Member Avatar for harveycarpenter

Hi

I've been using Google Adwords for a few days, and while I'm making sales, it's too expensive!

I havn't really looked into overture much, but would like a few opinions... how successful has it been to you compared to google?

Thanks

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A short history and a numbers-first checklist to fix "too expensive"

Back in 2003–2005 the choice felt like Google vs Overture; Overture was acquired by Yahoo and the brand was folded into Yahoo Search Marketing, and later Yahoo’s paid search was transitioned to Microsoft’s platform under the 2010 Yahoo–Microsoft search alliance. CBS News: Yahoo buys Overture (cbsnews.com) LA Times: Overture name phased out (latimes.com) Microsoft press release on the alliance (news.microsoft.com)

If Google is converting but the cost-per-sale is too high, stop guessing and run the arithmetic (builds on and ’s points). First define the Customer/Order value and the maximum CPA you can afford, then convert that to a per-click ceiling:

Max_CPC = Target_CPA * Conversion_Rate

Example:
Target_CPA = $25
Conversion_Rate = 2% (0.02)
Max_CPC = 25 * 0.02 = $0.50

If market CPCs are above that ceiling, either increase conversion rate or lifetime value, or move spend elsewhere.

Practical next steps (brief, action-first): 1) Run focused A/B tests on the landing page to lift CR (small CR improvements multiply profit). 2) Segment aggressively (by keyword intent, device, geo, time) and move poor segments to negative lists or lower bids. 3) Use remarketing and audience lists to recover cheaper returning buyers (implement conversion/UET tags). See Microsoft’s conversion and remarketing tools for guidance. (about.ads.microsoft.com) 4) Consider automated bidding once you have stable conversion data—Google’s Smart Bidding uses auction-time signals and is commonly recommended after you have meaningful conversion volume (industry guidance often cites ~30 conversions/30 days as a practical threshold). ()

If after these steps your Max_CPC still can’t match market CPCs, reallocate budget to lower-cost channels (organic, affiliates, email, marketplaces) or to higher-value campaigns. Testing both Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising as separate channels still makes sense, but “Overture” no longer exists as an independent buying option. (news.microsoft.com)

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for trraju

well my personnel suggestion would be google adwords because it really works great and its every ones choice too.

Member Avatar for MikeT

They both work well for me. I like the Google interface more plus you don't have to wait for your ads to be approved.

Go for niche keywords 2-3 words in length and make sure your Ads correspond to the keywords - someone searching for white mini ipod should see an ad saying white mini ipod.

Keep your daily budget low while experimenting and don't listen to what Google tells you to bid per keyword, start low, if they work you can bid more and see if it's still economical.

Use conversion tracking and monitor your return on investment, that's the crucial number.

Use negative keywords where appropriate and create 2 ads for each Ad group - after maybe 50 clicks you'll see which has the better click through rate, keep that and delete the other one, now write a new ad to try and beat.

That should keep you busy for a bit!

Member Avatar for Dani

If Google is getting you conversions, stay with them. Try lowering your cost per click. Overture has a $0.10 min cost / click while Google has a $0.05 minimum. If that still doesn't work, pay per click might just not be best for your business.

Member Avatar for seobook

most pay per click accounts start off with a few winners and a lot of bad bids or terms in them...it is just an issue of learning from the feedback your account gives you.

Member Avatar for jewboy

I think a comprehensive PPC strategy should use both Overture and Adwords. Remember, Yahoo is not too far behind Google with respect to search engine market share. And typically, leads from Yahoo are less expensive.

5 PPC tips that may reduce your CPC and conversion costs:

1) Shut off contextual match unless you specfically want it
2) When using broad match, make sure you filter out negatives
3) Make sure your keyword appears in the title of the ad and/or body
4) Capitalize all words in your ad copy, except prepositions
5) Use a call to action in your ad copy

Member Avatar for raffzahn

I got the impression that Google was more successful for us. But that could be connected with the explosion of ad costs into a 4-digit sum. But for sure I like the adsense interface more than overture's.

raffzahn

Member Avatar for ruchira_mosaic

Hi,

I am a new joinee for this group, my name is Ruchira saxena. I am a working SEO professional and also handling PPC campaigns. So my personal opinion is to use Google Adwords. i have worked on both of them.
I also wanted to know that how can we improve CTR. I am already using quality keywords and also continuously updating my campiagns but i wanted to know some more ways to get more CTR.

Can anybody have some idea regarding this.

Thanks and Regards,
Ruchira.

Member Avatar for johnc123

Hi

I've been using Google Adwords for a few days, and while I'm making sales, it's too expensive!

I havn't really looked into overture much, but would like a few opinions... how successful has it been to you compared to google?

Thanks

From my knowledge overture is what the publisher sees as ypn ( Yahoo! Publisher Network ) and even though they are still in beta, they focus more on quality. When you use adsense god knows where your ads will end up, how-ever with ypn the publishers can pick what kind of ads they want to show, so your ads end up being more relevant to the end user.

Member Avatar for Soniqhost.com

Try targeting the keywords better, for example if you sell nike shoes on your web site the keyword shoes would cost more and bring you less targeted traffic then say nike shoes or a make of nike shoes. Targeted keywords would also cost less.

Member Avatar for Dani

johnc, just to clarify, I think you mean AdWords and not AdSense.

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