Apparently, CPM rates aren’t what they used to be, especially on crap sites. To recap: Google came out with the new Site Targeting content targeting option, allowing advertisers to show ads on specific sites.
Cool program, but the minimum bid was $2 CPM. Unfortunately, for my clients who are succeeding with the traditional content program, we are enjoying effective CPM’s of below $1, and often around 25 cents.
The next thing Google did, as outlined here, was to drop the price to $1.00. A bit later they allowed advertisers to specify sections of sites, or specific pages, even.
But they weren’t done! Today I’m seeing the minimum bid has been slashed to $0.25 CPM.
Because this is finally low enough to give advertisers the chance to experiment, they may be able to enjoy a few bargains now. (As long as you’re tracking), go for it! Buy some extra exposure for cheap. If you’re not tracking, you might still be getting a brand lift. I suspect more so if you’re using larger graphical creative.
Speaking of which, an attendee at SES Stockholm asked — in a session about Creating Compelling Ad Copy for paid search campaigns — about banner design. Her complaint is that there really aren’t any good books available on that subject. Whether that’s true or not, all this talk of banner campaigns and $0.25 CPM’s is giving me that “2000 all over again” feeling.
Andrew Goodman is Principal of Page Zero Media, a marketing consultancy which focuses on maximizing clients’ paid search marketing campaigns.
In 1999 Andrew co-founded Traffick.com, an acclaimed “guide to portals” which foresaw the rise of trends such as paid search and semantic analysis.
