* * * * *
                                        
                         Small websites need not apply
                                        
Hoade [1] and I were exchanging emails about AdWords [2] today. He's trying
to get his writing career into overdrive, seeing how every other job he's
tried never worked out. I advised him against AdWords unless someone else was
footing the bill, as it can get expensive.

[I'm amused that the GoogleAI has realized that lots of people don't think
too highly of AdWords.] [3]
 

I've also heard first hand that AdWords wasn't worth the money spent on it.

On the flip side, I found that AdSense [4] wasn't worth it for me [5]. Sure,
if my blog had a bit more focus, like I was writing about gendered bodies in
Japanese pornographic anime and horror through a Foucauldian framwork in
order to analyze the West's gaze upon the world, Google would have had a
better time generating related advertising towards the blog, but alas, my
blog isn't that focused and the ads I did get were bizarre [6]. And it didn't
help me that not many people were seeing the ads [7].

Things might have changed since my last experiment with AdSense (or what I
heard about AdWords), but I still cautioned Hoade about wasting money on
AdWords. I feel he would do better by getting his name out there on podcasts
and web-based forums. At least that way, he won't spend any money.

Last words from Hoade:

> Just to add a little coda to our AdWords / Facebook ads convo, the for-real
> serious consensus seems to be "Maybe it could work. Do some A/b testing
> with your massive pile of ad money. One way might could work gooder than
> another." Not even XXXXXXX kidding.
> 
> Actual quote: "She ended up with a 1.3 percent click-through rate, which is
> actually very good." I believe this is true, but lord, it doesn't make you
> run for your checkbook.
> 

Yeah, I'm thinking small sites need not apply.

[1] http://seanhoade.com/
[2] https://www.google.com/adwords/
[3] gopher://gopher.conman.org/IPhlog:2015/05/07/adwords.jpg
[4] http://www.google.com/adsense/start/
[5] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2006/02/01.2
[6] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2005/03/23.1
[7] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2007/03/10.1

Email Sean Conner at sean@conman.org

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