Google Ads: Do they work?

[Ziphor]

adwords do work, maybe not on you, though. you can't argue with the metrics google gives you for adwords and click-throughs--there is a return on investment.

[Shalyn]

I'm not saying that they don't work. I'm saying that the majority of internet users who would see them either don't notice them or don't care to even click. It doesn't matter who we are, we're still a profitable target for advertisements and I think the right kind would get our attention and tap our pocketbooks. The fact that these ads only target one kind of person is what I have a problem with.

[Silenka]

ilu noscript & adblock.

This.

[guartz]

I'm not saying that they don't work. I'm saying that the majority of internet users who would see them either don't notice them or don't care to even click. It doesn't matter who we are, we're still a profitable target for advertisements and I think the right kind would get our attention and tap our pocketbooks. The fact that these ads only target one kind of person is what I have a problem with.

majority?

Good point though, this is why moot doesn't make money on ads.

It's just, people who know what the difference is between hardware and software are not a majority.

[Moridam]

i unconsciously skim over whatever adblock/noscript/etc. don't filter on their own. the ones that do slip by may have some subtle effect or another in the long run, but i can say without reservation that i never click on them.

[Jotaru]

I'm formed by years of ads being the #1 thing you DO NOT CLICK on webpages.

Even if I do see something that catches my eye, I'll open a new window/tab and browse for it out of curiosity. I almost never click an actual ad; tis a good way to get infected n such.

[Shalyn]

majority?

Good point though, this is why moot doesn't make money on ads.

It's just, people who know what the difference is between hardware and software are not a majority.

I think I should have put a new line at the second sentence. I am not saying we're the majority or the more knowledgeable internet users are the majority, I'm saying that the majority of all internet users don't see, click, and/or purchase. If that wasn't the case, there'd be much more money to be made from the internet since it... well basically has everything, and I don't think it's reached it's monetary potential by any means.

[Ivve]

The only time I notice google ads is when I'm checking my gmail. From time to time they draw my attention with some truly insane ads that seem completely unrelated to anything in my inbox. On rare occasion I have clicked some of the more non sequitur ads just out of curiosity, but I've never made any kind of purchase from any site I found through google ads. I buy very little on the internet in general.

[Septimus]

NoScript and AdBlock all the way. Remember when people were getting viruses from Google ads on FFXI AH and FFXI Atlas? Oh, those zany jokesters at Google...

[Ramor]

for all of google's greatness i have to admit that their ads are sketchy as hell,

clicking on one probably takes you to a back alley where some guy in a trenchcoat just opens up one side and there's a bunch of video games hangin' out of his jacket

also, 'what're you buyin'?' comes to mind

[gamez]

I'm going to write your professor about this thread.

Spoiler: show

and say you're doing your homework, np.

Agreeing with Septimus, not just because I'm a Galka though.

[dejet]

FF+NS+AB and so on.
only time i see it is if im at school on their 1986 HP windows 3 comps.
and then im only on a few forums so i only see some adds from here.
even before FF, and when i used play counter strike only on the comp i do not think i once clicked a ad.

[Blabj]

Reitterating the point that it works, but not on tech savvy users. Most people here will have Adblock and other extensions or apps to remove these adverts.

[Olo401]

Not sure if this is relevant, but I work for a tourism website and we have Google Ads as an advertising client. If you tune their delivery service correctly, the ads that get displayed are usually pretty spot-on to a particular page on the website. If you don't tune it you get weird ASCII art ads, porn links and Brogame.

[ferigor]

One thing to consider with google ads, is they are essentially the new version of mass mailings. When companies send out ad mailers, they expect really low returns on them, somewhere in the neighbor hood of 5%. This hasn't been an effective way of advertising in years, but companies continue to do it. By putting ads on google, you are making your ads available to a huge market, and the production cost of it is a lot less than sending out mail. They don't expect every person that sees the ad to click it, but if 1 out of every 20 people does (give or take), their ads are getting the average return.

[HadesChubbs]

NoScript and AdBlock all the way. Remember when people were getting viruses from Google ads on FFXI AH and FFXI Atlas? Oh, those zany jokesters at Google...

Google ads don't contain viruses.. >.> That was a cute theory people made up long ago. The ones from AH.com were from the tribalfusion network.. and those served flash ads (and it was adware, not a virus). Tribalfusion != google.. and the one on atlas was an injected iframe, again not google ad.

Google serves text and image ads, its lame they're getting the blame!

[Zumi]

I use the adblocker plugin so i never see the ads so no they don't work.

[Lordwafik]

My uncles business is picture frames.
Most of the people who are buying picture frames : Parents, the elderly, and women looking to frame pictures of themselves / with husbands / with kids / pets. The addwords work like a charm for his business, as it's the first thing that pops up in the addwords.