Opinion: Google SlumSense Empires Made Easy…

Sam reports at CostPerNews

Taking advantage of the system or optimizing it?

Either way, AdSense is a poor way to advertise and a worse way to monetize. Unless you just want short term gains. Then, by all means… run as many contextual ads as your template will fit.

Sure, it makes money if you have enough page views.

But are contextual ads really worth it?

I don’t think so. Monetize your traffic with ideas and interactions. Not with text links

At one time it was a good way Sam- and so convenient- you could focus on content and innovation. Sweet memories. Google is literally destroying the Adsense network out of hubris, ignorance, pressure from the street or idiocy. I don’t know which, maybe something else- alien influence?

A commenter goes on to ask at CPN:

>
The post is about getting cheap Adwords Clicks & has nothing to do with Adsense. Or am I missing something?

Yes- you are missing something- the cheap clicks are on the Adsense system. It is basically CPA marketers cannibalizing the inventory of Adsense publishers or advertiser’s in the contextual network. Avoid the premiums of search, but what is telling is how crappy the pay is at Google Adsense. A penny a targeted click? Gee- sounds like the Zango system sans the malware.

Sam, or others, feel to free to correct me if I am wrong, but what I have observed is this-

Adsense used to be an excellent way to monetize a site (for some it still is)- I remember, long, long ago checks that were simply staggering. How can Google do what the networks could not? Is their algorithm that good? (I have lots of screenshots that will show you just how good it is…) or is their brand that strong? I think the latter.

Then it was decoupled from organic search, as it should have been in the first place, and Google continued to let in every kind of trashy site possible- the ones they seem to verbally rail against YET SUPPORT financially through their system.

Google contributes directly to the Internet pollution problem and then complains about it. Hypocrites.

Yes, I said it- Google*** actually supports the very pollution they claim to revile, or at least the ones I do- beyond my honeypot sites of course. I need those to catch folks.

These are sites that offer little value, often random content scrapers. I think it is absolutely fine to aggregate content (extracts only, full feeds only with permission), there IS some value in that. You can even build on that in a win-win, but when that is all you offer- you are just an opportunist. The inclusion of these sites destroys the better eCPC for mid-tier, emerging or quality publishers. This is the battle front Industry Brains and ValidClick seek to attack. Nice flanking assault. Yahoo! and MSN should follow suit. Good competition is badly needed.

Forget so called “invalid clicks” or “click fraud” (less than 2% uhuh- pass the pipe) let’s just look at clicks valued at .01. Thanks, I can make more money scraping my car seats or begging for far less effort. I remember when blind clicks and onBlur traffic produced .02 to .03 per click. What do we get in a system like this? Tactical arbitrage via CPA or recycled arbitrage through the same Adsense system.

To beat it all they have the nerve to push around their “Don’t Be Evil” mantra and slash at paid reviews, etc. While I have not participated in a paid review, I have been watching their emergence, and I think the system could be far better setup, more fruitful and add far more value down the chain- far better than 0.01 CPC ads. Still working on it with a nascent idea…but if the money is up front, if the rules and processes fully layed out- bloggers and their communities can add real value, but only if advertisers have the guts to take the good with the bad- transparency.

Tell you what- I think people would adore advertisers willing to take that chance. To be human, to ask for feedback both good and bad. That kind of honesty builds brand evagelism. Don’t tell that to a leading PR agency…they will tell you to go build fake blogs. (e.g. Edelman)

After rethinking sites like Review Me (reviewme.com) I find my thoughts moving deeper- at least this system is more fair if disclosed properly and has a rigid system and encourgaes two-way feedback both negative and positive. The cards are up front, the price and payment are up front, so there is no strong incentive for trickery in the blogosphere due to performance payouts. If you innovate- you get no support, if you jam the volume by any means- they will pay you more. Brilliant system…no wonder we have world hunger.

Rumors are that Google doesn’t like these paid review sites. Of course they don’t- it messes with their algorithms, although it probably tightens them too. Gotta love A.I.

However, whether the trade is in influence, a quiet reciprocal link, a good or service exchanged, cash, etc something is changing hands to make these relationships happen. I think that might be a barter system- possibly taxable under U.S. law? But we will never talk about that action- keep it on the down low and not too much…and it is ok.

