Arbitrage with Adsense

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tony20

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I recently seen a website for sale (not flippa) and the main traffic source was media buys via the likes of mgid, content.ad etc etc They didn't actually list the websites they used as this was part of their "marketing strategy" that only the buyer will know.

The site was entertainment niche with viral type content even though the content didn't go viral that much but relied on the media buys. The guy was spending upwards of 20k a month but he was pulling in a lot more via adsense and other per click ads. And he had been doing it for about a year.

One of my sites that i'd like to try this on is also entertainment based but somewhat niche. I have recently re-positioned my adsense blocks and now finial getting a good (but safe) rpm and ctr.

So does anyone have any advice with this type of strategy? i.e. buying cheap US traffic and sending it to adsense laden pages. Does it really work or do you think the seller was playing the figures? Any tips, advice and suggestions on which networks I can try?

All help would be greatly appreciated!!
 
facebook ads spring to mind but I need cheap ass ads to make it worth while. How cheap a click can you get fb ads? As you can see, I have no ad buying experience lol
 
Does seem like a losing strategy to me.

You're paying for basically every single visitor to your site, and probably around 4% (tbh I don't get more than 3%) of visitors will click an AdSense unit. So if you pay $0.05 per visitor, it will cost you about $1.25 to get a click on your own AdSense ads. I don't get clicks above $0.50 really, even though the keywords I'm first for and using AdSense for claim $2.00 per click.

Those are slightly optimistic figures IMO. But even if you were more optimistic you would probably be operating at a loss. Exception would be if you're using trickery to get ad clicks but then you will be shut down quickly.

Ads are probably only worth it if you're selling your own products Even affiliate stuff you have to wonder how many people on the page will click through to Amazon (or whatever) and when they do they usually convert around 5 - 10%, so that could be 5% converting out of the 25% who actually click through, then suddenly you're dealing with a very small figure. Even with the right circumstances I believe FB traffic converts extremely poorly, which is probably why they charge so little for clicks.
 
The site was sold on empireflippers who are usually accurate and thorough in there auctions, So I presume the figures are true. The site was turning over $1,500 - $2,000 ad that was just the adsense.

I wasn't aiming to copy his method exactly but was an interesting strategy.

You cant really compare affiliate sales with this type of traffic as its not very targeted. Someone wanting to buy a golf club isn't going impulse buy one because he see's a banner on some site (but he might click on a golf related ad if he's a golfer!!), he'll search google for "best golf club reviews" and hopefully find your golf club review blog i.e. this visitor will have buyer intent.
 
Tony,

Yes it is possible. There are several ways to do it. The most common is to create ads which have a very high CTR and then pay for CPM rather than CPC.

This way you might end up paying less than 1c per click. That way it would cost less than $1 for 100 visitors. You then work out you RPM and if its more than your cost then you are going to be making a profit and you scale it up as much as possible while its working.

PM me and I can give you a bit more information.
 
I have try 2 service in bhw forum..but still find another network to mix with that..and yes this methods stil work.btw please check your pm @paulsmithAUS want to ask something
 
Oops I don't have enough posts to reply to PM's. That's what I get for being a lurker :(

Once I have enough posts I will reply to those who have PM'ed me.
 
I have try 2 service in bhw forum..but still find another network to mix with that..and yes this methods stil work.btw please check your pm want to ask something

hirza I will reply as soon as I hit the post count. Either today or tomorrow.
 
In my experience ADSENSE + Entertainment website = BANNED (in 99%).

People think that they are 9gag so Adsense will alow them to put ads on page that have only pictures.
 
I agree with you.

Years ago Adsense arbitrage made a lot of sense and it used to work until they all but declared it a crime...When you look at the big guys like buzzfeed, they don't drive the traffic using paid ads like stumbleupon to make money from adsense. They are doing it more for branding as well as to satisfy their paying ads clientelle. Not adsense.

Does seem like a losing strategy to me.

You're paying for basically every single visitor to your site, and probably around 4% (tbh I don't get more than 3%) of visitors will click an AdSense unit. So if you pay $0.05 per visitor, it will cost you about $1.25 to get a click on your own AdSense ads. I don't get clicks above $0.50 really, even though the keywords I'm first for and using AdSense for claim $2.00 per click.

Those are slightly optimistic figures IMO. But even if you were more optimistic you would probably be operating at a loss. Exception would be if you're using trickery to get ad clicks but then you will be shut down quickly.

Ads are probably only worth it if you're selling your own products Even affiliate stuff you have to wonder how many people on the page will click through to Amazon (or whatever) and when they do they usually convert around 5 - 10%, so that could be 5% converting out of the 25% who actually click through, then suddenly you're dealing with a very small figure. Even with the right circumstances I believe FB traffic converts extremely poorly, which is probably why they charge so little for clicks.
 
I agree with you.

Years ago Adsense arbitrage made a lot of sense and it used to work until they all but declared it a crime...When you look at the big guys like buzzfeed, they don't drive the traffic using paid ads like stumbleupon to make money from adsense. They are doing it more for branding as well as to satisfy their paying ads clientelle. Not adsense.
With the content and lack of text buzzfeed provides, they would be banned by adsense if normal rules applied. Due to their high traffic, they might get away with it, but people should keep in mind that they can't start a page with thin content like buzzfeed and then wonder why they got banned on adsense.
 
It works; but the website should be awesome!
content should be convencing!
Also your ad-sense bid must be good enough to cover the cost of advertising.
 
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