to talk about how great you are. It might work for a little while, but sooner or later the house of cards will come tumbling. "Real" reputation building, I think, will be better for any serious business in the long run. Michael Linehan, Marketing Alchemy www.marketing-alchemy.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Jerry Harvey Subject: Buying links Dear Adam, Matt Cutts says you shouldn't buy links. Enough said. Kind regards, Jerry Harvey FiveTone Online Boutique -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Ian Parker Subject: Sued over SEO Work I would like to add my comments to the list of those who advocate that you defend rather than settle. Anyone providing professional services has the right to do so freely, and unless you are obliged under contract to exclude certain other parties, then it is clearly your right to do so, or we would all see ourselves excluding whole sectors of the market because we have already done business with client A. I could not imagine the giants of this world such as AT&T or Google putting up with this, neither should you. Providing that you apply equal professionalism to each of your clients, and the fact that the rankings themselves are totally outside of your professional domain, would to me at least indicate that you certainly do have the right to freely trade with whomever you please. Ian Parker http://www.parker-joseph.co.uk ==== BILLBOARD =================================== From: Shel Horowitz Subject: New Member Intro I've been reading LED for a few weeks and see many familiar faces from I-Sales and other defunct Adventive lists. What a wonderful community they formed, and I'm delighted to discover that one thread of it remains. I was never on LED and only found this out when Adam joined a list that I'm on. My slogan is "I make the world insist on knowing why *you're* special. As a copywriter and marketing consultant, I look for affordable, ethical, and effective ways to differentiate my clients in a sometimes very crowded world. And while I do the occasional salesletter, I tend to specialize in quieter, less hypey forms of copywriting: press releases, media pitch letters, web pages (just the writing, not the coding), e-mail signatures, and so forth. I look to tell "the story behind the story" -- copy that actually holds a reader's attention and is a far cry from the boring press release we see far too often. As an example, I was hired to write a press release for a book on electronic privacy. Instead of the boring, expected "Electronic Privacy Expert Releases New Book," my headline was "It's 10 O'Clock -- Do You Know Where Your Credit History Is?" I also write books about marketing; my three most recent are Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers (forthcoming in early 2007), Grassroots Marketing: Getting Noticed in a Noisy World -- and the book I hope will change the world, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First. PrinProfit is a big-picture strategic thinking book about how to: * Use the power of your own principled, ethical business practices as a lever toward greater profitability * Turn customers and even competitors into brand evangelists for you * Develop win-win partnerships with complementary businesses * Understand why market share doesn't actually matter to a lot of us, and use that understanding to further business growth Examples range from home-based entrepreneurs on up to FedEx, Saturn, and other major corporations. The book is endorsed by dozens of prominent entrepreneurs and marketers, among them Jack Canfield of Chicken Soup, Jay Conrad Levinson of Guerrilla Marketing, and quite a few people I know from the Adventive communities (among them John Audette, Martha Retallick, B.L. Ochman, Keith Thirgood, and Eva Rosenberg (all of which and many more can be seen on the website). If you get the sense that I'm bragging, it's because I'm really proud of this one. I think it's a groundbreaking book that could shift the culture. In tandem with the book, I've also started an international pledge campaign to create a positive, ethical business climate - the goal is to get 25,000 who will each tell at least 100, and reach a tipping point -- ten year timetable. Signers from 25 countries so far: http://www.business-ethics-pledge.org (This is something I was inspired to do in part due to the success of a local environmental organization I started, which successfully beat back a particularly badly conceived development project abutting a local park, after all the "experts" told us it was a terrible project but it couldn't be stopped). Those who know me from before will not be surprised to learn that I've got my finger in a lot of other pies. I'm operating something like 9 websites, of which the ones that get the bulk of my attention are http://www.frugalmarketing.com , http://www.principledprofit.com , and http://www.grassrootsmarketingforauthors.com -- as well as three monthly newsletters, two of which (Frugal Marketing Tips and Frugal fun Tips) date all the way back to 1997. Pretty much all the web maintenance stuff is handled by a virtual assistant I've never met, who lives in Alaska (I live in a 1743 farmhouse in rural Massachusetts) -- before I hired her in 1999 or 2000, I did it myself but I only had two sites. I've also just started a sideline venture finding good domains for people, serve on my town's Long Range Planning Implementation Committee, just did a community theatre play, do some speaking and publishing consulting... okay, that's enough, I'll stop there. Shel Horowitz http://www.frugalmarketing.com ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks: pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains Copyright 1995-2006 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Ab esse ad posse" - Latin proverb ("From being to knowing") |
