PPC Advertising Doesn’t Work
Written by Rosalind Gardner on March 17, 2008 · Comments (5)
Filed Under Pay Per Click Advertising ·
I couldn’t help but notice the ad shown here to the left when I was checking my Gmail the other day.
“PPC Advertising Doesn’t Work” the ad loudly proclaims and then goes on to say that “You’re Throwing Away Money Since Your Visitors Don’t Trust You“.
Wait a sec.
The company is USING Google Adwords, Google’s pay per click advertising to advertise its service.
So, unless they’re complete idiots who are purposely throwing money down the PPC drain, doesn’t the PPC Advertising Doesn’t Work ad title make them liars — or guilty of misrepresentation to say the least? Especially considering their product has NOTHING to do with PPC advertising, a marketing method that isn’t even mentioned on the site.
They are selling a product that is supposed to enhance visitor trust - a seal to place on your website that guarantees that your testimonials are real - so wouldn’t it make more sense for these advertisers to try a different pitch? How about “Your Visitors Don’t Trust You”, “Beware Fake Testimonials” or “Build Customer Confidence”?
The point is, don’t believe everything you see under that “Sponsored Listing” column. While Google spouts its commitment to relevant advertising, the truth is that because ads don’t go through an editorial process before being displayed, Google advertisers are still getting away with breaking the FTC’s most basic rule of advertising:
Advertising must tell the truth and not mislead consumers. In addition, claims must be substantiated.
And just for the record, PPC advertising DOES work. I’ve been using it every day since 1998, and wouldn’t want do business on the Internet without it.
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Comments
5 Responses to “PPC Advertising Doesn’t Work”
Gary James on March 17th, 2008 16:47 pm
Ros, I love your abbreviated “7 steps to affiliate Marketing”. I am learning a ton from you. Can I bring you onto my internet radio show as my featured guest sometime soon? I am positive my listeners will just LOVE you.
Also, HOW do I register to affiliate sell your stuff? Please advise. Best,
Gary James
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Alberto Mari on March 18th, 2008 2:43 am
I would say that the same rules applies to journalism: the title of this post is misleading, and seems to be designed just to make people click on the RSS item (so did I). What the article actually says is just the opposite of the title. Anyway, the trick works, and the message is now reaching a broader audience. If it is politically correct or not… well, this is another story.
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angela on March 24th, 2008 22:10 pm
i am beginning to think that ppc does not work i am continually getting my keywords disabled by google and asked to pay more to enable those keywords
–even keywords used within my ads are expensive and their tactics look like they are forcing the smaller guy out of the game — i have not found them worth it so far despite doing alot of homework on ppc.. .. use of exact matching etc etc
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TC on March 25th, 2008 9:36 am
@angela, I think, indirectly addresses the point you raise in your post, Ros. Specifically, Google Slap takes care of truth in advertising, even on the content network. So, the ad you cite might work for a couple days, but then its cost probably will become prohibitive.
Your readers might appreciate a Google AdWords report recently released by Matt Trainer at Creative Digital Media. This is a 10-page report titled, “How to Dominate Google AdWords.” Don’t let the small size of the report and its name deceive you. The stuff inside is counter-intuitive and it is cutting edge. I don’t know if you’ve seen it yet, Ros, but you really ought to take a look. Here’s the sign-up:
http://www.creativedigitalmedia.com/dominate/
The creators of Hexatrack have a helpful YouTube page with some great PPC tips. You should have a look at this, too, if you have not seen it already:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNewPPC
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London Web Designer on May 3rd, 2008 14:34 pm
I think it’s just the title to grab your interest (which it did). Alot of big companies are doing this now, making tv adverts that are in no way linked to their product and just so random and then it gets people talking about their product.
I think’s it just another new form of viral but i don’t think this marketer was aiming for that.
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