Google can only target what they can see (and that can be blinded), albeit they can statistically see alot- just like pharmacists can tell drug abuse in a hospital by looking at medication adminstration patterns and standard deviation from the mean.

Still very few want to speak out against the mighty Google- some pray to the Google gods or the damn and so-called Google Dance. Others clutch rabbit feet. Idiocy. Don’t fear the mighty search engine. First you should not build your business around the whims of an algorithm you cannot control…visitor acquisition concentration risk. Just as Google should not build their revenue around one technology- javascript- revenue concentration risk. Bye-Bye javascript- Google has a problem. Thank god for video eh?

I don’t fear Google. Go ahead and ban me, punish me, smack me around the SERPs…it will make my work more challenging, but I will feel better at night, and I already understand that for a well balanced site exposure it is key to keep Google organic traffic less than 30% if you can..

Remember in aggregate we control them- they do not control us. It is only competition that creates the divide.

Sadly I have went from fanatical Google evangelist who proudly bought tee-shirts- to a highly skeptical and dissapointed fan.

Anyway- in the example above they are effectively using Adsense sites to gain clicks at an eCPC at .01 to .03 per click range (as I said- I remember when blind clicks and onBlur traffic used to pay that.) and they simply use this inventory to play “Bulk- Long Tail Arbitrage”…on a CPA or CPC basis (remixed Adsense).

Is this all bad? Maybe I am off base. Is this good? Is it market efficiency being reclaimed? You tell me.

Google:

- Stop denying clickfraud- no one rational is buying it. I agree numbers are inflated, clickfraud firms are using flawed methodologies just as affiliates often compare network metrics apples to apples without understanding unique accounting systems make it apples to oranges. You DO NOT have it all covered despite your legions of geniuses, dark fiber and linux boxes. I run into it in the field everyday, I see how Google is manipulated and at times in such comical fashion I am flabbergasted.

I have to wonder if I am on someone else’s honeypot. I can’t wait to see how you handle the impending monetization of YouTube. If I can track the much of this system gaming with such ease, I don’t see how you cannot- you have billions- I certainly do not. Perhaps the answer is too simple, perhaps Google doesn’t care, in all fairness- perhaps, like battered Affiliate Managers, who are under immense pressure from management like you are from Wall Street. Go ahead- have a crappy quarter and get them off your back so you can get back to your mission- remember that? I do.

- At the very least please stop funding the super slummy made for adsense “empires”. Please. I watched the KMeth Worm story filter out and get scraped up by even more cancer lawsuit gaming sites- disgusting. I took Mr. Harrelson on a spin through the trail and watched him have a mini heart attack at where we ended up- don’t worry we will never speak of it- we are sane. Yep- they gamed the very damn news story about the Yahoo! worm that targeted Google Adsense en passant (no forced clicks I add). What gall, what a slap in the face!

From Sam’s Revenews entry:

Click fraud is alive and very well for those of you wondering why this may be a big deal. I’ll be blogging more this week about a recent trip down the rabbit hole with the famous (or infamous depending on your persuasion) Wayne Porter. This trip started with an AdSense scraping site making money off of high paying “mesothelioma” keywords and led to some places that caused me severe “shock and awe.” The implications are beyond what I would consider just superficial, and extend well into the very ideas and assumptions that we hold about the internet and the money trail it provides which an lead to some very unsavory places.

Unsavory- you can say that again….

- Remember- you have people like me that really want to believe in Google. I used to be a brand evangelist. Maybe I am too early to judge, but what I see in the field, and what I hear or two different things.

I am now, more than ever, going to work on the problems of blog monetization and techniques not seen or tried before…and interaction is going to play a key role in that…the current system(s) are utterly and completely broken and frankly- quite stupid.

*** Note when I say Google I mean the entity. I know there are very good people in any organization, and you can’t tar all people by a “corporations” actions. But, you gotta lay it somewhere- so ticker symbol (NASDAQ:GOOG). Come on- restore my faith.

ADDENDUM: Slight edits made for clarity, spelling. Also note a Beta Podcast response by Sam Harrelson at Cost Per News.