Slightly Shady SEO | Blackhat is Back, Baby.

Hey all. You might notice a new banner rotating along with wordze and 1and1. Microsoft’s AdCenter(and their $50 free click deal). This post isn’t a blatant plug for it. Not really at least. I’m pretty picky about what I advertise here, and they just made the cut. Allow me to explain why I let them in, and what gave me second thoughts about letting them in.
I’m going to throw an affiliate link in here and there btw. And no, it didn’t affect my review of the AdCenter. If you do decide to sign-up, make sure you note the promotional code, as if you fail to enter that, you don’t get the free clicks.

The Pros

1. It’s the Only Way to Cash in On Live/MSN Reliably
   Let’s be honest. Live.com’s algorithm is the ADHD kid sitting in the corner of the search engine room, making funny noises(I was that kid once). But either way, until it gets medicated, stabilized, or whatever it needs to be a more reliable traffic source, the only way to be even moderately sure your search is going to be seen is to pay for that advertising slot.
2. They’re Less Content Sensitive than Google
   Right now, I’m running a series of 3 ads on MSN for a topic that couldn’t pass the filters for Google. Nothing involving that keyword. And it’s not illegal, not sex related, not gambling related. Although I couldn’t help but notice that they dislike advertising for Tobacco related products, which I think is crap. But either way, not a bad deal. Also, one term I’m bidding on is a brand name(kinda), and it was nice to not get knocked out of the running for that. All it cost me was a quick review time.
3. AdWords is Too Saturated
   AdCenter and Ask.com’s advertise programs are frequently ignored since they don’t bring as much traffic as Google. However, they have a lot lower pay per click than AdWords. Lower Bids=Higher positioning, which can bring in more clicks, even if there are less searches to be had. I actually picked up a lot of terms I know are searched for(as I’ve gotten clicks for them on Google), for as little as 5 cents(the minimum bid)
4. $50 in Free Clicks <plug>Get it Here</plug>
   I’ll admit it, I’m a sucker for freebies. I figure it like this. It costs me $5 to sign up. Ok. And I have $25/50 (I got 25, but the new ads are saying 50) in free clicks. That means if I can work at what would normally be a -500% profit margin, I break even. Why not?

The Cons (You knew they were coming)

1. $5 Sign-Up Fee
   I know this is intended to help prevent fraud, but come on. Really? People could just use pre-paid credit cards anyways.
2. Some Ads Require Approval
   Approbal is fast, but still. If I finish an ad, I want it to launch then, and I’m probably going to be swapping the text every 10 minutes until I’m 100% happy. I don’t want to wait for approval. (On the upside, it’s under 10 hours)
3. Fraidy-Cat Audience
   A lot of Live.com/MSN.com’s audience are people who never got around to, or didn’t know how to, change their default search engine, so they still love the toolbar. This crowd is one of two things. Incredibly paranoid(aka they burn your cash without buying, because they’re afraid of getting their credit card jacked) or they’re incredibly gullible(take from that what you will)
4. 5 cent Minimum Bid
   Yeah yeah, I know this is becoming standard practice, but I’m bidding on damn longtail terms, and I wish that they would just take it at 2 cents. Unrealistic, but still a pet peeve of mine.
5. Less Searches=Less Longtail
   While it’s possible to adjust to get just as many clicks as with adwords, and for a lower price, the lower number of overall searches on Live.com means there’s fewer longtail to be had. For people like me, this is almost a deal killer.

Oh well. If you want to give it a try, as I reccomend you do (because really, once again, why not?), give it a signup, right below this line. REMEMBER to note the given Coupon ID or whatever, so that you can actually get your free clicks

Go Right Here: (Microsoft adCenter) to start and Get $50 in Free Clicks.

I hate PPC slightly less than before

And yes, despite the fact this is the second post today, you’ll get a nice, juicy one in the morning if I can think of a topic.

Enjoy.
-XMCP

Posted on Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 at 11:58 pm in the category:SEM. Comment RSS 2.0 feed. Comment it , or trackback this post.