overture

[KevinC.]

Wondering what people think about overture. How effective is it?

What if you are in an artistic field like where the competition for ranking isn't so great and you are ranking pretty well in aol, msn, yahoo etc...?

thanks Kevin C.

[MsSearch]

I've never used Overture or PPC services similar to that...but i think PPC gets expensive.

it may be great for short term results but I wouldn't rely on it forever unless you have an unlimited budget.

PPC is good for seasonal products and promotions.

However, if you are not in a competitive field, then I wouldn't use Overture at all. You can still be listed in Overture for non-competitive keywords through Inktomi.

Then you've got people with a finger-clicking disability (i won't mention any names ;) ) who like to sit and click on PPC listings just for the fun of it....

Anybody have any real experiences using Overture? These are just my opinions...

[ihelpyou]

No experience with me and PPC. Moving this to the PPC Forum.

[KevinC.]

Actually didn't know what ppc stood for, so posted in wrong forum.

Anyway, I paid position tech like $160 or so to list my 6 most important pages and BAM! all suddent listing real well on lots of search terms in AOL, MSN, I WON etc. Engines I couldn't get time of day for before.

I'm all ready to give Overture a try, but then was wondering, gee, if so many search terms are doing well, should I bother?

Thanks Kevin C.

[ihelpyou]

Just do like some do and give it a try. Give them a minimal amount to see how it goes.

Good job on the good ranks in Inktomi!

[JuniorHarris]

>However, if you are not in a competitive field, then I wouldn't use Overture at all. You can still be listed in Overture for non-competitive keywords through Inktomi.

Good advice MsSearch!~ If you have good positions already, and you are already getting some free traffic it may not be worth the dosh, and the headache of having open your wallet!~;)

[bigDugan]

I used them last year, and lost several thousand dollars in a matter of months, without ever seeing an increase in my sales. It was just an unnecessary expense for me. I cant say enough bad things about them.

Here's a quote from an earlier thread (http://www.ihelpyouservices.com/forums/t344/s463847cba602abf16897f288b0a660d0.html) about Overture:It is very easy to use IP cloaking and the REFRESH meta tag to generate a "nickel clicker" which will "force" users from different IP addresses to "click" on your PPC links. or how aboutI also found out later that my rep also set me up with keyword phrases in which I was already coming up as the #1 listing, but now I was paying for that #1 listing!Now your experience might be different, but I sure in the H-E double hockey sticks would not advise any of my friends in using the service.

[JuniorHarris]

>I... would not advise any of my friends in using the service.

How about some of those spammers!~;)

[bigDugan]

How about some of those spammers!I think they're already in there....:rolleyes:

[dvduval]

I am convinced that Overture can payoff, but different terms can produce different results. You have to be willing to accept a certain amount of BS.

I'm paying about $30 a day to be #1 on one keyword, but it seems apparent that I'm bringing in enough to justify the spending.

I don't think it is very worthwhile not to be in the top 3 slots. And I don't think you should bid on too general of a term. Be specific in the description and tell people what you want them to find so they don't click only to find that you don't have what they need.

BS includes:
1. Putting up with unrelevant listings driving up the price
2. Competitors clicking just to waste your money (they have some protection but there is no way it could be perfect; don't do it yourself!)
3. They don't always answer when you ask for something (unless you count auto responders)
4. Dealing with auto bidding programs that make it difficult to ever get the top spot (of course you can buy one).
5. Putting up with the same person making duplicate listings using a different domain name.

Solutions for the above:
1. Flood them with email (and phone calls if you have time).
2. Use the "request form" that is built into the "traffic center" every time (as opposed to replying to their auto responder).
3. Keep a copy of everything you send them for your records.
4. If they fail to do something or answer in a reasonable amount of time, tell them you are planning on leaving because their inaction is costing you money. As you do this, request a refund.
You may get it with a little negotiation.

Of course, maybe Overture will work great for you and you won't have to use the Solutions above.

And with all this said I still say:
"Overture can really pay off if you are willing to put up with the BS"

[KevinC.]

dv duval:

I'm leaning now to not bother with overture after reading comments. I'm very very small business while you are a real company, so perhaps for a larger company it is more realistic.

But I'm curious where the payoff is or how you know it is. I went on three engines and -- impressively -- you had number one position anyway (without overture).

Kevin C.

[Kal]

Well Overture have really sunk in my PPC popularity opinion. They used to achieve great click thrus for my sites and my clients, but as dvDuval said, you have to put up with a LOT of BS to get results at the moment. The time it has taken to get new bids reviewed and edited has been too long. The internal and external politics has really affected them. They may have thought their partnerships with Yahoo & MSN were a winner, but I think it has had a hugely negative impact on their ability to cope and their internal systems. And it is their clients who are suffering.

I've got one client who has had around 30 bid requests refused over a 3 week period because they weren't geographically explicit enough. Now Overture are complaining that the small number of bids approved aren't turning over enough $ to meet their minimum click thru rates and that unless we submit more relevant terms, they will charge my client the difference between existing click thrus and the minimum monthly spend. (the difference is 6 times the current balance :eek: ). And how long have they given us to address the situation? That's right, 5 days. And how long do any new listing submissions take for review at the moment? That's right, an average of 7 days. Fair? I think not :mad:

I've pulled nearly all my client accounts from them and have taken them to Google AdWords & AdWords Select. You might want to give them a try (search the Google forum for more info).

[KevinC.]

Is overture only ppc? Can you enter a few urls for free. People use their engine and they power someone else, no? thanks

Kevin

[Advisor]

Inktomi provides their unpaid results.

Jill

[kneelsit]

Thanks for that info Jill.

I will stick with Inktomi as being good value for money - not only that, they seems to call round to spider my site on a very regular basis. Was sorry to see them being replaced by Google for the Yahoo bin search function.

[markymark]

Don't make the mistake I did a while ago and use Overture PPC in conjunction with good Inktomi results where there is little competition. Although there were good reasons for this (to get into AV and Excite UK when there was no other chance), the end result was a bidding war in the other search engines, as this site's competitors realised they could buy results.

[dvduval]

I agree Marky Mark

By bidding on something that you already place well on, it's like saying "Hey everybody! Look how easy it is to buy yoursel a top slot", especially for terms where there are no bidders.

BTW, I get way more hits from optimized listings than I do for paid listings. For me, paid listings are just icing on the cake.
If you are not optimized and paying Overture, you are just eating the icing when you could have the cake.

I still believe people choose the Search Engine Results before choosing paid listings. If I were to guess on the percentages I would say:
80% on Aol
60% on Yahoo and MSN
choose the Results before the Ads.
and who in the US cares about anything else (except Google).

I would be interested to know how people agree/disagree with my percentages or if anyone has any concrete evidence.

[kneelsit]

I don't know about percentages Dave but I would certainly agree with your other comments. Even the sponsored sites section I think you tend to pass over in favour of web pages or web directory listings.

How many people these days would bother to click on a banner??
possibly only a complete newbie. I am only glad that I got into Yahoo back in 97 before they started on their latest money grab. It really hurt having to pay Looksmart to get into MSN.
:mad: