Bad Keywords

[audubon]

I have several domains at Sedo whose CTR has gone way down due to my suggested keywords (which were selected on the basis of a lot of research) being ignored and instead replaced behind the scenes by some tangentially related keywords that produce far fewer clicks.

So in the optimizer my suggested keyword still shows up as "approved," but the ads have nothing to do with that keyword. (One can, in fact, infer which keyword is being used for determining the ads, and often that keyword is simply the second-level part of the domain name.)

I emailed Sedo about this problem, and their response was that I should check the category selections for the domains in question. I was unsuccessful in getting any explanation as to why the **** this should make any difference. (Changing the category selections, unsurprisingly, made absolutely no difference in which ads were served.)

I assume others here have had this very same problem. What is the latest information on the source of the problem and how to correct it? Why are the suggested keywords being ignored, and why should the category selection have anything to do with it (apparently, it doesn't, according to my experiments, in which case why does Sedo insist that it does?) ???

 

[neonoceans]

I am also experiencing same problem. My selected "approved" keywords in the correct categories do not reflect the ads served up.- in many cases the ads have absolutely nothing to do with the dn keywords.

 

[audubon]

Since SedoCoUk has been posting to this Forum recently, perhaps we will be seeing an informative contribution from them in this thread! Looking forward to it.

 

[SedoCoUk]

Hello,

To address the concerns in this thread, please note that the main keyword you select for any of your domains only serves as a suggestion for our upstream advertiser partner. Keep in mind though that our ad provider will combine your selected keyword with their own algorithms and analytics meaning that often the wrong ads may appear on your parked pages.

We are currently working with our ad provider to resolve this issue. The best thing to do in the meantime is to be even more specific with your keyword selection. For example, use "Stock Investment Advice" instead of "Investment" as a keyword, since in some cases (but not always) we have found a more targeted keyword to work better at delivering relevant ads through our upstream advertising provider’s keyword system.

Thanks,
Monica

 

[audubon]

...in some cases (but not always) we have found a more targeted keyword to work better...

Thanks, Monica. I tried last week resetting the keyword for one of my problem domains to a very precise term, which has exactly one sensible interpretation, and as of today this has not resulted in a change in the ads; so it looks like this is not one of those cases that can be made better under the current system. The vastly reduced CTR continues. Development or relocation makes sense at this point.

 

[BobDiGiTaL]

The best thing to do in the meantime is to be even more specific with your keyword selection. For example, use "Stock Investment Advice" instead of "Investment" as a keyword

Will clicks from "Stock Investment Advice" make as much revenue as "investments?"
The CTR may go up, but the revenue will be way lower, and since sedo only gives one click per visit, shouldn't we try to earn as much as possible?
Your solution only benefits sedo.

 

[BELLC1]

One of the worst keywords is "Louisiana" -- absolutely nothing but lawyer ads and real estate. There is certainly more to Louisiana than that (though we do have more lawyers per capita than anywhere, I think).