« Free Web Content: How To Find An Article | Main | Rich Jerk Stomped By Sydney Johnston »
September 22, 2006
Review: The Death Of AdSense
Every month a product or two sweeps the Net marketing circles, creating hysteria and cointroversy. The most recent is The Death Of AdSense. The author, Scott Boulch, is clearly a clever marketer - and good for him!
A lot of Scott's bad press is unjustified. For instance, he is criticized for writing his two free reports because he has some hidden plot to sell something in the future. Well of course he's going to sell something!!! Those who criticize him for that are simply showing their ignorance of marketing. A lot of work went into his two reports and I can guarantee that it took him quite a chunk of time to put them together. Why should he spend this time unless he can profit from it? All those who criticize him are reading his work for what reason? Oh, yeah, it's because THEY want to make money. Apparently it's OK for them, but not Scott himself. How silly.
His premise is that AdSense died when Google introduced the 'content' concept to advertisers. That is - one price for advertising on Google but another (cheaper) one for advertising on your site or mine. Yeah, it hurts. And yeah, I don't like it. But the fact is that the rules of any game change over time. Grownups accept that.
But going on and on about how "the gurus" are frantic and desperate to keep this so-called death a secret is pretty silly. I have been referred to as one of those dastardly gurus - and I couldn't care less about whether anyone thinks AdSense is dead or not.
As for the premise of his second report, it's certainly valid but there is absolutely NOTHING new about what he's said. The best response I've read is from Michael Campbell who has an excellent newsletter that everyone should read if they're interested in Net marketing.
Title: "Gee... Cost Per Action... Again"
- - -
Question: I feel like I'm spinning my wheels and can't get any traction. I've read so many opinions from so many
marketers and I keep buying stuff that I don't use. But the truth is, that I'm afraid that I'm going to make a mistake.
Now I just heard that AdSense is dead and that's what I was planning to do. What should I do now, should I try cost per action? I'm worried about what the next thing will be. I'm feeling totally overwhelmed with too many emails. Can you help me?
- - -
Answer: Gee... lets see now... SEO is dead... so are article sites, so is RSS, so are article directories and press
releases, PPC, hub sites, Mininets... yep, all toast. Now AdSense has been declared dead and "cost per action" is
all the rage.
Dude! Save yourself from getting on yet another list. Cost per action is nothing more than a fancy way of saying,
"affiliate program."
Every six months or so, some industry expert or newbie starts touting cost per action as the wave of the future.
Guess what?
If you've been following the advice in Clickin it Rich and Revenge of the Mininet, you ARE doing cost per action.
As an affiliate, you don't get paid until the action or transaction has taken place.
You can buy all the clicks you want. You can capture SEO traffic. You can persuade the visitor all you want... but
you don't get a commission if they don't buy anything. That is a true cost per action.
Another example of cost per action, is simply getting your visitors to fill out a form. It's called CPL or cost per lead.
It's a model used by insurance companies, real estate agencies and others, where they pay you per action. And
that action is getting leads for them.
Yea... you can tell I'm a little miffed. Every week someone touts something else as dead and their "new" way as the only way. But you know what? It's the same old stuff going round and round. Just like fashion... if you didn't see it first time round, it all looks new.
I just want you to consider your information sources. Do you really need to be distracted by the next "big" thing,
especially when it's just a rehashed old thing? Pick your mentors and gurus, and stick with them. If something is truly important, you'll hear it from them.
There is another lesson here ... if the gentleman who wrote to Michael doesn't get over his fear of making a mistake, he's history. You WILL make mistakes. We all do. Get over it.
Posted by SydneyJohnston at September 22, 2006 11:47 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.auction-genius-course.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/405
